Can a lawyer running a virtual practice list a commercial mailbox (mail drop) as the only address in advertising, or on business cards and letterhead, instead of a physical office address?

Plain-English summary

A lawyer with a virtual, largely online immigration practice asked whether she could use a commercial mailbox service as her only listed address, omitting her home office, in advertising and on her business cards and letterhead. The committee splits the answer by whether the item is advertising.

For advertising, the answer is no. Rule 7.1(h) requires that "[a]ll advertisements shall include ... the principal law office address ... of the lawyer or law firm whose services are being offered." The committee reads that as requiring a physical street address, consistent with how it construed the precursor (DR 2-101(k)) in N.Y. State 756 (2002) and with the 2007 amendment changing "office address" to "principal law office address." So advertising may not give a mail drop as the sole address.

For business cards and letterhead, the answer turns on Rule 1.0(a)'s definition of "advertisement": a communication about the lawyer's services whose primary purpose is retention, excluding communications to existing clients or other lawyers. When a card or letterhead is used in the ordinary course of practice or socially, simply to identify the lawyer rather than to secure retention, it is not advertising. In that case Rule 7.1(h) imposes no address requirement, and Rule 7.5(a) is permissive, not mandatory, about addresses (citing N.Y. State 936 (2012)).

Two limits remain. If a card or letterhead is sent to someone other than an existing client or another lawyer primarily to secure retention, it becomes advertising and must carry the principal office street address. And independent of the advertising rules, Rule 8.4(c) bars using a mail drop in a way that is dishonest or misleading, for example presenting a mail drop as a physical office or a branch in another community without adequate explanation.

In practice

The opinion holds that, under the New York rules as they stood in 2013, a virtual-practice lawyer's advertisements must display the street address of a principal law office and may not substitute a commercial mailbox alone. The same lawyer's ordinary business cards and letterhead, used to identify her rather than to solicit retention, may list only the mail drop, provided the use is not misleading under Rule 8.4(c). The line the committee draws is the "primary purpose ... retention" test in Rule 1.0(a): cross it and the address mandate attaches.

Common questions

Q: Can I list only a P.O. box or mail-drop address in a lawyer advertisement in New York?

A: No. Per paragraphs 4 to 7, Rule 7.1(h) requires advertising to include the street address of the lawyer's principal office, so a mail drop cannot be the sole address.

Q: Do my business cards and letterhead have to show my physical office address?

A: Not if they are not advertising. Under paragraphs 8 to 12, Rule 7.1(h) imposes no address requirement on cards or letterhead used merely to identify the lawyer, and Rule 7.5 is permissive about addresses.

Q: When does a business card or letterhead become "advertising" that must carry the office address?

A: When it is given or sent to someone other than an existing client or another lawyer primarily to secure retention (paragraph 13). At that point Rule 7.1(h) applies and the principal office street address is required.

Q: Is it ever improper to use a mail-drop address even on a non-advertising card?

A: Yes. Paragraph 14 notes that under Rule 8.4(c) a mail drop may not be used to mislead, for example by appearing to be a physical office, or a branch in a community where the lawyer has none, without adequate explanation.

Background and rules framework

The opinion interprets New York's advertising rules: Rule 7.1(h) (Model Rule 7.1 family), which mandates a principal law office address in advertisements; Rule 7.5(a) (Model Rule 7.5), which permissively allows cards and letterhead bearing addresses; the Rule 1.0(a) definition of "advertisement"; and the general misconduct prohibition in Rule 8.4(c) (Model Rule 8.4(c)). The committee traces the address requirement from DR 2-101(k) through the 2007 and 2008/2009 amendments to confirm the physical-address mandate was carried forward unchanged.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• MR 7.1 / NY Rule 7.1(h) (required content of advertisements; principal law office address)
• MR 7.5 / NY Rule 7.5(a) (professional cards and letterhead)
• NY Rule 1.0(a) (definition of "advertisement")
• MR 8.4 / NY Rule 8.4(c) (dishonesty, fraud, deceit, misrepresentation)

Other opinions cited:

• N.Y. State 756 (2002): "office address" means a physical street address; a website or email cannot be the sole address.
• N.Y. State 936 (2012): Rule 7.1 applies to letterhead only when used in a communication that is an advertisement.
• N.Y. State 937 (2012): communications to build general brand awareness are not advertising.
• N.Y. State 881 (2011): listing a spouse's firm address without disclaimer can mislead.
• N.Y. State 546 (1982): listing a mail drop as a branch office without explanation is deceptive.

See also

• NY State Bar Op. 1025: Virtual law office and advertised principal office address
• NY State Bar Op. 1028: Firm name, letterhead, and business card designations
• NY State Bar Op. 1054: Choice of law for a virtual law office in another state
• NY State Bar Op. 967: When a lawyer's blog is not an advertisement

Source

• Landing page: https://nysba.org/ethics-opinion-964/