Can a lawyer with a virtual practice use a post office box, instead of a home or street address, as the office address in advertising?

Plain-English summary

A solo practitioner ran a virtual law office, working from wherever his phone and laptop happened to be, met clients off-site, kept little paper, and used a post office box for all practice mail. He wanted to expand his web advertising without disclosing his home address, and asked whether a PO box would satisfy Rule 7.2(d), which requires advertising to include "the name and office address of at least one lawyer responsible for its content."

The opinion concludes a post office box qualifies as an "office address" for Rule 7.2(d), provided the PO box is on file as the lawyer's current mailing address in the AIS. Reading the rules as "rules of reason," the committee identifies the purpose of Rule 7.2(d), per Comment 10, as accountability: giving consumers a point of contact and an address for reaching that contact. A PO box serves that purpose as well as a street address. The committee notes that the practice of law has changed, quoting the North Carolina Bar's observation that requiring a street address "is no longer practical or necessary" as home offices and virtual practices have grown, and that South Carolina's Supreme Court accepts PO box addresses as official AIS contact information under Rule 410(e), SCACR.

The committee adds that Rule 7.2(h)'s separate geographic-location disclosure requirement is not addressed by the opinion.

In practice

Under this opinion, and under the South Carolina rule as it stood in 2017, a post office box can serve as the office address that Rule 7.2(d) requires advertising to include, so long as the PO box is the lawyer's current AIS mailing address. The opinion ties the result to the rule's accountability purpose under Comment 10, treating the AIS listing as the anchor that lets the State Bar locate the responsible lawyer. The committee expressly leaves the Rule 7.2(h) geographic-disclosure requirement outside the scope of the opinion.

Common questions

Q: Does Rule 7.2(d) require a street address in lawyer advertising?

A: No. The opinion holds a post office box qualifies as an "office address" under Rule 7.2(d), provided it is on file as the lawyer's current mailing address in the AIS.

Q: Why is a PO box acceptable?

A: The opinion reasons that the purpose of Rule 7.2(d), per Comment 10, is accountability, giving consumers a point of contact and a way to reach it, which a PO box accomplishes as well as a street address.

Q: Does this opinion resolve the geographic-location disclosure rule?

A: No. The committee notes Rule 7.2(h) imposes a separate geographic-location disclosure requirement that the opinion does not address.

Background and rules framework

The opinion interprets South Carolina Rule of Professional Conduct 7.2(d) (Model Rule 7.2), which requires that any advertising communication include the name and office address of at least one responsible lawyer. The committee relies on the Scope note that the rules are rules of reason, Comment 10's accountability purpose, and Rule 410(e), SCACR, which makes the AIS mailing address the official contact address for serving and notifying a member.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• MR 7.2 / SC RPC 7.2(d) (office address of a responsible lawyer in advertising)

Other authority:

• Rule 410(e), SCACR (AIS mailing address is official contact information)

Cases:

• In re Jardine, 410 S.C. 369, 764 S.E.2d 924 (2014), misuse of a mail-only "virtual office" address in solicitation

Other opinions cited:

• 2012 N.C. Formal Eth. Adv. Op. 6 (street address no longer required in legal advertising)

See also

• SC Bar Ethics Op. 12-09: Out-of-state billboard advertising
• SC Bar Ethics Op. 15-02: "Donut Friday" gifts to referral sources

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scbar.org/for-lawyers/quicklinks/legal-resources/ethics-advisory-opinions/ethics-advisory-opinion-17-01/
• Original PDF: https://www.scbar.org/media/os1guplj/17-01.pdf

Original opinion text

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

UPON THE REQUEST OF A MEMBER OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA BAR, THE ETHICS ADVISORY COMMITTEE HAS RENDERED THIS OPINION ON THE ETHICAL PROPRIETY OF THE INQUIRER'S CONTEMPLATED CONDUCT. THIS COMMITTEE HAS NO DISCIPLINARY AUTHORITY.

