Proposed Advertising Rules Could Improve Consumer Awareness of Lawyers' Services

Written by Angel Gutierrez

Responsive Law recently submitted comments to the American Bar Association regarding proposed rule changes to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct governing lawyer advertising and solicitation. Lawyer advertising is one of the most common ways that people find out about where they can get legal help. Restrictions on truthful advertising not only hinder the lawyer's ability to advertise her services, but also the consumer's ability to find the right lawyer for her legal matter. Lawyers have the right to convey truthful information and consumers have the right to make an informed decision among different options for legal services.

The current rules of professional conduct maintain an antiquated mindset under which advertising is heavily restricted due to being seen as undignified. While a Victorian era gentleman could find a good lawyer through recommendations from family members or friends from the country club, the modern consumer relies on advertising—especially online—to find professional services. Despite repeated court rulings that lawyers are free to advertise like any other profession, the ABA's Model Rules (followed by nearly all states) keep them shackled with unnecessary restrictions that serve to protect this antiquated business model rather than to protect consumers. This view of advertising as some type of "tasteless" activity leads to a society of uninformed consumers. If this type of pressure on lawyers continues, then the legal profession will never see change and consumers will always be left out of the equation.

A recent research study by Rebecca Sandefur (a member of our policy advisory board) concluded that most Americans are unaware when their problems have a legal component and wouldn't know how to find a lawyer even if they thought one would help them. Under the current rules, lawyers end up providing less information to consumers due to fear of punishment for running afoul of overly restrictive and unnecessarily technical restrictions.

Fortunately, the proposed amendments may indicate a shift in the bar's thinking. The amendments would streamline the rules to focus more on the truthfulness of lawyer advertising and solicitation and less on the form that such advertising takes. Responsive Law's comments to the ABA support these proposals in the hope that they will move the legal profession out of the Victorian-era and into the era of technology, where consumers can more easily access information about lawyers at the touch of a button.

You can find Responsive Law's testimony here.

Angel Gutierrez is a Responsive Law intern.