Can a lawyer run an announcement in a legal journal offering to act as a consultant or associate to other lawyers in a particular field?

Plain-English summary

An attorney asked whether he could place an announcement in the Kentucky Bar Journal advising of his availability to act as a consultant to or associate of other lawyers in a particular branch of law, and submitted a proposed form. The committee answered yes.

The committee relied on KBA Opinion E-72, where it had said that a lawyer available to act as a consultant or associate to other lawyers in a particular branch of law may distribute to other lawyers and publish in legal journals a dignified announcement of that availability. The authority was DR 2-105(A)(3), which permits such an announcement but bars any representation of special competence or experience, limits distribution to lawyers to once a calendar year, and allows periodic publication in legal journals. The committee found the submitted form contained nothing that would do violence to the rule and gave it specific approval, while noting that whether the Journal would actually publish such announcements was a policy and economic matter outside the committee's control.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1974 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. The advertising rules in particular changed substantially after Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1977), which held that categorical bans on lawyer advertising violate the First Amendment. 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 Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance.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 lawyer advertise availability to consult or associate with other lawyers in a field?

A: Yes. The committee held that, per DR 2-105(A)(3) and KBA Opinion E-72, a lawyer may publish a dignified announcement of such availability in legal journals.

Q: What may the announcement not contain?

A: Under DR 2-105(A)(3), it may not contain any representation of special competence or experience.

Q: How often may the announcement appear?

A: The committee noted that under DR 2-105(A)(3) the announcement may not be distributed to lawyers more than once in a calendar year, but it may be published periodically in legal journals.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applied DR 2-105(A)(3) of the former Code of Professional Responsibility, which permits a lawyer to publish a dignified announcement of availability as a consultant or associate to other lawyers in a particular branch of law, subject to a bar on claims of special competence and limits on frequency. The modern analogs are Model Rule 7.2 (advertising) and Model Rule 7.1 (false or misleading communications about a lawyer's services).

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• DR 2-105(A)(3) (dignified announcement of availability as a consultant or associate to other lawyers); modern analogs Model Rules 7.2 and 7.1

Other opinions cited:

• KBA Opinion E-72 (a lawyer may publish a dignified announcement of availability as a consultant or associate)

See also

• KBA Ethics Op. E-224: Advertising a General Practice
• KBA Ethics Op. E-249: Law Firm Newspaper Announcements
• 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-091.pdf

Original opinion text

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

KENTUCKY BAR ASSOCIATION
Ethics Opinion KBA E-91
Issued: March 1974

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 an attorney ethically place an announcement in the "Kentucky Bar Journal" advising of his availability to act as a consultant to or as an associate of other lawyers in a particular branch of law?

Answer:

Yes.

References:

Opinion KBA 72; DR 2-105(A)(3)

OPINION

The Committee has received an inquiry from an attorney who desires to place an announcement in the Kentucky Bar Journal advising of his availability to act as a consultant to or as an associate of other lawyers in a particular branch of law. He inquires whether this may ethically be done and, if so, requests approval of the following form of announcement:

ANNOUNCEMENT
…, of the firm of …, announces that he is available to act as consultant to or as an associate of other lawyers in the field of … practice. The address of the firm is …, phone.

We have previously considered this question in KBA Opinion E-72, where it was noted that an associate of other lawyers in a particular branch of law might ethically distribute to other lawyers and publish in legal journals a dignified announcement of such availability. Reference for this conclusion was found in DR 2-105(A)(3). which provides:

A lawyer available to act as a consultant to or as an associate of other lawyers in a particular branch of law or legal service may distribute to other lawyers and publish in legal journals a dignified announcement of such availability, but the announcement shall not contain a representation of special competence or experience. The announcement shall not be distributed to lawyers more frequently than once in a calendar year, but it may be published periodically in legal journals.

We have not had occasion to consider the particular form such announcements should take, but it is clear that they must adhere to the requirements of DR 2-105(A)(3). When considered in this light, the announcement submitted with this inquiry contains nothing that, in our opinion, would do violence to the operative rule.

In conclusion, the Committee believes that an announcement of the type under consideration may ethically "be published periodically" in the Kentucky Bar Journal. We also give specific approval to the form of announcement contained in this opinion. However, whether and under what circumstances the Journal may wish to undertake publication of such announcements is a matter of policy and economics over which we have no control.

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.