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Top news in legal ethics in review 

By: Correy Stephenson
Published: December 27, 2011

Tags: attorney advertising, blogging, cloud computing, ethics, ghostwriting, legal ethics, metadata, referrals, technology, Total Attorneys

News in legal ethics in 2011 ran the gamut from high-tech – can I friend the employee of an opposing party? – to more traditional challenges, like attorney advertising and judicial recusal.

Blogging lawyer disciplined 

By: Peter Vieth
Published: October 24, 2011

Tags: attorney advertising, attorney misconduct, client confidentiality, First Amendment, Virginia

A Virginia State Bar discipline committee rejected First Amendment defenses last week to find misconduct by a lawyer who wrote about his cases on the Internet without client consent and without a disclaimer saying case results may vary.

Court declines to hear New York advertising law case 

By: Kimberly Atkins
Published: December 21, 2010

Tags: attorney advertising, First Amendment, Supreme Court

A key ruling earlier this year invalidating several portions of New York’s legal advertising rules as unconstitutional will stand after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case.

Manufacturer can’t sue lawyer over advertisement 

By: Pat Murphy
Published: May 18, 2010

Tags: anti-SLAPP law, attorney advertising, class action, defamation, libel, product liability

A state law protecting free speech insulates a product liability lawyer from liability for running an advertisement notifying consumers of potential claims against particular manufacturers, the California Supreme Court has ruled.

Ethics Opinion: Virtual law office may violate state rules 

By: Correy Stephenson
Published: April 7, 2010

Tags: attorney advertising, ethics, virtual office

A virtual office does not qualify as a bona fide office pursuant to New Jersey state rules, according to a joint opinion of the New Jersey Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics and the Committee on Attorney Advertising.

Attorney solicitation rule violates First Amendment 

By: Sylvia Hsieh
Published: March 29, 2010

Tags: attorney advertising, client solicitation

A state law prohibiting an attorney from soliciting clients within 30 days of a person’s arrest or being served with a summons violates the First Amendment, a U.S. District Court in Texas has ruled.

2009: A year of high-tech ethical pitfalls 

By: Correy Stephenson
Published: January 8, 2010

Tags: attorney advertising, billing, blogs, ethics, instant messaging, legal marketing, legal research, legal websites, metadata, technology, text messages, virtual law practice

Ethics got high-tech in 2009. From texting clients to virtual law practice to posting questions on a listserv, lawyers struggled with the collision of professional responsibility and the ever-expanding world of technology.

Are lawyers debt relief agencies? 

By: Kimberly Atkins
Published: December 1, 2009

Tags: attorney advertising, Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, legal advice, Supreme Court

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court is considering a case that could clarify the limits on what bankruptcy attorneys can advertise and what advice they can give their clients.

Lawyer can’t be disciplined for television ads 

By: Pat Murphy
Published: October 16, 2009

Tags: attorney advertising, marketing

A lawyer couldn’t be disciplined for violating rules governing attorney advertising because the charge was based on a flawed market survey indicating that his television ads were misleading, the South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled in dismissing a complaint.

The dangers of online networking

By: Correy Stephenson
Published: April 13, 2009

Tags: attorney advertising, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Attorneys are being urged to go online to find clients more than ever before.

But Michael P. Downey, a partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson in St. Louis who focuses his practice on ethics (and is an author of the blog The Ethical Quandary), urges caution when participating in online social networking sites.