Can a lawyer buy a professional-card advertisement in the business directory of a charity event program, such as a Shrine Circus program?
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This page answers the general question as of 1959. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current Texas Rules of Professional Conduct, with citations.
Plain-English summary
The inquiry asked whether attorneys could ethically subscribe to advertisements in the "Business and Professional Directory" of the Arabia Temple Shrine Circus program.
The Committee held they could not. It stated that a lawyer's professional card can be published only in reputable law lists and directories, so publication of the professional card in the Shrine Circus program would be improper under Canons 24 and 39. The vote was 7-0.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1959, under the former Texas Canons of Ethics, which the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct replaced effective January 1, 1990. It also predates Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1977), which loosened categorical advertising restrictions, though prohibitions on solicitation were not eliminated. Subsequent rule amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance.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: Can a lawyer advertise in a charity event program?
A: Under this opinion, no, by way of a professional card. The Committee held a lawyer may not publish his professional card in the business and professional directory of a Shrine Circus program.
Q: Where could a professional card be published?
A: The Committee stated that a lawyer's professional card can be published only in reputable law lists and directories, which the circus program was not.
Background and rules framework
The opinion interprets former Texas Canons 24 (solicitation and advertising) and 39 (publication of a professional card in reputable law lists), as applied to a charity event program directory. The modern analogs are ABA Model Rule 7.1, on communications concerning a lawyer's services, and Model Rule 7.2, on advertising.
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- MR 7.1 (communications concerning a lawyer's services), as the modern analog
- MR 7.2 (advertising), as the modern analog
- Texas Canons 24 and 39 (former canons)
See also
- TX Ethics Op. 236: Lawyer Ad in an Alumni Magazine
- TX Ethics Op. 241: Yellow-Pages Listing in Another Town
- TX Ethics Op. 277: Business-Guide and Directory Listings
- TX Ethics Op. 237: Lawyer in a Chamber Directory
Source
- Landing page: https://www.legalethicstexas.com/resources/opinions/opinion-224/
- Original PDF: https://tcle-web.s3.amazonaws.com/public/documents/Opinion_224.pdf
Original opinion text
Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.
QUESTION PRESENTED
May attorneys ethically subscribe to advertisements in the "Business and Professional Directory" of the Arabia Temple Shrine Circus program?
18 Baylor L. Rev. 307 (1966)
ADVERTISING - SOLICITATION - SHRINE CIRCUS PROGRAM
A lawyer may not publish his professional card in the "Business and Professional Directory" of a Shrine Circus program.
Canons 24, 39.
A lawyer's professional card can be published only in reputable law lists and directories. Publication of the professional card in the Shrine Circus program would be improper under Canons 24 and 39. (7-0.)
Tex. Comm. On Professional Ethics, Op. 224 (1959)
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