Can a lawyer use postage-meter slogans urging civic participation, like 'please vote' or 'Give to the Heart Fund,' without it being improper advertising?

Plain-English summary

The inquiry noted that postage-meter machine manufacturers could furnish plates imprinting slogans such as "please vote," "Buy U.S. Defense Bonds," "Give to the Heart Fund," "Join and Serve Your Red Cross," and "Give the United Way," and asked whether attorneys using postage-meter machines could use such slogans in the interest of the bar's record of public service.

A majority of the Committee saw nothing improper in the procedure, and most members regarded it as praiseworthy. The headnote characterizes slogans encouraging civic participation as not constituting advertising under Canon 24. The vote was 7-1.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1956, under the former Texas Canons of Ethics, which the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct replaced effective January 1, 1990. The advertising restrictions the opinion applies predate Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1977), which held that categorical bans on lawyer advertising violate the First Amendment, so the Canon 24 framework used here has since been substantially narrowed. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance.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 Texas lawyer print civic-participation slogans on metered mail under this opinion?

A: Yes. A majority of the Committee saw nothing improper in it and most thought it praiseworthy (7-1).

Q: Why was it not treated as advertising?

A: The headnote characterizes slogans encouraging civic participation, rather than promoting the lawyer's services, as not constituting advertising under Canon 24.

Background and rules framework

The opinion interprets former Texas Canon 24, the advertising provision of the Canons of Ethics of the State Bar of Texas. The modern analog is ABA Model Rule 7.1 (communications concerning a lawyer's services).

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• MR 7.1 (communications concerning a lawyer's services), as the modern analog
• Texas Canon 24 (advertising)

See also

• TX Ethics Op. 175: Chamber-of-Commerce Ad on Envelopes
• TX Ethics Op. 174: "Attorney at Law" on Bank Checks
• TX Ethics Op. 119: Lawyer Status on a Sideline Business Letterhead

Source

• Landing page: https://www.legalethicstexas.com/resources/opinions/opinion-121/
• Original PDF: https://tcle-web.s3.amazonaws.com/public/documents/Opinion_121.pdf

Original opinion text

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

QUESTION PRESENTED

An attorney states that the manufacturer of postage meter machines can furnish plates which will imprint advertisements as follows:

Vote as you pleaseΧbut please vote
Buy U. S. Defense Bonds
Give to conquer cancerΧAmerican Cancer Society
Give to the Heart Fund
Join and Serve Your Red Cross
Better Schools build Better Communities
Give the United Way
Know Your Hospital

and he inquires whether it would be proper for attorneys employing postage meter machines to use such slogans in the interest of the bar's "long record of public service."

January 1956
18 Baylor L. Rev. 243 (1966)

SOLICITATION - POSTAGE METER MACHINES
Using slogans printed by postage meter machines which encourage civic participation is not advertising.

Canon 24.

A majority of the members of the committee see nothing improper in such procedure. Most of them regard it as praiseworthy. (7-1)

Tex. Comm. On Professional Ethics, Op. 121 (1956)