Ezel / Ethics Opinions / NYSBA
NYSBA July 9, 1975

What may a lawyer include in a classified telephone directory listing beyond name, address, and office number?

Short answer: The opinion concluded that a lawyer's classified directory listing may include the firm name, a night or alternative telephone number, the office building name, suite, zip, and cable address, but may not list a column of partners under the firm name or claim a specialty except for patent (and, by law, reputable law lists), modifying N.Y. State 81 on the night-number point.

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This page answers the general question as of 1975. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current New York Rules of Professional Conduct, with citations.

Currency note: this opinion is from 1975
Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later opinions or rule amendments may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
Disclaimer: Advisory only. Not binding precedent.
About this page: The plain-English summary, reader guidance, and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official ethics opinion. The original opinion (linked on this page) is the authoritative source for any reliance.

Plain-English summary

A lawyer asked what could be added to a classified directory listing beyond name, address, and office number: the firm name, a night number, the building name, suite, zip, cable address, professional-corporation initials, specialty designations, and earned law degrees. The committee began from the Code's then-restrictive view that lawyer advertising would impair confidence in the legal system (EC 2-9), tempered by EC 2-10's allowance of dignified identifying data, including directory listings, where the public interest in access to counsel outweighs the incidental publicity.

Applying DR 2-102(A)(5), the committee resolved several points. Because the rule permits listing telephone "numbers" in the plural and does not bar a night or holiday number, and clients sometimes need urgent advice outside office hours, an alternative number is not improper; to the extent N.Y. State 81 (1968) was inconsistent, it was modified. A firm name listed beneath the lawyer's own name is a proper means of identification, and the rule's reference to a firm listing "separate from" members permits an additional standalone firm listing rather than forbidding association with a partner's name. But a firm name followed by a column of its partners or associates would improperly emphasize the firm's importance. The building name, suite, zip, and cable address are proper locating data.

On specialties, the committee held that patent lawyers may be listed under a separate heading (N.Y. State 106 (1969)), but that privilege had not been extended to trademark or admiralty lawyers. Although there was a trend toward liberalizing publicity restrictions, the existing Code did not let a lawyer hold himself out as a specialist except in a reputable law list or directory, or as a patent, trademark, or admiralty lawyer, so prior limits on publicizing a specialty remained operative until the Code was amended.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1975, before New York replaced the Code of Professional Responsibility with the Rules of Professional Conduct in 2009, and predates the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Bates v. State Bar of Arizona (1977), which struck down broad bans on lawyer advertising. Lawyer advertising and specialty claims are now governed by Rules 7.1, 7.2, and 7.4. 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 mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Could a lawyer list a night or after-hours telephone number?

A: Under this opinion, yes. The committee read DR 2-102(A)(5)'s permission to list "numbers" to allow an alternative number for urgent needs, modifying the contrary part of N.Y. State 81 (1968).

Q: Could the listing tout the firm by stacking its partners' names?

A: No. The committee said a firm name followed by a column of its partners or associates would improperly emphasize the firm's importance, influence, or success.

Q: Could a lawyer claim a specialty in the directory?

A: Per the opinion, only patent lawyers could be listed under a separate specialty heading; the privilege had not been extended to trademark or admiralty lawyers, and otherwise a lawyer could not hold himself out as a specialist except in a reputable law list.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applies Canon 2, EC 2-9 and 2-10, DR 2-102(A)(5) and (6), and DR 2-105(A)(1) of the then-current New York Code, governing dignified identification and the bar on holding oneself out as a specialist. These restrictions long predate the modern advertising rules; lawyer advertising is now governed by Rules 7.1 (communications about services), 7.2 (advertising), and 7.4 (fields of practice and specialization), reshaped after Bates.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

  • MR 7.1 (communications concerning a lawyer's services)
  • MR 7.2 (advertising)
  • MR 7.4 (communication of fields of practice and specialization)
  • NY Canon 2; EC 2-9, EC 2-10; DR 2-102(A)(5), (6); DR 2-105(A)(1)

Other opinions cited:

  • N.Y. State 81 (1968): directory listings (modified as to a night number)
  • N.Y. State 106 (1969): patent lawyers may be listed under a separate heading
  • ABA 284 (1951); ABA 313 (1964): identifying data in directory listings

See also

Source

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