Can a New York lawyer's advertisement give only a website or email address, or must it include a physical street address?

Plain-English summary

The committee was asked whether a legal-services advertisement satisfies DR 2-101(K), which requires "the name, office address and telephone number of the attorney or law firm," if it lists only a website or email address rather than a street address. Building on N.Y. State 709 (1998), which treated internet advertising like other advertising, the committee concluded that a website or email address used as the sole identifier does not satisfy DR 2-101(K).

The committee read "office address" by its accepted pre-internet meaning, a physical street address of the principal office where business is conducted and to which mail, deliveries, and other communications can be sent. That requirement serves several purposes consistent with EC 2-10: it helps a prospective client make an intelligent choice, and it avoids the misleading impression of physical proximity, or of an ability to serve in jurisdictions where the lawyer is not qualified, that an address-less ad could create. The committee also tied the requirement to the purposes of Judiciary Law section 470 (non-resident New York attorneys must keep an in-state law office) and the practical needs of locating the attorney and effecting personal service.

The committee found nothing in the rise of the internet that changed the meaning of "office address" or the purposes it serves. It therefore concluded that every advertisement of legal services must include, among the required items, the street address of the advertising lawyer or firm.

In practice

Under the Code as it stood in 2002, the opinion concluded that a lawyer's advertisement must carry the physical street address of the office, and a website or email address alone does not meet DR 2-101(K). The opinion held the requirement applies regardless of the advertising medium, including internet advertising.

Common questions

Q: Can a New York lawyer advertise with only a website or email address?

A: No. The opinion concludes a website or email address as the sole address does not satisfy DR 2-101(K); the ad must also include the lawyer's physical street office address.

Q: Why does the advertisement need a street address?

A: The opinion explains the street address helps prospective clients choose intelligently, prevents misleading impressions of proximity or of practice in jurisdictions where the lawyer is not qualified, and supports locating the lawyer and effecting service.

Q: Did the internet change this requirement?

A: No. The opinion concludes nothing about the internet altered the accepted meaning of "office address" or the purposes the street-address requirement serves.

Background and rules framework

The opinion interprets New York's former Code of Professional Responsibility: DR 2-101(K) (required identifying information in legal advertising), DR 2-101(A) and (D) (false, deceptive, or misleading advertising), and DR 1-102(A)(4) (conduct involving deceit), with EC 2-10. The Model Rules analogues are Rule 7.2 (advertising, which requires identifying a responsible lawyer's office) and Rule 7.1 (truthful communications about services). New York replaced this Code with the Rules of Professional Conduct in 2009; the DR numbers cited here are historical.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• MR 7.2 (advertising; identifying information)
• MR 7.1 (communications about a lawyer's services)
• NY DR 2-101(K), DR 2-101(A), DR 2-101(D), DR 1-102(A)(4)

Statutes:

• N.Y. Judiciary Law section 470 (non-resident attorney must maintain an in-state law office)

Other opinions cited:

• N.Y. State 709 (1998): internet advertising treated like other advertising

See also

• NY State Bar Op. 1025: Virtual law office and advertised principal office address
• NY State Bar Op. 757: Disclaimer for specialty-certification announcements
• NY State Bar Op. 771: Website testimonials and past-results advertising

Source

• Landing page: https://nysba.org/ethics-opinion-756/