In marketing terms, lawyers and law firms are about 20 years behind the cutting edge. And their mossy mechanisms for determining what is, or is not, ethical are being overwhelmed by the lightning-fast evolution of modern marketing methods like the Internet. If you want to see an example of this nightmarish struggle, check out the proposed new advertising rules in New York (not yet implemented or approved) which seem to make even the offering of a business card an ethical violation.
The Florida Bar has apparently woken up and smelled the coffee. Jordana Tishery reports in the Daily Business Journal that after nearly four years of debate, The Florida Bar board of governors has tentatively approved a proposed rule on law firm Web sites that would let lawyers publish client testimonials and claims about their past successes.
The proposed rule would largely free law firm Web sites from the state's restrictive rules governing lawyer advertising in such media as television, radio, direct mail and Yellow Pages. But lawyer Web sites still would have to comply with general Bar rules regarding truthfulness and lack of deception.
The proposal still must be passed by the board of governors in a second reading and approved by the Florida Supreme Court. Read the story here. And a hat tip to Kevin O"Keefe of Lexblog for alerting us to the story.
Great post! Also note that under the proposal, a Florida attorney wishing to use testimonials on their website must also have the following disclaimer:
"Not all results are provided, the results are not necessarily representative of results obtained by the lawyer, and a prospective client's individual facts and circumstances may differ from the matter in which the results are provided"
John Rizvi
Florida Intellectual Property
Law Blog
( http://www.FloridaIPblog.com )
Posted by: John Rizvi | February 27, 2007 at 05:27 PM