SC Rule of Professional Conduct: 7.2

Facts: Lawyer is a solo practitioner with a virtual law office. (Lawyer represents that he practices wherever his smart phone and his laptop are, which, at any given moment, might be at Lawyer's home, a coffee shop, a park, Lawyer's car, or out of town on vacation.) Lawyer's practice generates very little paper, which is kept at Lawyer's house. Lawyer does not see clients in Lawyer's house; instead, Lawyer meets clients at their places of business or at a third-party meeting space. Lawyer uses a post office box for all law practice related mail.

Lawyer does not actively advertise the law practice beyond a single online directory listing. Lawyer is considering increasing his web presence for advertising purposes, but Lawyer does not want to disclose his home address to the public.

Question Presented: Will the inclusion of a post office box address in advertising materials satisfy the requirement in Rule 7.2(d) that advertising communications include the office address of at least one lawyer responsible for its content?

Summary: A post office address qualifies as an "office address" for purposes of Rule 7.2(d) provided the post office address is on file as the lawyer's current mailing address in the lawyer's listing in the AIS.

Opinion:

Rule 7.2, SCRPC, sets out certain restrictions upon and obligations of lawyers who advertise. One of the obligations imposed by the Rule is that "[a]ny communication made pursuant to [Rule 7.2] shall include the name and office address of at least one lawyer responsible for its content." (Emphasis added.) Rule 7.2(d).

The term "office address" is not defined in the Rules of Professional Conduct, but "[t]he Rules of Professional Conduct are rules of reason. They should be interpreted with reference to the purposes of legal representation and of the law itself." Scope [1], SCRPC.

The purpose of Rule 7.2(d) is to provide accountability for the content of lawyer advertising. Rule 7.2, Comment [10]. It provides accountability by ensuring that potential consumers of the services of a lawyer or law firm have a point of contact for the lawyer or law firm, along with an address for the purpose of communicating with that point of contact. While a physical address will allow for such communication, the same is true of a post office box address.

It used to be that lawyers only worked out of brick and mortar structures and everyone had a street address. However, as the North Carolina Bar has recognized in addressing this same question, the practice of law has changed.

…[R]equiring a street address in all legal advertising has proved problematic, particularly as the number of lawyers working from home offices or operating virtual law practices has increased. The requirement is no longer practical or necessary to avoid misleading the public or to insure that a lawyer responsible for the advertisement can be located by the State Bar.

2012 N.C. Formal Eth. Adv. Op. 6 at 2 (http://www.ncbar.gov/for-lawyers/ethics/adopted-opinions/2012-formal-ethics-opinion-6/#.WEBYPgNCifY.email). Moreover, in South Carolina, as in North Carolina, the State Bar accepts post office addresses as a lawyer's address. In addition, the Supreme Court of South Carolina accepts post office addresses as a lawyer's address for purposes of its Attorney Information System[1] (AIS), and the contact information provided by lawyers for AIS is the "official contact information" for them. See Rule 410(e), SCACR ("The mailing and e-mail address shown in the AIS shall be used for the purpose of notifying and serving the member.").

A post office address qualifies as an "office address" for purposes of Rule 7.2(d) provided the post office address is on file as the lawyer's current mailing address in the lawyer's listing in the AIS. The committee notes that Rule 7.2(h) also imposes a geographic location disclosure requirement, which is not addressed by this opinion. [2]

[1] "The AIS is a web-based system developed by the South Carolina Judicial Department to maintain and update information regarding members of the South Carolina Bar. Members use this system, which is accessed using a user name and password, to verify and update their contact information, and view their membership class and status. The mailing and e-mail address shown in the AIS shall be used for the purpose of notifying and serving the member." Rule 410(e), SCACR.

[2] See also In re Jardine, 410 S.C. 369, 764 S.E.2d 924 (2014) (lawyer had several issues with a direct mail solicitation, including the listing of a "virtual office" in one state that he only used for the purpose of receiving mail when, in reality, he actually worked from an office in another state).