Can a lawyer running for office say in a campaign ad that he is both a lawyer and a CPA?

Plain-English summary

The committee addressed a lawyer who was also a certified public accountant, running for Lieutenant Governor, and asked whether he could identify himself in both capacities in the same campaign advertisement. The committee answered yes.

It started from DR 2-101(B), the general bar on a lawyer publicizing himself through advertising, and its DR 2-101(B)(1) exception allowing a lawyer-candidate to identify himself as a lawyer where his professional status is germane to the campaign or a political issue. Drawing on Opinion KBA E-53, the committee reasoned that while legal training may not be needed for the Lieutenant Governor's regular duties, the Lieutenant Governor succeeds to the Governorship and frequently acts as Governor, so a lawyer's status is germane and he may make a "limited and dignified identification" as a lawyer. The committee found accountant training similarly germane.

On combining the two, the committee explained that DR 2-102(E) bars a lawyer who is also a CPA from identifying himself as a CPA in his legal practice, because in a professional context that improperly implies special competence or specialty in fields of law (EC 2-14), which Kentucky had no system to certify. But that implication arises only in a professional context. In a political context the candidate asks the public to draw conclusions about his fitness for office from each status separately, not to connect the two, so DR 2-102(E) did not apply.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1975 under Kentucky's former Code of Professional Responsibility (in effect 1971 to 1990), before the Kentucky Bar Association's 1990 adoption of the Rules of Professional Conduct (SCR 3.130) and the substantial 2009 revisions to those rules. It also predates Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1977), which held that blanket bans on lawyer advertising violate the First Amendment and reshaped the advertising rules the opinion applies. Subsequent rule amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against the current rules before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or requirement mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Could a lawyer running for office call himself a lawyer in campaign ads?

A: Yes, where his professional status is germane to the campaign. The committee found a lawyer's status germane to a Lieutenant Governor campaign because that officer succeeds to and frequently acts as Governor.

Q: Why was identifying as a CPA allowed here but not in legal practice?

A: The committee said DR 2-102(E) bars the lawyer-CPA label only in a professional context, where it implies a specialty Kentucky did not certify. In a political ad the context is not professional, so the bar did not apply.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applied the former Code's advertising provisions, DR 2-101(B) and its candidate exception DR 2-101(B)(1), and DR 2-102(E) with EC 2-14 on identifying as a CPA. The modern analogs are Model Rule 7.1 (communications about a lawyer's services) and Model Rule 7.4 (communication of fields of practice and specialization).

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• DR 2-101(B), DR 2-101(B)(1) (advertising and the candidate exception); modern analog Model Rule 7.1
• DR 2-102(E), EC 2-14 (identifying as a CPA; implied specialty); modern analog Model Rule 7.4

Other opinions cited:

• KBA Opinion E-53

See also

• KBA Ethics Op. E-118: Naming a Lawyer in a Client's Ad
• KBA Ethics Op. E-161: News Story on a New Lawyer

Source

• Landing page: https://kybar.org/For-Members/Rules-Ethics-Information/Ethics-Opinions
• Original PDF: https://kybar.org/Portals/0/Admin/Ethics%20Opinions/KBA_E-116.pdf

Original opinion text

Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.

KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION
Ethics Opinion KBA E-116
Issued: July 1975

This opinion was decided under the Code of Professional Responsibility, which was in effect from 1971 to 1990. Lawyers should consult the current version of the Rules of Professional Conduct and Comments, SCR 3.130 (available at http://www.kybar.org), especially Rules 7.01-7.50 and the Attorneys' Advertising Commission Regulations, before relying on this opinion.

Question:

May a lawyer who is a candidate for Lieutenant Governor identify himself as a lawyer and a certified public accountant in the same campaign advertisement?

Answer:

Yes.

References:

DR 2-101(B)(1), 2-102(E); EC 2-14

OPINION

In general, DR 2-101(B) provides that a lawyer may not publicize himself by advertising as a lawyer. DR 2-101(B)(I) makes an exception to this general rule: When a lawyer is running for political office, he may identify himself as a lawyer when his professional status is germane to the campaign or to a political issue. In KBA Opinion E-53 we observed that a lawyer-candidate may properly identify himself as a lawyer in his campaign advertising where he is running for an office in which knowledge of the law and legal training are helpful.

It is doubtful whether legal training is helpful to the Lieutenant Governor in performance of his regular duties. Legal training is helpful to the Governor in performance of his duties. In Kentucky the Lieutenant Governor succeeds to the Governorship when there is a vacancy in that office. In addition, the Lieutenant Governor is required to act as Governor with some frequency. Accordingly, we believe that the professional status of a lawyer-candidate for Lieutenant Governor is germane to his campaign and that he may make "limited and dignified identification" of himself as a lawyer in his campaign advertising.

We also believe that training as an accountant is similarly germane to the campaign of a CPA-candidate for Lieutenant Governor.

We believe it is not improper for a candidate for Lieutenant Governor who is both a lawyer and a certified public accountant to identify himself in both statuses in the same political advertisement. Under DR 2-102(E), a lawyer who is also a CPA may not identify himself in the latter capacity in his legal practice. In Kentucky there is no general system for insuring claims of special competence in particular fields of law. A lawyer who, in a professional context, identifies himself as a CPA, improperly implies that he is a specialist or that he has special training and ability. See EC 2-14. Thus the prohibition of DR 2-102(E). But this implication arises only because the dual-professional identification is made in a professional context.

Here, the dual identification is made in a political context, so that DR 2-102(E) does not apply. The candidate asks the public to make implications concerning his qualifications for office from his status as a lawyer and his status as a CPA. He does not ask the public to make any implication connecting the two statuses and it seems perfectly clear that the public would not make any such implication in the circumstances.

Note to Reader

This ethics opinion has been formally adopted by the Board of Governors of the Kentucky Bar Association under the provisions of Kentucky Supreme Court Rule 3.530 (or its predecessor rule). The Rule provides that formal opinions are advisory only.