Can a New York lawyer or law firm list practice areas under a 'Specialties' heading on a social media profile like LinkedIn?
NY State Bar Ethics Opinion 972: Listing under "Specialties" on social media
Short answer: A law firm may not list its services under a "Specialties" heading on a social media site, and an individual lawyer may do so only if certified as a specialist under Rule 7.4(c), because using that label claims specialization, which Rule 7.4(a) prohibits absent certification.
Disclaimer: This is an advisory ethics opinion. Advisory opinions are not binding; they interpret the New York State Bar Association's rules of professional conduct and are persuasive authority. This summary is for research purposes only and is not legal advice. Verify current rules before acting on any specific guidance.
About this page: The plain-English summary and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official opinion. We do not reproduce the opinion text on this page; follow the linked source for the official text, which controls.
Plain-English summary
A lawyer's firm created a LinkedIn page. In the "About" segment, the site offers a fixed section labeled "Specialties," where the firm can add items but cannot change the label, alongside other sections such as "Skills and Expertise," "Overview," "Industry," and "Products & Services." The committee was asked whether the firm or lawyer may use the "Specialties" section to describe the kinds of services provided (¶¶ 1-2).
The opinion holds it may not, under that label. Rule 7.4(a) lets a lawyer or firm publicly identify areas of practice but forbids stating that the lawyer or firm "is a specialist or specializes" in a field, except as Rule 7.4(c) allows. Listing practice areas under a heading of "Specialties" would itself constitute that prohibited claim of specialization (¶ 4, citing N.Y. State 559). The committee did not decide whether the same practice areas could be listed under different headings such as "Products & Services" or "Skills and Expertise" (¶ 4).
The opinion notes the narrow exception. Rule 7.4(c) permits an individual lawyer to state the fact of certification as a specialist, with the mandated disclaimer, if certified by an ABA-approved private organization or by the authority of another state. That exception runs only to individual lawyers; Rule 7.4(c) does not let a law firm claim specialist certification, so Rule 7.4(a) bars a firm from doing so (¶ 5). The opinion also flags that the required disclaimer must be "prominently made," and a lawyer claiming a specialty risks violating Rule 7.4(c), through Rule 8.4(a), if the social media site does not satisfy that prominence requirement (¶ 5, n.2).
In practice
Under this opinion, as the rules stood at the time, the label drives the result: identifying practice areas is permitted under Rule 7.4(a), but doing so under a "Specialties" heading converts the listing into a prohibited specialization claim. The opinion holds a firm may never use that heading, and an individual lawyer may use it only if certified under Rule 7.4(c) with the mandated, prominently made disclaimer.
Per the opinion, the constraint is not limited to text the lawyer types; a fixed platform label like LinkedIn's "Specialties" can itself be the offending claim, and Rule 8.4(a)'s "through the acts of another" provision means a lawyer cannot escape Rule 7.4 by pointing to the platform's design (¶ 5). The committee expressly left open whether other LinkedIn section labels would be permissible (¶ 4).
Common questions
Q: Can a New York law firm list services under "Specialties" on LinkedIn?
A: No. The opinion holds that listing under a "Specialties" heading claims the firm specializes, which Rule 7.4(a) prohibits, and Rule 7.4(c)'s certification exception does not extend to firms (¶¶ 4-5).
Q: Can an individual lawyer use the "Specialties" heading?
A: Only if certified as a specialist under Rule 7.4(c) by an ABA-approved organization or another state's authority, and only with the required disclaimer prominently made (¶ 5).
Q: Does it matter that LinkedIn, not the lawyer, names the section "Specialties"?
A: No. Per the opinion, the platform's fixed label is still the lawyer's claim of specialization, and Rule 8.4(a) reaches violations committed "through the acts of another" (¶ 5).
Q: Can the lawyer list the same practice areas under a different heading?
A: The committee did not decide. It expressly declined to address whether practice areas could be listed under labels such as "Products & Services" or "Skills and Expertise" (¶ 4).
Background and rules framework
The opinion interprets Rule 7.4 (analogous to Model Rule 7.4), which permits identifying practice areas but bars claiming to be a "specialist" or to "specialize" except where Rule 7.4(c) allows a certified lawyer to say so with a disclaimer. It reads that rule together with Rule 8.4(a), which reaches rule violations accomplished through another's acts (here, the platform's labeling).
The opinion records that the disclaimer requirements changed after Hayes v. Grievance Committee of the Eighth Judicial District, 672 F.3d 158 (2d Cir. 2012), which struck part of the required disclaimer language and found the "prominently made" requirement void for vagueness as applied; the committee notes the requirement's status was unsettled at the time.
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- Model Rule 7.4 / NY Rule 7.4(a), 7.4(c) (statements about practice areas and specialization)
- NY Rule 8.4(a) (violation of the Rules through the acts of another)
Cases:
- Hayes v. Grievance Comm. of the Eighth Jud. Dist., 672 F.3d 158 (2d Cir. 2012), striking parts of the specialist-disclaimer requirement
Other opinions cited:
- N.Y. State 559 (1984): improper to be listed by "legal specialty" in a directory under the predecessor rule
See also
- NY State Bar Op. 1031: Using "specialist" in a nonlawyer job title
- NY State Bar Op. 1005: Misleading superlatives in lawyer advertising
- NY State Bar Op. 1007: Advertising a "Best Lawyers" listing
Source
- Landing page: https://nysba.org/ethics-opinion-972/