REMINDER-VIDEO SHARING WEBSITES:

Attorney or law firm videos disseminated on video sharing websites such as YouTube, MySpace or Facebook that solicit legal services are considered public media advertisements and are required to be filed with the Advertising Review Committee, unless exempted by Rule 7.07(e), TDRPC. The application can be downloaded from this page and the review fee is $75. Failure to file can result in a fee/fine of $300, and/or possible disciplinary action.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call 800-566-4616 or email gmajor@texasbar.com.

Required to say “Not Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization,” or “Board Certified, (Field of Law), Texas Board of Legal Specialization,” for any field of law mentioned in the advertisement.

NO REQUIREMENT.
The advertising lawyer or law firm must be competent in the advertised field of law and cannot say they are specialized or certified unless they or their entire firm have been certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Insert disclaimer, “Results depend on the facts of each case,” to deal with stating results from previous cases.

CANNOT USE DISCLAIMER.
Must provide information dealing with the nature of the case, further details into the type of amounts stated in the ad. A disclaimer does not cure the violation.  See Rule 7.02(a)(2), Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct (TDRPC).

Cumulative results amounts can be used in advertisement without any additional information.

Cumulative results amounts CANNOT be presented in ads without each case fulfilling the required items detailed in Rule 7.02(a)(2), TDRPC, on the same page of the advertisement as the stated result (this includes websites).  See Interpretive Comment 26.

Websites SHOULD be submitted to the Advertising Review Committee for
review, unless the material presented on the website are only items listed in or is disseminated in a manner described in Rule 7.07(e), which would exempt it from the submission requirements

All law firms websites MUST be submitted to the Advertising Review Committee for review, unless the material presented on the website are only items listed in or is disseminated in a manner described in Rule 7.07(e), which would  exempt it from the submission requirements.

Disclaimers could be very small in relation to the item they are disclaiming.

All disclaimers MUST be presented in the SAME MANNER with EQUAL PROMINENCE to the item being disclaimed.

 Frequently Asked Questions (including questions regarding the Revised Rules effective
     as of June 1, 2005)
    The State Bar reviews all attorney advertisements before broadcast or publication. Find out
    more about the process by clicking here.  For more information about the new rules
    click here.

Focus on the Rules

Each month one rule will be presented that are frequently cited as violations in letters responding to requests from submitting lawyers who have submitted advertisements or solicitation communications to the Committee.

July 2009's rule is 7.07(e) - This rule outlines what items are exempt from the submission requirements outlined in the rest of Rule 7.07.  This section is divided into three parts: a list of items, an only those items, that can be used in an exeempt ad; specific kinds of announcements; and different dissemination methods used for disseminating ad/solicitations.  If any ad or solicitation falls into a situation described in this rule, it does not need to be reviewed by the Committee.  An example of this kind of item that does not need to be reviewed are lawyer or law firm advertisements printed in a local bar association publication.

 Submission Directions

Completing the Application Form

MAILING ADDRESS

If using the US Postal Service:
Advertising Review Committee
State Bar of Texas
PO Box 12487
Austin, TX 78711-2487

If using another delivery service:
Advertising Review Committee
State Bar of Texas
1414 Colorado St., 5th Floor
Austin, TX 78701