May a Nebraska lawyer be listed as a client reference in an expert-services company's advertising brochure?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 1979. Ask about yours and see what the current Nebraska Rules of Professional Conduct say for your facts, with citations.
Plain-English summary
A company analyzing medical-malpractice cases and supplying expert opinions and witnesses asked to include a lawyer's name in the client-reference section of its updated brochure.
The brochure listed lawyers who apparently had used the company's services and was directed primarily, if not solely, to attorneys.
The committee found that the company was demonstrating use of its services by lawyers in different states. It did not characterize the listing as advertising or solicitation by the listed lawyer or as a lawyer list.
It therefore concluded that allowing the company to use the lawyer's name did not violate the former Code.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1979, before Nebraska's adoption of the 2005 Rules of Professional Conduct. Subsequent advertising, endorsements, client-list, expert-witness, and third-party marketing rules or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance.
Common questions
Q: Whose services did the brochure advertise?
A: The medical-malpractice analysis and expert services offered by the company.
Q: Was the lawyer's listing treated as solicitation?
A: No under the opinion.
Q: Who received the brochure?
A: It appeared to be directed primarily, if not solely, to attorneys.
Background and rules framework
The committee reviewed the former Code and distinguished a supplier's client-reference brochure from advertising, solicitation, or a lawyer list published by the lawyer.
Citations and references
No specific rule, case, statute, or other opinion was cited.
See also
- Nebraska Ethics Op. 12-04: Lawyer advertising testimonials
- Nebraska Ethics Op. 83-2: Direct-mail lawyer advertising
- Utah Ethics Op. 09-01: Advertising testimonials and dramatizations
Source
- Landing page: Nebraska lawyer ethics opinions archive
- Original PDF: Nebraska Ethics Advisory Opinion 79-5
Original opinion text
Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.
Nebraska Ethics Advisory Opinion for Lawyers No. 79-5
IT IS NOT IMPROPER FOR AN ATTORNEY TO PERMIT HIS NAME TO BE INCLUDED IN THE CLIENT REFERENCE SECTION OF AN ADVERTISING BROCHURE PUBLISHED BY A COMPANY WHICH PROVIDES ANALYSIS OF MEDICAL MALPRACTICE CASES AND EXPERT OPINION AND WITNESS SERVICES IN SUCH CASES.
FACTS
You enclose a letter from Health Care Analysis, Inc., which is a company which provides analysis of medical malpractice cases and provides expert opinion and witness services in such cases. This company has written you advising you that they are updating their brochure and would like to include your name in their client reference section. The sample brochure enclosed contains the names of a number of lawyers who have apparently used the services of this company. You asked whether allowing your name to be used on this company's advertising brochure would be a violation of any of the Canons of the Code of Professional Responsibility governing conduct of members of the Nebraska State Bar Association.
CONCLUSION
An examination of the Code of Professional Responsibility and the ethical considerations and disciplinary rules therein contained indicates that allowing your name to be used in this fashion would not be a violation of the Code.
In the opinion of the Committee, you are not advertising or soliciting and therefore none of the rules applicable to advertising or soliciting apply to you. Neither can this brochure be considered a lawyer list.
Of additional significance is the fact that apparently this brochure is directed primarily to attorneys, if not solely to attorneys and the purpose of the brochure does not appear to be advertising or solicitation by the attorneys mentioned therein, but rather an effort by the Health Care Analysis, Inc. to demonstrate that their services are being used by a number of lawyers in different states.
It is therefore the opinion of the Committee that the lending of your name for this purpose is not a violation of any provision of the Code of Professional Responsibility.
Nebraska Ethics Advisory Opinion for Lawyers No. 79-5
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