Can a law firm list its investigator, office manager, or medical assistant by name and title on its letterhead?

Plain-English summary

The committee considered whether a law firm could identify its investigator, office manager, and medical assistant by name and position on its letterhead, or otherwise indicate that it employed persons in those capacities. It answered no.

The committee read DR 2-102(A) as a general prohibition on the use of letterheads and similar notices or devices, followed by six numbered exceptions that each specify what information may appear on a particular kind of notice. DR 2-102(A)(4) sets out what a law firm may show on its letterhead. Because the identity of investigators, office managers, and medical assistants, or the fact that the firm employs persons in those roles, is not among the information DR 2-102(A)(4) permits, the committee concluded that such information may not appear on the letterhead by reason of the general prohibition at the start of DR 2-102(A).

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1976 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, and before the U.S. Supreme Court's commercial-speech advertising decisions reshaped lawyer-advertising regulation. 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 Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance.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: Can a firm put its investigator or office manager on the letterhead?

A: No. The committee concluded that naming nonlawyer staff or their positions is not authorized by DR 2-102(A)(4) and therefore falls under the general letterhead prohibition of DR 2-102(A).

Q: Why was the answer no?

A: The opinion read DR 2-102(A) as prohibiting any letterhead content except what its enumerated exceptions allow; nonlawyer staff identities are not among the permitted items.

Background and rules framework

The opinion interpreted DR 2-102(A) and its exception DR 2-102(A)(4), which governed what a lawyer or firm could place on a letterhead under the former Code. The modern analogs are Model Rule 7.5 (firm names and letterheads) and Model Rule 7.1 (communications about a lawyer's services), which turn on whether a communication is false or misleading rather than on a closed list of permitted items.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• DR 2-102(A) and DR 2-102(A)(4) (letterheads); modern analogs Model Rule 7.5 and Model Rule 7.1

See also

• KBA Ethics Op. E-182: Nonlawyer on Firm Letterhead
• KBA Ethics Op. E-191: Nonlawyer on Firm Business Cards
• KBA Ethics Op. E-223: Paralegal Names on Letterhead

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-158.pdf

Original opinion text

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

KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION
Ethics Opinion KBA E-158
Issued: November 1976

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 law firm identify on its letterhead, its investigator, office manager, and medical assistant by name and position, or otherwise indicate it employs persons in one or more of these capacities?

Answer:

No.

References:

DR 2-102(A)

OPINION

DR 2-102(A) begins with a general prohibition of the use of letterheads and similar “notices or devices” by lawyers. This general prohibition is followed by six numbered exceptions, each of which specifies the information which may appear on some particular kind of “notice” or “device.” DR 2-102(A)(4) specifies the information which a law firm may show on its letterhead. The identity of investigators, office managers, and medical assistants employed or used by the firm, or the fact that the firm employs or uses persons in such capacities, is not among the information specified as permissible by DR 2-102(A)(4). Therefore the information may not appear on the letterhead, by reason of the general prohibition at the beginning of DR 2-102(A).

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.