May a lawyer's professional card use the title 'Judge' and describe him as an 'Experienced Receiver'?

Plain-English summary

The committee was asked whether a bar member's professional card, reading "Judge John Doe / Attorney and Experienced Receiver," could properly use the title "Judge" and the reference to "Experienced Receiver."

The committee said both references were improper. It quoted the portion of Canon 27 condemning indirect advertising and self-laudation while permitting the customary use of simple professional cards. Relying on ABA Opinion No. 251 and the committee's own Opinions Nos. 105 and 124, it explained that the "professional card" Canon 27 permits means the visiting card a lawyer carries to introduce himself, and may contain only the lawyer's name, address, telephone number, the names of associates or his firm, and a simple designation of his profession. Any title such as "Judge" or "Senator," or any reference to a specialty, would obviously be included for advertising purposes and is therefore prohibited.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1960, decades before Oklahoma replaced its original Rules of Professional Conduct (patterned on the ABA Canons of Professional Ethics) with the Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct (adopted 1988) and the later Ethics 2000 revisions. The advertising prohibitions underlying the opinion no longer reflect current law: the United States Supreme Court held in Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1977), that categorical bans on truthful lawyer advertising violate the First Amendment, and lawyer communications are governed by different rules today. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance.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 the lawyer use the title "Judge" on his professional card?

A: No. The committee said a title such as "Judge" would obviously be included for advertising purposes and is prohibited by Canon 27.

Q: Could the card describe him as an "Experienced Receiver"?

A: No. The committee treated a reference to a specialty the same way, as advertising prohibited by Canon 27.

Q: What may a simple professional card contain?

A: The committee said only the lawyer's name, address, telephone number, the names of associates or his firm, and a simple designation of his profession.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applied Canon 27 of the Canons of Professional Ethics, adopted in Oklahoma, which condemns indirect advertising and self-laudation but permits the customary use of simple professional cards, and adopted the ABA's definition of a professional card. It relied on ABA Opinion No. 251 and the committee's Opinions Nos. 105 and 124. The opinion predates the Model Rules and made no Model Rule citation.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• Canon 27 (ABA Canons of Professional Ethics, adopted by the Oklahoma Bar): condemns indirect advertising and self-laudation while permitting the customary use of simple professional cards.

Other opinions cited:

• ABA Formal Opinion No. 251: the "professional card" means the visiting card a lawyer carries to introduce himself.
• Oklahoma Opinion No. 105: same definition of a professional card.
• Oklahoma Opinion No. 124: same definition of a professional card.

See also

• Okla. Bar Ethics Op. 189: Letterhead listing fields of practice
• Okla. Bar Ethics Op. 157: Letterhead touting members' former public offices
• Okla. Bar Ethics Op. 60: Specialization on a door and professional card

Source

• Landing page: https://www.okbar.org/ethics/ethics-opinion-no-204/

Original opinion text

Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.

Adopted August 11, 1960

The Executive Council has submitted to the Legal Ethics Committee the following inquiry:

INQUIRY

The professional card of a member of the bar reads as follows:

Judge John Doe

Attorney and Experienced Receiver

Address Telephone No.

Is the use of the title “Judge” and the reference to “Experienced Receiver” proper?

OPINION

We are of the opinion that the answer to both parts of the question is that such references are improper. A portion of Canon 27 reads as follows:

“Indirect advertisements for professional employment such as furnishing or inspiring newspaper comments, or procuring his photograph to be published in connection with causes in which the lawyer has been or is engaged or concerning the manner of their conduct, the magnitude of the interest involved, the importance of the lawyer’s position, and all other like self-laudation, offend the traditions and lower the tone of our profession and are reprehensible; but the customary use of simple professional cards is not improper.”

The Ethics Committee of the American Bar Association has held that the “professional card” referred to in Canon 27 means the visiting card carried by lawyers to introduce themselves (Opinion No. 251). This definition has been likewise adhered to in Opinions Nos. 105 and 124 of this Association.

The simple professional card permitted by the Canon may contain the lawyer’s name, address, telephone number, the names of lawyer associates or the name of his firm and a simple designation of his profession. Any title, such as “Judge” or “Senator”, or any reference to a specialty would obviously be included for advertising purposes and is therefore prohibited.