My partner and I want to advertise our personal-injury work under just 'A and B attorneys' without naming our actual law firm. Is that allowed?
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This page answers the general question as of 1993. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current rules of professional conduct in your state, with citations.
Plain-English summary
Attorneys A and B are partners in a law firm. Both wished to advertise their services in the area of personal injury, but the firm did not want its name used in the advertisement. For that reason, A and B asked whether they could advertise under the name "A and B" or "A and B attorneys."
The opinion applies Rule 7.1, "Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services," which bars a lawyer from making a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's services. The opinion concludes that the proposed advertisement would be misleading because it omits a material fact -- the law firm in which A and B practice -- and implies that A and B are a two-person firm.
In practice
Under this opinion, the omission of the firm name is what makes the advertisement misleading: by presenting only the two partners' names, it conveys the false impression that they constitute a stand-alone two-person firm rather than members of a larger firm. The opinion locates the defect in Rule 7.1's prohibition on communications that omit a material fact.
Common questions
Q: Can partners advertise under just their own names without naming the firm?
A: On these facts, no. The opinion concludes that doing so would be misleading under Rule 7.1 because it omits the material fact of the firm in which they practice.
Q: Why is leaving off the firm name a problem?
A: The opinion says the omission implies that A and B are a two-person firm, which is a misleading impression under Rule 7.1.
Background and rules framework
The opinion interprets Rhode Island Rule of Professional Conduct 7.1, the analog of Model Rule 7.1, which prohibits false or misleading communications about a lawyer or the lawyer's services, including communications that omit a fact necessary to keep the statement, considered as a whole, from being materially misleading.
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- MR 7.1 / RI RPC 7.1 (communications concerning a lawyer's services; misleading omissions)
See also
- RI EAP Opinion 92-95: a firm trade name from partners' initials is misleading under 7.1/7.5
- RI EAP Opinion 93-41: practicing in two professional corporations is barred by the PSC Act
Source
- Landing page: https://www.courts.ri.gov/attorney-resources/Pages/Ethics-Advisory-Panel-default.aspx
- Original PDF: https://www.courts.ri.gov/Opinions/EAP%2093-42.pdf
Original opinion text
Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.
Final
ETHICS ADVISORY PANEL
Opinion #93-42, Request #376
Issued June 30, 1993
Attorneys A and B are partners in a law firm. Both A and B would like to advertise their services in the area of personal injury. However, the law firm does not want its name to be utilized in the advertisement. For this reason, A and B inquire whether they may advertise under the name "A and B" or "A and B attorneys."
Rule 7.1 entitled "Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services" states that "A lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's services. . . ."
The Panel believes that the proposed advertisement would be misleading in that it omits a material fact, namely, the law firm in which A and B practice and implies that attorneys A and B are a two-person firm.
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