May an attorney's name appear in a newspaper notice of an estate or bankruptcy sale without violating the advertising canon?

Plain-English summary

The committee was asked whether the name of an attorney or firm appearing in advertisements of this nature (a notice of a bankruptcy sale) violates any canon. It recalled an earlier instance in another county where a full-page ad for an executor's or administrator's sale carried an attorney's name in large letters, which it had thought might violate Canon 27 because the lettering was so large and the reason for the name's appearance so problematical, while recognizing that an attorney's name in a notice to creditors is common practice in probate and helps interested parties and other attorneys make contact.

The committee treated the question as one of degree and basically of good taste. Where a definite purpose for including the attorney's or firm's name is apparent and the size of the lettering and the name's location do not call undue attention to it, no violation of Canon 27 occurs; the committee said that had the firm's name in this instance been in the same size type as the rest of the informative part of the ad, it would have been proper. Where the name serves no useful purpose and is included solely to call attention to the attorney's professional status, a clear violation occurs, and likewise where the name appears in unusually large print or in a location so prominent as to call undue attention to it.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1961, 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 Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance.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 an attorney's name appear in a sale notice at all?

A: Yes, within limits. The committee said the name is proper where it serves a definite purpose and its size and placement do not call undue attention to the attorney.

Q: When does the name violate Canon 27?

A: The committee said a clear violation occurs where the name serves no useful purpose and is included solely to call attention to the attorney's professional status, or where it appears in unusually large type or a prominent location.

Q: What was the test the committee used?

A: The committee said the question is one of degree and basically of good taste, turning on purpose and on the size and placement of the name.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applied Canon 27 of the Canons of Professional Ethics, adopted in Oklahoma, which bars direct and indirect advertising, to the appearance of an attorney's name in a sale notice, resolving it as a matter of degree and good taste. It compared the situation to the common, proper practice of naming an attorney in a probate notice to creditors. 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): bars direct and indirect advertising; application turns on purpose and prominence.

See also

• Okla. Bar Ethics Op. 92: Paid photograph and name in a newspaper edition
• Okla. Bar Ethics Op. 203: Cooperating with a newspaper feature on a night-law-school student

Source

• Landing page: https://www.okbar.org/ethics/ethics-opinion-no-211/

Original opinion text

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

Adopted September 15, 1961

INQUIRY

Does the name of an attorney or of a firm of attorneys appearing in ads of this nature constitute a violation of any canon of professional ethics?

OPINION

This is not the first time that this problem has been presented. Last year in a different county a full-page ad of an executor’s or administrator’s sale appeared in which the name of the attorney appeared in large letters without the reference to the fact that inquiries could be made to him. In that instance it was felt that the lettering of the attorney’s name was so large and the reason for its appearance in the metropolitan newspaper in connection with the sale so problematical, that it perhaps constituted a violation of Canon 27 which prohibits direct or indirect advertising. However, at that time it was felt that this was merely a question of degree; that the appearance of an attorney’s name in connection with notice to creditors is common practice in probate proceedings. There it has the definite advantage of facilitating the contacting of the proper attorneys by interested parties and other attorneys, and the practice as such is not improper. In the instant case a definite purpose is indicated in the inclusion of the attorney’s name in the notice of bankruptcy sale; and had the name of the firm of attorneys in this instance been in the samesized type as the balance of the informative part of the advertisement, we are of the opinion that it would have been proper.

As is so often the case in problems of this nature, the question is one of degree and is basically one of good taste. If a definite purpose in including the name of the attorney or firm of attorneys in an advertisement of this nature is apparent and the size of the lettering and the location of the name in the advertisement is not such as to call undue attention to the names of the attorney or attorneys, it is felt that no violation of Canon 27 occurs. If, on the other hand, the inclusion of the attorney’s name serves no useful purpose and is included solely to call attention to the professional status of the attorney, a clear violation occurs. By the same token, if the name or names appear in print of unusual size or the location in the ad is so prominent as to call undue attention to the attorneys’ names, a violation occurs.