"
MARYLAND STATE BAR ASSOCIATION, INC.
COMMITTEE ON ETHICS
ETHICS DOCKET NO. 1988-65
Advertising-Solicitation: Personal Injury Referral Service
In your letter dated January 4, 1988, you state the following. Your firm and other law firms and/or attorneys in the Washington Metropolitan area are considering participating in a joint advertising program. The advertising program would be conducted by a separate corporation, to be established by your firm, which will use a name such as ""The Litigation Group."" The advertisement would provide a telephone number for persons in need of legal services to call. The person answering the call would refer the caller to a law firm or attorney who is a member of The Litigation Group based on some predetermined criteria such as the caller's address. Lawyers and law firms participating in The Litigation Group would pay that organization a fee consisting of their pro-rata share of the administration and advertising expenses. You have requested the Committee's view as to whether the approach you describe comports with the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct.
The specific provisions of the Maryland Rules of Professional Conduct particularly relevant to your inquiry are Rules 7.1 and 7.2. Rule 7.1 provides in pertinent part:
A lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's services. A communication is false or misleading if it:
(a) contains a material misrepresenting of fact or law, or omits a fact necessary to make the statement considered as a whole not materially misleading;
Rule 7.2 provides:
(a) Subject to the requirements of Rules 7.1 and 7.3(b), a lawyer may advertise services through public media, such as a telephone directory, legal directory, newspaper or other periodical, outdoor, radio or television advertising, or through communications not involving in person contact.
(b) A copy or recording of an advertisement or such other communication shall be kept for at least three years after its last dissemination along with a record of when and where it was used.
(c) A lawyer shall not give anything of value to a person for recommending the lawyer's services, except that a lawyer may pay the reasonable cost of advertising or written communication permitted by this rule and may pay the usual charges of a not for-profit lawyer referral service or other legal service organization.
(d) Any communication made pursuant to this rule shall include the name of at least one lawyer responsible for its content.
(e) A lawyer, including a participant in an advertising group or lawyer referral service or other program involving communications concerning the lawyer's services, shall be personally responsible for compliance with the provisions of Rules 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4 and 7.5 and shall be prepared to substantiate such compliance.
The type of joint advertising you contemplate is not proscribed per se. However, to be acceptable it must comport with the foregoing rules. For example, the use of the name ""The Litigation Group""
could be materially misleading without the additional information that this is merely a group of unassociated lawyers who are advertising jointly. Without such explanation, a consumer could reasonably conclude that the ""The Litigation Group"" is a single entity providing legal services.
In addition, as required by Rule 7.2(d) all advertising must include the name of at least one lawyer responsible for its contents. Moreover Rule 7.2(e) requires all lawyers who participate in The Litigation Group advertising to be personally responsible for compliance with the provisions of Rules 7.1 - 7.4.
You have provided a draft of the type of advertising you may employ. As a matter of practice, the Committee does not opine on the adequacy of specific advertisements. However, as with all advertising it must comport with the requirements of Rules 7.1- 7.4. Statements such as ""No Recovery -- No Feel"" which appears in your draft may not comport with Rule 7.1(a) without an additional statement that even if there is no recovery, a client would be responsible for expenses incurred by the lawyer, if such would be the arrangement. Without such additional information an unsophisticated consumer might believe that no payment at all would be required if there was no recovery in the case.
"