Can a North Carolina lawyer run a billboard or other ad that shows only a website URL, without the firm name, lawyer names, or office address?

Plain-English summary

A law firm owns several URLs (for example, www.ABCtowndwi.com) that each serve as a landing page for the firm's website, which contains the firm's full name, the individual lawyers' names, and the office address. The firm wants to run a billboard campaign that includes only one of those URLs, leaving out the firm name, the lawyers' names, and the office address. The committee concludes the campaign is permissible. An editor's note states the opinion is not limited to billboards but applies to all forms of legal advertisement.

The opinion starts from Rule 7.1, which requires communications about a lawyer's services to be truthful and not misleading, and Rule 7.2(c), which requires any communication about a lawyer's services to include the name and office address of at least one responsible lawyer or firm. Although Rule 7.2(c) has traditionally been read to require that identifying information in the advertisement itself, the committee applies the Rules as "rules of reason" (Rule 0.2, cmt. [1]) and points to prior opinions that relaxed the literal requirement: 2012 FEO 6 (a leased time-shared or post office address can satisfy the address requirement), 2005 FEO 14 (a firm URL need not specifically identify the site as a law firm's if the homepage identifies the sponsoring firm), and 2017 FEO 1 (a text ad with a website address but no office address satisfies Rule 7.2(c)).

The committee reasons that a firm website ordinarily contains more than enough information to satisfy Rule 7.2(c) and avoid misleading the public, and that a URL actually gives the consumer access to more information than a name-and-address line would. An advertisement that includes a URL therefore complies with Rule 7.2(c) so long as the website contains the firm's official name or trade name, or a responsible lawyer's name, and the office address; the name must appear on the homepage, and the office address must be easily found on the site though it need not be on the homepage.

In practice

Under the North Carolina rules as they stood at the time of the opinion, an advertisement that shows only a URL is, per the opinion, compliant with Rule 7.2(c) when the linked website carries the required identifying information. The opinion specifies the conditions: the firm's official name, trade name, or a responsible lawyer's name must appear on the website homepage, and the firm's office address must be easily findable on the site even if it is not on the homepage. The opinion frames this as an application of Rule 7.2(c) read as a rule of reason, consistent with 2005 FEO 14, 2012 FEO 6, and 2017 FEO 1, and not as a relaxation of Rule 7.1's overarching requirement that the advertisement not be false or misleading.

Common questions

Q: Can a North Carolina lawyer's billboard show only a website address?

A: Yes. The opinion holds an advertisement that includes a URL complies with Rule 7.2(c) so long as the firm's website contains the firm's name (or a responsible lawyer's name) and office address. An editor's note extends the holding beyond billboards to all forms of legal advertisement.

Q: What must the firm's website contain for the URL-only ad to comply?

A: The website must contain the firm's official name or trade name, or the name of a responsible lawyer, on the homepage, and the firm's office address, which can appear elsewhere on the site so long as it is easily found.

Q: Does the office address have to be on the homepage?

A: No. The opinion states the firm name or lawyer name must appear on the homepage, but the office address "need not appear on the homepage provided it can be easily found on the website."

Background and rules framework

The opinion interprets North Carolina's advertising rules. Rule 7.1 (Model Rule 7.1) requires all communications about a lawyer and the lawyer's services to be truthful and not misleading. Rule 7.2(c) (Model Rule 7.2) requires any communication about a lawyer or the lawyer's services to include the name and office address of at least one lawyer or law firm responsible for its content. The committee reads these rules together with the Scope provision, Rule 0.2, comment [1], which describes the Rules of Professional Conduct as "rules of reason."

The committee builds on a line of its own opinions construing the Rule 7.2(c) disclosure requirement flexibly: 2012 FEO 6 (alternative address forms), 2005 FEO 14 (URL need not label itself a law firm site), and 2017 FEO 1 (text advertisement with a website address where the office address can be found).

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• Model Rule 7.1 / NC Rule 7.1 (truthful, not misleading communications)
• Model Rule 7.2 / NC Rule 7.2(c) (name and office address of responsible lawyer or firm)
• NC Rule 0.2, Scope, cmt. [1] (Rules are rules of reason)

Other opinions cited:

• 2005 FEO 14: a firm URL need not specifically identify the website as a law firm's if the homepage identifies the sponsoring firm or lawyer.
• 2012 FEO 6: a leased time-shared office address or a post office address can satisfy the Rule 7.2(c) address requirement.
• 2017 FEO 1: a text advertisement with a website address but no office address satisfies Rule 7.2(c).

See also

• NC State Bar 2017 FEO 1: Text Message Advertising
• ABA Formal Op. 10-457: Lawyer Websites
• Alabama Op. 1990-100: Trade Name Must Appear in Communications

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ncbar.gov/for-lawyers/ethics-and-governing-rules/ethics-opinions/opinions/2017-formal-ethics-opinion-3/

Original opinion text

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

Editor’s Note: The opinion is not limited to billboard advertisements; it applies to all forms of legal advertisement.

Inquiry:

Law Firm owns numerous Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) such as www.ABCtowndwi.com. Each of the URLs is a “landing page” for Law Firm’s website. Law Firm’s website includes Law Firm’s full name, the names of the individual lawyers in Law Firm, and Law Firm’s office address.

Law Firm would like to start a billboard advertising campaign. Law firm does not want to include Law Firm’s full name, the names of the individual lawyers in Law Firm, or Law Firm’s office address in the advertisement, but does intend to include one of the URLs.

Is the proposed billboard campaign permissible under the Rules of Professional Conduct?

Opinion:

Yes. Rule 7.1 requires all communications about a lawyer and the lawyer’s services to be truthful and not misleading. Rule 7.2(c) requires any communication about a lawyer or a lawyer’s services to include the name and office address of at least one lawyer or law firm responsible for its content.

Traditionally, Rule 7.2(c) has been applied so as to require all forms of print and media legal advertising to include the listed information to avoid misleading the public about the identity of the responsible lawyer or firm and the location of the firm. However, the Rules of Professional Conduct are rules of reason to be applied in a reasonable manner under the circumstances. See Rule 0.2, Scope, cmt. [1]. For example, in 2012 FEO 6, the Ethics Committee determined that a law firm may use a leased time-shared office address or a post office address to satisfy the address disclosure requirement for advertising communications in Rule 7.2(c). In 2005 FEO 14, the Ethics Committee concluded that, “as long as a URL of a law firm is not otherwise misleading or false and the homepage of the website identifies the sponsoring law firm or lawyer, the URL does not have to contain language specifically identifying the website as one belonging to a law firm.” Similarly, 2017 FEO 1 holds that a text message advertisement that does not include the lawyer’s office address but does include the lawyer’s website address, where the office address can be found, satisfies the requirements of Rule 7.2(c).

A law firm’s website will generally contain more than enough information to satisfy the requirements of Rule 7.2(c) and avoid misleading the public. Utilizing a website address in an advertisement actually provides a consumer with the ability to access more information about the lawyer or law firm than an advertisement that contains only the lawyer’s or the firm’s name and office address. Therefore, an advertisement that includes a URL for a law firm’s website complies with Rule 7.2(c) so long as the law firm’s website contains the law firm’s official name or trade name, or the name of a responsible lawyer, and the firm’s office address. The firm name, trade name, or the name of the lawyer must appear on the website homepage. The firm’s office address need not appear on the homepage provided it can be easily found on the website.