What must a multi-state law firm's New York letterhead and business cards disclose about which lawyers are admitted in New York?
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This page answers the general question as of 1998. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current New York Rules of Professional Conduct, with citations.
Plain-English summary
A law firm based in another state planned to open a New York City office staffed by lawyers admitted in New York, and asked the committee a series of questions about the proper content of letterhead and business cards. The committee answered them against the touchstone of DR 2-101: a lawyer's public communications may not be false, deceptive or misleading, and DR 2-102(A) treats letterhead and business cards as public communications subject to that standard. The opinion read the enumerations in DR 2-102(A) as enabling rather than limiting.
On the letterhead questions, the committee concluded that a firm may print only the firm name and omit individual lawyers' names; that nothing in the Code requires the name of a supervising or resident partner to appear; and that personal letterhead identifying both the firm and an individual lawyer is permissible without stating the lawyer's status (associate, of counsel or partner). It also concluded the firm could include its website address, noting the website is itself a public communication that must comply with the Code.
The core requirement concerned jurisdictional limitations under DR 2-102(D). The committee reasoned that the principal office address on the letterhead implies that each lawyer named on it is admitted where that address is located. Where that implication is untrue, it must be clarified: if only a New York address is shown, a lawyer not admitted in New York should not appear without stating where the lawyer is admitted; if two jurisdictions' addresses appear, "not admitted in New York" suffices; and if three or more appear, an "admitted only in" legend listing the lawyer's jurisdictions is appropriate unless the lawyer is admitted in all the shown jurisdictions other than New York. The same disclosure applies to business cards carrying a New York address. The committee expressly declined to opine on whether a lawyer not admitted in New York could use such a card without engaging in the unauthorized practice of law, calling that a question of law outside its jurisdiction.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1998, under New York's former Code of Professional Responsibility, which New York replaced with the Rules of Professional Conduct in 2009. 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: Does a firm letterhead have to list the lawyers' names?
A: The opinion concluded no. A firm may print only the firm name and omit individual lawyers' names, and nothing in the Code requires the name of a supervising or resident partner to appear.
Q: How should a New York letterhead show that a named lawyer is not admitted in New York?
A: The opinion tied the required language to how many addresses appear. With a single New York address, the lawyer's actual admitting jurisdiction should be stated; with two addresses, "not admitted in New York" suffices; with three or more, an "admitted only in" legend listing the lawyer's jurisdictions is appropriate.
Q: Do business cards need the same disclosure?
A: The opinion concluded that a card carrying a New York address for a lawyer not admitted in New York must disclose that limitation, for the same reasons as letterhead under DR 2-102(D).
Q: Can the firm put its website address on the letterhead?
A: The opinion concluded yes, adding that the website is itself a public communication that must conform to the Code.
Background and rules framework
The opinion interpreted DR 2-101(A) and (D) (false, deceptive or misleading communications and the purpose of advertising) and DR 2-102(A) and (D) (letterhead, business cards, and disclosure of jurisdictional limitations) of New York's former Code, applied through DR 1-102 and DR 1-104 to both the firm and its lawyers. The Model Rule analogues are Rule 7.1 (communications concerning a lawyer's services) and Rule 7.5 (firm names and letterheads). New York replaced the Code with the Rules of Professional Conduct in 2009; the DR numbers cited here are historical.
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- MR 7.1 (communications concerning a lawyer's services)
- MR 7.5 (firm names and letterheads)
- NY DR 2-101(A), (D); DR 2-102(A), (D); DR 1-102; DR 1-104
Cases:
- New York Criminal and Civil Courts Bar Ass'n v. Jacoby, 61 N.Y.2d 130 (1984), firm-name letterhead
Other opinions cited:
- N.Y. State 500 (1978): purpose of lawyer advertising
- N.Y. State 557 (1984): letterhead as public communication
- N.Y. State 434 (1976): formulations for stating jurisdictional limitations
See also
- NY State Bar Op. 1173: Listing New York admission on out-of-state letterhead
- NY State Bar Op. 1147: Using "Esq." when not admitted in New York
- NY State Bar Op. 1003: Firm name using middle initials and surname
Source
- Landing page: https://nysba.org/opinion-704/
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