Could a Nebraska legal-aid society place city-bus posters telling people unable to afford counsel how to contact it?

Plain-English summary

A legal-aid society proposed 11-by-28-inch city-bus posters inviting people who needed legal advice and could not afford counsel to contact the society at its address and telephone number.

The committee found no violation of former Canons 27, 28, 35, or 40. It relied on ABA opinions allowing bar and legal-aid organizations to inform the public about access to legal services when the message served the public rather than generating employment for particular lawyers.

The poster had to remain dignified in tone and appearance and could not identify any individual lawyer. Those conditions distinguished institutional public information from lawyer advertising or solicitation.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1968, before Nebraska's adoption of the 2005 Rules of Professional Conduct. Subsequent rule amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or requirement.

Common questions

Q: What could the poster tell riders?

A: That people needing legal advice who could not afford a lawyer could contact the legal-aid society for information and assistance at its listed address and telephone number.

Q: Could the poster name a participating lawyer?

A: No. The committee prohibited naming any individual lawyer.

Q: What tone did the opinion require?

A: A dignified tone and appearance.

Q: Why was the institutional message permitted?

A: The cited authorities allowed public information intended to connect people with legal services rather than promote professional employment for individual lawyers.

Background and rules framework

Former Canons 27, 28, 35, and 40 addressed advertising, stirring up litigation, intermediaries, and newspaper publicity. The committee applied ABA guidance approving dignified, public-benefit outreach by organized bars and charitable legal-aid groups.

Citations and references

Former ethics provisions:

• Former Canons 27, 28, 35, and 40

Other opinions cited:

• ABA Formal Opinions 121, 148, 179, 191, and 307
• ABA Informal Opinions 888 and 992

See also

• Nebraska Ethics Op. 73-10: Temporary part-time legal aid
• Nebraska Ethics Op. 74-7: College campus referral service
• Nebraska Ethics Op. 73-7: Bar publicity program

Source

• Landing page: Nebraska lawyer ethics opinions archive
• Original PDF: Nebraska Ethics Advisory Opinion 68-2

Original opinion text

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

Nebraska Ethics Advisory Opinion for Lawyers No. 68-2

A LEGAL AID SOCIETY MAY, UNDER PROPER CIRCUMSTANCES, INSTALL POSTERS IN CITY BUSSES, ADVISING POOR PEOPLE HOW TO CONTACT THE SOCIETY FOR LEGAL ASSISTANCE, PROVIDED THAT THE POSTERS ARE DIGNIFIED IN TONE AND DO NOT MENTION THE NAME OF ANY INDIVIDUAL LAWYER.
CANONS INTERPRETED: (Professional Ethics)

Canon 27: Advertising, Direct or Indirect. Canon 28: Stirring up Litigation, Directly or Through Agents. Canon 35: Intermediaries. Canon 40: Newspapers

A legal aid society inquired concerning the ethical propriety of placing posters in city busses, advising poor people how to contact the organization for legal assistance. The posters would be about 11 inches by 28 inches, in size, on which cardboard with black lettering, and contain language, substantially as follows, viz: "If You Need Legal Advice and Cannot Afford a Lawyer, Contact the Legal Aid Society for Information and Assistance at ___, Telephone No.
__".

The Advisory Committee of the Nebraska State Bar Association is of the opinion that this procedure would not violate any of the Canons of Professional Ethics.

In Formal Opinion 121 of the Committee on Professional Ethics of the American Bar Association, interpreting Canons of Professional Ethics 27, 28 and 40, a local bar association was authorized to purchase advertising space in a local newspaper, for the purpose of informing the public how and when to consult an attorney, provided that such advertising was dignified in tone, did not contain pictures, and did not mention the name of any individual lawyer. Quoting from the Opinion: "The articles, in purpose and effect, should be for the intelligent guidance of the public and should be free form the suspicion that selfish motives are the dominant purpose".

Formal Opinion 179, in approving sponsorship by a local bar association of a radio broadcast, which dramatized the need for competent legal advice in drafting, wills, provided that: (1) No reference to individual lawyers be made; (2) The motivation was to benefit the lay public rather than to increase professional employment; and (3) The manner in which it was presented, was in keeping with the dignity and traditions of the profession.

The ethical propriety of an attorney performing "Law Consultant Service" for those served by a national charitable institution, was exhaustively discussed and analyzed in Informal Opinion No. 888, rendered by the Standing Committee on Professional Ethics of the American Bar Association on December 11, 1965. This Informal Opinion, consisting of 10 pages, includes this statement, viz: "We have consistently recognized that free legal clinics, carried on by the organized bar, are not ethically objectionable (Opinion 191); and that Canon 27 does not prohibit acquainting the lay public with the expert services the legal profession is able to render, provided it is not actuated to secure greater professional employment, and is carried on by an organized bar association and not by individual lawyers (Opinion 179) ". Formal Opinion 307, issued May 26, 1962, permits a bar association to sponsor and inform the public of an annual legal check-up program by way of a dignified educational campaign, provided that the names of no individual lawyers are advertised and that the attorneys agree to abide by a fixed fee schedule.

Informal Opinion No. 992, issued August 26, 1967, permitted the making of announcements and new releases pertaining to the opening of Legal Aid offices by a legal assistance corporation. Involved were five neighborhood offices where indigents, needing legal advice, could receive legal assistance. Published and distributed was a pamphlet, which described the organization, its facilities and its programs, also receiving considerable favorable newspaper publicity. It cites Formal Opinion 148, wherein is contained this statement: "Offering publicly to render legal services without charge to citizens, who are unable to pay for them, is not unethical". The Informal Opinion clearly pointed out that no violations of Canons 27, 28 or 35 were involved in this type of situation.

Moreover, the use and dissemination of posters on busses, with language similar to that which was proposed in this request, which posters were in two colors and of the same approximate size as that contemplated in this query, was recently approved in Kansas City.

Accordingly, it would appear that a legal aid society, especially one which is in the nature of a charitable legal assistance corporation, may properly and ethically install posters in city busses, advising poor people as to how and where the society may be contacted for legal information and assistance provided, however, that the posters are dignified in tone and appearance and do not mention the name of any individual lawyer.

October 9, 1968

Nebraska Ethics Advisory Opinion for Lawyers No. 68-2