Can a lawyer who runs a collection service mail circular letters to merchants' associations soliciting accounts to collect?
Oklahoma Bar Ethics Opinion 4: A Lawyer Soliciting Collection Work by Circular Letter
Short answer: The Board of Governors concluded that a lawyer who operated a collection service could not mail circular letters to merchants' associations soliciting accounts, because that solicitation by circular was unprofessional under Rule 29 and the use of a lay collection agency to channel legal work ran afoul of Rule 37.
Disclaimer: This is an advisory ethics opinion. Advisory opinions are not binding; they interpret the Oklahoma 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. The opinion text is reproduced at the bottom; the official source (linked) controls.
Plain-English summary
A lawyer had established a collection service in which he was both manager and attorney. He proposed to send out a form letter to secretaries of retail merchants' associations announcing the service, describing his experience in law and collections, and inviting them to forward accounts for collection. He asked whether sending the letter would violate any ethics rule.
The Board of Governors concluded that the proposed course of conduct would violate Rules 29 and 37 of the Rules of Professional Conduct. Under Rule 29, the letter would constitute solicitation of business by circular or advertisement not warranted by professional relations. Under Rule 37, the professional services of a lawyer should not be controlled or exploited by any agency, person, or corporation that intervenes between client and lawyer. The Board added that lawyers should not aid or participate in the practice of law by laymen or lay agencies, nor sanction it or profit from it.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1931, 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 The rule numbers cited here, Rules 29 and 37, belong to that superseded canon-era code and do not correspond to the current Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct. Restrictions on lawyer advertising and solicitation of the kind applied here were later substantially limited by Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1977), and subsequent First Amendment decisions; Oklahoma Ethics Opinion 310 (1998) cautions that advertising and solicitation opinions predating those changes may be outdated and should not be relied upon to the extent they are inconsistent with current law. 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 a lawyer mail letters to businesses soliciting collection accounts?
A: The opinion concluded no. The Board held that the proposed circular letter was solicitation of business by circular not warranted by professional relations under Rule 29.
Q: Why did the Board also cite Rule 37?
A: The opinion invoked Rule 37 because the lawyer proposed to route legal work through a collection-service agency, and Rule 37 provided that a lawyer's professional services should not be controlled or exploited by an agency intervening between client and lawyer.
Background and rules framework
The opinion applied two rules of the then-current Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct. Rule 29 condemned solicitation of business by circular, advertisement, or personal communication not warranted by personal relations. Rule 37 provided that the professional services of a lawyer should not be controlled or exploited by any agency, person, or corporation that intervenes between client and lawyer. Both were patterned on the ABA Canons of Professional Ethics in force at the time. The blanket prohibition on solicitation no longer reflects current law after the commercial-speech decisions discussed in the currency note above.
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- Rule 29 (1929 Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct): solicitation of business by circular or advertisement not warranted by personal relations is unprofessional.
- Rule 37 (1929 Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct): a lawyer's professional services should not be controlled or exploited by an agency, person, or corporation intervening between client and lawyer.
See also
- Okla. Bar Ethics Op. 3: Advertising Brief Services
- Okla. Bar Ethics Op. 1: Corporate Practice of Law
- ABA Formal Op. 465: Daily-Deal Marketing
Source
- Landing page: https://www.okbar.org/ethics/ethics-opinion-no-4/
Original opinion text
Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.
Adopted August 29, 1931
A member of the State Bar requests the opinion of the Board of Governors upon a proposed course of conduct as follows:
A lawyer has established a collection service known as ………… Collection Service, of which it appears he is manager and attorney. He proposes to forward to different organizations a letter as follows:
___ COLLECTION SERVICE
__, Manager ______, Attorney
General Collecting and Credit Reporting
____, Oklahoma
To Secretary of the Retail Merchants Ass'n.,
______, Oklahoma,
Dear Sir:
I have opened the ………… Collection Service with offices in the city of ………. for the purpose of doing a general collecting and reporting service in ………, ……… and ………… counties.
I have had ten years experience in the practice of law and the collection business, and will give each account forwarded to ………… Collection Service by personal attention and each account forwarded to me will have immediate attention. I will appreciate any business your office cares to forward to ………… Collection Service.
Should appreciate it if you would send me the name and address of a responsible collection agency at ………….
Yours very truly,
…….. Collection Service,
By …….. Manager.
The direct inquiry is "please advise me if I would be violating any principle of the ethics of the Bar Act if I sent this letter and others out."
It is the opinion of the Board of Governors that such a course of conduct would be in violation of Rules 29 and 37 of the Rules of Professional Conduct in that such course of conduct would constitute the solicitation of business by circular or advertisement not warranted by professional relations, (Rule 29); and in that "the professional services of a lawyer should not be controlled or exploited by any agency, person or corporation which intervenes between client and lawyer." (Rule 37). Lawyers should not aid or participate in any way in the practice of law by laymen or lay agencies, nor should they in any way sanction the same or profit therefrom.