May a Vermont lawyer hand cards or advertising circulars to unrepresented criminal defendants at court to seek their cases?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 1998. Ask about yours and see what the current Vermont Rules of Professional Conduct say for your facts, with citations.
Plain-English summary
A solo criminal-defense lawyer regularly at District Court asked whether he could approach pro se defendants there and offer a business card or circular in hope of being hired. He asked whether the former Code's allowance for letters and advertising circulars covered this method.
The committee read the 1989 changes to former DR 2-104 and EC 2-10 as permitting targeted mailings while maintaining a prohibition on in-person and telephone solicitation. Handing cards or circulars to defendants in or at the courthouse was an in-person approach, so the committee found it prohibited. It expressly did not decide constitutional advertising issues.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 1998 under Vermont's former Code of Professional Responsibility. The Vermont Supreme Court's rules history states that the Rules of Professional Conduct applied to lawyer conduct after September 1, 1999. Later amendments or opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this opinion as historical context and verify current rules before relying on it.
Common questions
Q: Did the form of a printed circular make courthouse handouts permissible?
A: No. The committee treated handing it to defendants at court as in-person solicitation, despite the separate permission for written advertising.
Q: Did the committee decide the First Amendment question?
A: No. It expressly reserved constitutional questions about lawyer advertising.
Background and rules framework
The opinion applied former DR 2-104 and the 1989 revisions to EC 2-10, distinguishing targeted mail from in-person approaches. It noted DR 2-101's separate false-or-misleading communication rule.
Citations and references
Rules of Professional Conduct:
- Vermont Code of Professional Responsibility DR 2-104, DR 2-101, and EC 2-10
See also
Source
- Landing page: Vermont Bar Association advertising opinions
- Original PDF: Opinion 98-03
- Vermont Supreme Court rules history, “These rules apply to lawyer conduct after September 1, 1999.”
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