To: Supervising Attorney
From: Heather Leigh Bradley
Re: Security Protocols in the Law Office
Date: April 8, 2014
You have asked me to research the ethical rules about what is permissible for the website that you plan to create for the law firm. I have conducted legal research on the following issues and am presenting my findings, as follows:
1. Does the website have to list the state where s/he is licensed to practice?
Yes, the website does have to list the state or states where he/she is licensed to practice law. In ABA Model Rule 5.5: Unauthorized Practice of Law; Multijurisdictional Practice of Law, it states that a lawyer can not mislead, or withhold their jurisdiction of legal practice to the public, or misrepresent that they can practice law in a jurisdiction that they can not. A lawyer must make it known publically where they legally can practice law. The website must list your state or states that are in his/hers legal licensed jurisdiction must be specifically listed and can not be with held from general public knowledge or misleading to the public. His/hers state or states of licensed practice must be clearly listed to the public on any form of advertising, including websites.
2. Can the attorney list a legal specialty on the webpage? If so, are there specific rules that have to be followed? Is the attorney allowed to state that s/he is a certified personal injury litigator?
Yes, the attorney can list particular fields of law that they practice or do not practice, and yes they can list their specialty on the webpage but only if they are certified by an accredited organization and one that’s been accredited by the ABA, and they must state the organization where they received their certification in that specialty. They cannot say that they are certified in any specialized practice unless they have been certified by an
