NEW RULES QUESTIONS

WEBSITES

1. Do we need to submit our firm’s website for review by the Advertising Review Committee?

Yes, websites are required to be reviewed by the Advertising Review Committee, as outlined in the new Rule 7.07(c), Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct (TDRPC).   When submitting a website for review, please send two printed copies of the site’s initial access page and write the actual or intended domain name or uniform resource locator (URL) for the site on the space provided on the application form.

2. What are the basic requirements for websites?

The name of the lawyer or law firm responsible for the website and city of the firm’s or lawyer’s principal office are required on all websites and must be displayed on the initial access page (generally the home page), just like they are required for all advertisements reviewed by the Advertising Review Committee.   Everything else on a web site must still be in compliance with the requirements detailed in Part VII of the TDRPC.  To read the Advertising Review Committee’s interpretive comment number seventeen (17) for further information, please click here.

STATEMENT OF RESULTS

1. What does an advertisement need to comply with the new Rule 7.02(a)(2), TDRPC?

The use of results in an advertisement may require a lawyer to provide more information in the advertisement.   Anytime a result is stated from litigated cases, an advertisement must contain the nature of the damages or injuries that prompted the case and the litigation attorney fees, and expenses figures, for ads where a gross amount is used for the results.  To read the Advertising Review Committee’s interpretive comment number twenty-six (26) for further information, please click here.

2. Does Rule 7.02(a)(2), TDRPC, apply to transactional matters?

Yes, but it depends on what is being stated.   A lawyer must provide details enough as to not be misleading about the nature of the matter and must have served as lead counsel or the lawyer primarily responsible for the case(s). The Advertising Review Committee’s Interpretive Comment #26 addresses this issue.

3. Does Rule 7.02(a)(2), TDRPC, apply to statements of experience?

No, if a lawyer says they’ve “represented thousands of clients in bankruptcy cases” or “handled many divorce settlements”, that is a statement of   experience and not the statement of a result from a specific case.

4. Does Rule 7.02(a)(2), TDRPC, apply to cumulative totals used in advertisements?

Yes, a lawyer who uses cumulative amount statements, such as “Our firm has earned $200 million dollars in verdicts in the past ten years,” must provide the required items detailed in Rule 7.02(a)(2) for each case.

TEXAS BOARD OF LEGAL SPECIALIZATION DISCLAIMERS

1. Does an advertisement need any statement concerning being certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization (TBLS)?

No, the requirement to declare whether a lawyer is or is not certified by the TBLS was removed from Part VII of the TDRPC.   A lawyer, however, must be competent in the fields of law mentioned in the advertisement, as required by Rule 7.02(a)(6), TDRPC.  A lawyer cannot use the words “specialized,” “certified” or any word related to those two words in their ad (such as “special”) unless they do have a Certificate of Special Competence from the TBLS.  Remember that a firm cannot state the firm specializes in a field of law unless all members of that firm are certified in that field.

SAME MANNER, EQUAL PROMINENCE

1. What is the purpose of Rule 7.04(q), TDRPC?

Rule 7.04(q) is to ensure that any type of disclaimer is provided in the same manner as the item being disclaimed.   This means that all requirements of 7.02(a)(2), TDRPC, must be presented in the same manner anytime a result is stated in an advertisement.  If a result is spoken, the other parts of Rule 7.02(a)(2) must also be presented orally.  If a result is printed in large, bold numbers, then the sections required in Rule 7.02(a)(2) must also be in large, bold figures.

Examples:

If an office other than the firm’s or lawyer’s principal one is used in an advertisement, as outlined in Rule 7.04(j)(2), TDRPC, and is not staffed full-time by an attorney, the firm must provide a disclaimer either stating that meetings with the firm’s lawyers are by appointment only or providing the lawyer’s office hours in the same manner as the font size and form as the printed name of the city.

This also applies to contingent fee statements such as “No attorney’s fees, court costs, or expenses unless you recover.”   If that statement is used but a client may be responsible for paying certain court costs, litigation expenses or medical expenses, that must be disclosed in the same manner with equal prominence to the item it is disclaiming.

Another example is for times when a lawyer needs to say “Paid Spokesperson” in a television commercial talking about their legal services, they cannot just display “Paid Spokesperson” on the screen; they must also provide the disclaimer in a spoken manner.