Can a law firm list a name and phone number in a city's telephone directory when the firm does not actually maintain an office there?

Plain-English summary

The committee answered two related telephone-directory questions, both no. The first asked whether a lawyer may list a firm name and telephone number in a city's yellow pages when no firm by that name exists in the city where the listing appears. The committee, applying the reasoning of the then-recent In the Matter of R.M.J. decision, found the listing misleading because it necessarily implies that the firm is admitted to practice and is in fact practicing in Kentucky when no such firm exists.

The second asked whether a firm may list "Piere's Patent Law Firm, Lexington" with a phone number when no firm is actually operating in Lexington. The committee answered that such a listing is, on its face, misleading. Both holdings turn on the same point: a directory listing that signals a local practice the firm does not maintain misleads the public, which is impermissible.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1982 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. 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 Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance.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 list itself in a city's phone directory if it has no office there?

A: No. The opinion concluded that a listing implying the firm practices in a city where it maintains no office is misleading and not permitted.

Q: Why is that kind of listing treated as misleading?

A: Because, in the committee's words, it necessarily implies the firm is admitted to practice and is in fact practicing in that location when no such firm exists there.

Q: Does a named example like "Piere's Patent Law Firm, Lexington" change the analysis?

A: No. The committee said that listing is misleading on its face where no firm is actually operating in Lexington.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applies the Code's prohibition on false or misleading communications about a lawyer's services (DR 2-101 and the firm-name provisions of DR 2-102), read in light of the commercial-speech framework of In the Matter of R.M.J., which permits regulation of misleading lawyer advertising. The modern analogs are Model Rule 7.1 (communications about a lawyer's services must not be false or misleading) and Model Rule 7.5 (firm names and designations).

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• DR 2-101 and DR 2-102 (false or misleading advertising and firm names); modern analogs Model Rules 7.1 and 7.5

Cases:

• In the Matter of R.M.J., 455 U.S. 191 (1982), regulation of misleading lawyer advertising

Other opinions cited:

• KBA E-261 (as cited in the opinion text; the cross-reference in the original appears to point to the companion advertising opinion KBA E-260)

See also

• KBA Ethics Op. E-260: Out-of-State Lawyer Advertising
• KBA Ethics Op. E-259: False Firm Name, Two Firms
• KBA Ethics Op. E-246: 'And Associates' Firm Name

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-261.pdf

Original opinion text

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

KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION
Ethics Opinion KBA E-261
Issued: May 1982

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 1:

May a lawyer list in the yellow pages of a telephone directory a law firm's name and the telephone number when in fact there is no law firm by that name in the city in which the law firm has the listing?

Answer 1:

No.

Question 2:

May a law firm list in the telephone directory Piere's Patent Law Firm, Lexington, with a phone number when in fact there is no law firm operating in Lexington?

Answer 2:

No.

References:

KBA E-261; In the Matter of R.M.J., 455 U.S. 191, 102 S.Ct. 929 (1982)

OPINION

Opinion 1
In KBA E-261 this Committee looked at advertising in view of the recent In the Matter of R.M.J. case.
Once again we find that this advertisement is misleading because it necessarily implies that the law firm is admitted to practice law and is in fact practicing in the State of Kentucky when in fact no law firm exists.
Opinion 2
It is obvious that such a listing is on its face misleading.

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.