Ethics Advisory Committee Topic: Fees and Duty of Confidentiality – Matching Services The Committee was asked to opine on the ethical propriety of following arrangement: potential client pays a fee to a group XYZ which acts as an attorney matching service for family court matters. XYZ pays $800 to attorney to consult with the client, and attend one […]
Ethics Committee Topic: Use of Credit Card for Legal Services Conclusion of the Committee: “This Committee has previously opined on the use of credit cards by lawyers and law firms. After seeking a legal opinion from the Office of the Attorney General, the Committee opines that a lawyer may pass along merchant fees associated with credit card use […]
Originally published as Ethics Watch: Technology and Ethics (“Technethics”): 2013 in Review, South Carolina Lawyer 14 (March 2014) Bidding on the name of a competitor firm to obtain a sponsored link above the competitor in a Google search does not violate Wisconsin’s privacy law. Under Wisconsin law use of a person’s name for advertising purposes without […]
A.B.A. J., Jan. 2014 The author discusses ABA Formal Opinion 465 and the ethical risks deriving from lawyers’ use of deal-of-the-day marketing programs. Referenced Authority: ABA Formal Opinion 465 The full text is available at http://www.abajournal….
Ethics Advisory Committee Topic: May attorneys enter into a co-operative style TV based advertising contract with a for profit, non-lawyer, out-of-state third party advertising company paying a pro-rata share cost? Summary of the Committee “Advertisements must include the name and office address of a responsible South Carolina attorney and, in order to avoid misleading the […]
Opinion 465 issued October 21, 2013, the Committee analyzed two types of programs: coupon and prepaid. In a coupon program, the purchaser buys a voucher entitling the purchaser to a discount on legal fees. In the prepaid plan, the purchaser pays a lump sum for a described legal service or specified number of hours. The […]
American Bar Association Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility Topic: Lawyers’ Use of Deal-of-the-Day Marketing Programs The Committee analyzed two types of programs: coupon and prepaid. In a coupon program, the purchaser buys a voucher entitling the purchaser to a discount on legal fees. In the prepaid plan, the purchaser pays a lump sum […]
Committee on Ethics Topic: Lawyers’ Use of Deal-of-the-Day Marketing Programs The Committee addressed whether a lawyer’s use of a third party company that brokers discounted services to online customers violates rule of professional conduct. Where websites collect fees upfront and retains percentage of purchase price, arrangement it shall be considered as cost of advertising and […]
Consiglio Nazionale Forense, sentenza del 6 giugno 2013, n. 89 Topics: Unethical advertisement, services offered at a symbolic price, accaparramento di clientela (“ambulance chasing”) Consiglio Nazionale Forense* (Italian National Bar Council) held that it is unethical for lawyers to advertise in the internet that their services are offered for free, at a symbolic price, or […]
State Bar Association Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct Topic: Lawyers’ Use of Deal-of-the-Day Marketing Programs Digest of the Committee: Whether an Internet marketing voucher or coupon sold by a lawyer for legal representation is consistent with the Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct will depend on the terms and conditions of the voucher or […]