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Syllabus
In an announcement to be distributed to other lawyers or published in a legal journal indicating a lawyer's availability to act as a consultant to or as an associate in a particular branch of law or legal service (other than in the fields of admiralty, trademark or patent law), it is improper for the lawyer to refer to himself as a specialist in that field of law, to refer to honors or graduate degrees received from, or the name of, any law school from which he graduated, to refer to the fact of his admission to practice in other states or before specified agencies, or to refer to other specific prior experience which the lawyer has had.
Facts
In announcements which are to be distributed to other lawyers or published in a legal journal indicating the particular lawyer's availability to act as a consultant to or as an associate of other lawyers in a particular branch of law or legal service,
- Lawyer A states that he is specializing in that particular branch of law.
- Lawyer B reveals that he received a law degree from "X" School of Law.
- Lawyer C indicates that he was graduated from law school with specified honors.
- Lawyer D discloses that he has an LL.M. or other graduate degree in law.
- Lawyer E tells that he has been admitted to practice before the courts of the State of Louisiana, the U.S. Treasury Department, or other governmental agency.
- Lawyer F includes the words, "Formerly claims manager for 'Y' Insurance Company."
- Lawyer G announces that he is "available" to act as a consultant to other lawyers on matters relating to government contracts.
Opinion
It is the opinion of the Committee that only the announcement of Lawyer G is proper.
The Code of Professional Responsibility provides that:
In the absence of state controls to insure the existence of special competence, a lawyer should not be permitted to hold himself out as a specialist or as having special training or ability, other than in the historically expected fields of admiralty, trademark and patent law. (EC 2-14.)
An apparent exception to this statement of general principle is contained in Disciplinary Rules which attempt to set forth the minimum level of conduct for a lawyer. DR 2-105(A)(3) provides as follows:
A lawyer available to act as a consultant to or as an associate of other lawyers in a particular branch of law or legal service may distribute to other lawyers and publish in legal journals a dignified announcement of such availability, but the announcement shall not contain a representation of special competence or experience. The announcement shall not be distributed to lawyers more frequently than once in a calendar year, but it may be published periodically in legal journals.
The type of announcement permitted under the foregoing Disciplinary Rule is one of "availability" or "willingness" to perform services in a particular field of law or legal service. Any reference to either special competence or experience is expressly proscribed. While the terms, "specialty," "specializing" or similar words may be intended to refer to a particular branch of the law or a specific legal service, it is more likely that they will be understood to convey a degree of expertise or unusual experience. Use of such words should therefore be carefully avoided in any such announcement.
Because references to the name of a particular school from which the lawyer graduated, the honors which he received, his graduate degree in law or the fact of his admission to practice in a particular state or before a particular agency will most often be interpreted as having been intended to convey the idea of some special experience, ability or training, such references fall within the prohibition of DR 2-105(A)(3) and should be avoided. Since direct references to the type of prior experience found in the announcement of Lawyer F in the above facts are so obviously prohibited by DR 2-105(A)(3), no comment thereon appears to be necessary.
While DR 2-102(F) indicates that nothing in DR 2-102 "shall prohibit a lawyer from using or permitting the use, in connection with his name, of an earned degree or title derived therefrom indicating his training in the law," the significance of that provision appears to be limited to the subject matter and provisions contained in DR 2-102 which deal with law lists, letterheads, professional cards, office signs, trade names and other similar matters. DR 2-102(F) does not have application to announcements of availability which are directly related to the motive of soliciting business.
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