Associations Weigh In on Policies
Two vastly different professional associations are advancing policies on client development issues: The West Virginia Trial Lawyers Association and the Legal Marketing Association.
According to Lawyers Weekly USA, the West Virginia Trial Lawyers Association has promulgated a voluntary code of conduct governing solicitation, which was passed by the association's board in September. Some of the guidelines appear to be coterminous with ethics rules, e.g. prohibitions against going to the site of tragedy to solicit clients and filing frivolous suits. Others are unique, e.g. not contacting the media for at least 10 day after an event. Although the guidelines are positioned as voluntary, violators could be expelled from the association. Next up, recommendations on lawyer advertising.
On the other hand, the Legal Marketing Association, a national group of about 2,500 law firm marketers and vendors, is considering its first policy recommendation. The policy will encourage the states to adopt the ABA Model Rule provisions governing client development that resulted from the ABA Ethics 2000 initiative. The rules, which are being considered in several states, loosen the definition of "false and misleading," drop the requirement for firms to retain advertising copy for two years and permit lawyers to solicit business from other lawyers in-person. The LMA, however, encourages states to modify Model Rule 8.5, governing choice of laws, before enacting it. The rule currently provides, in part, "A lawyer not admitted to this jurisdiction is also subject to the disciplinary authority of this jurisdiction if the lawyer provides or offers to provide any legal services in this jurisdiction." LMA recommends the words "or offers to provide" be stricken from the rule. As written, the rule subjects lawyers in large firms to the rules of the states where the firms advertise, which is frequently every state.