Ethics Hotline & Opinions

ETHICS DOCKET NO. 1988-57

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MARYLAND STATE BAR ASSOCIATION, INC.

COMMITTEE ON ETHICS

ETHICS DOCKET NO. 1988-57

Advertising-Solicitation: Propriety of Non-Lawyer Consulting Firm Purchasing and Using Mailing Lists On Behalf of Its Lawyer Client


In your letter that was forwarded to the Executive Director of the Maryland Bar Association, you state that you are a consulting firm that performs marketing research and offers both mailing lists and promotional materials to its clients. You indicate that you are not owned in part or in whole by any attorney or member of the Bar Association. You would like to know the propriety of attorneys purchasing mailing lists from your group.

The Rules of Conduct governing direct mail solicitation are governed in part by Rule 7.1, 7.2, 7.3 and 7.4 of the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct. These Rules do not address the mechanism by which an attorney obtains the name of prospective clients. Rule 7.3(b) does state: ""A lawyer shall not contact, or send a communication to a prospective client for the purpose of obtaining professional employment if: (1) the lawyer knows or reasonably should know that the physical, emotional or mental state of the person is such that the person could not exercise reasonable judgment in employing a lawyer; (2) the person has made known to the lawyer a desire not to receive communications from the lawyer; or (3) the communication involves coercion, duress or harassment.""

  The comment to Rule 7.3 notes that the purpose of the Rule is to prevent harassment, overreaching, provocation of nuisance litigation and schemes for systematic fabrication of claims, and further notes that it is relevant to consider the time and circumstances under which the contact is initiated. Your inquiry does not provide any information as to how the mailing lists will be composed or obtained. To the extent that a mailing list was composed of a specific group whose members fit within the prohibition, then the attorneys' use of that particular mailing list would be prohibited. Otherwise, it is the opinion of the Committee that attorneys are not prohibited from purchasing mailing lists from a group such as yours.


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DISCLAIMER: Opinions of the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA) Ethics Committee are an uncompensated service of the MSBA. This Committee’s opinions are not binding on the Maryland Court of Appeals, Maryland Attorney Grievance Commission, MSBA or this Committee. The reader is advised that subsequent judicial opinions, revisions to the rules of professional conduct, and future opinions of this Committee may render the Opinions stated herein outdated. As such, the Committee’s opinions are advisory only and neither the Committee nor the MSBA assumes any liability whatsoever with respect thereto. Accordingly, reliance upon the opinions of this Committee is solely at the risk of the user.