The below review of AALL’s Annual Meeting was created before this year’s meeting. Let’s characterize it as a cautionary reminder of what annual meeting programming can revert back to if the momentum started by the 2011 program committee is not…
Posts Tagged ‘Committee’
Yes, I know its a 7:30 am meeting time but have a say in your program content
21
Jul
I have written some posts in the past complaining about the programming at the AALL Conference. So this past year I served on the PLL Education Committee. I will now be co-chairing the Committee. We will be meeting on Monday…
NJ Attorney Advertising Committee Rules that a TotalAttorneys WebSite is Misleading
30
Jun
The Committee on Attorney Advertising of the New Jersey Court System issued an Advisory Opinion this week that stated that a Total Bankruptcy web site, published by TotalAttorneys®, a law firm marketing and services organization based in Chicago, is misleading and in violation of the Rule of Professional Conduct 7.1 (a) .Download Full Opinion .
The Committee also ruled that the web site was not an impermissible referral service and that Attorneys are not flatly prohibited from paying for advertising on a "pay-per-lead" or "pay per click" basis. That’s good news for TotalAttorneys and other performance-based marketing schemes on the Internet.
The Committee sets out clearly that "Attorney advertising cannot be misleading or omit operative facts." and found that the website did not provide sufficient information to the user and is misleading.
In this case, the user was directed to only one attorney based on the purchase of exclusive rights to a geographical area. To avoid misleading consumers, the Committee stated, the methodology for the selection of the attorney’s name must be made clear, including the fact that the website limited participation to one (paying) attorney per geographical area. Further, the Committee specified that all requirements to participate in the website must be clearly specified; a full list of participating attorneys must be readily accessible, and the website must inform the user that the attorneys have paid a fee to participate.
It is easy for attorneys to violate their professional obligations and expose themselves to bar sanctions, by ignoring the fine print in their agreements with Internet-based marketing websites.
For example, no less a credible organization as Lexis-Nexis®, recently launched a direct to consumer web site, called EZLAW.COM. The website purports to offer wills, powers of attorney and advance directives forms bundled with legal advice for a fixed and reasonable fee. A goal I would heartily endorse.
However, the site seems to suffer from the same issues as the TotalAttorney’s web site when viewed through the lense of the New Jersey Advisory Opinion.
At EZLAW, the site operator provides a mechanism for consumers to assemble legal documents on-line and then make available a network of attorneys to provide legal advice as part of the offered package. In describing its Attorney Network, EZLAW states that:
They are all prescreened by EZLaw to ensure that you get professional, experienced and confidential legal counsel. To be included in our network, attorneys must meet our rigorous 12-point checklist of criteria.
This suggests that EZLAW is vouching for the quality of the qualifications of the participating attorneys, not only whether an attorney has practiced a number of years or maintains a certain level of malpractice, and this could be construed as misleading.
Moreover, the NJ Opinion states clearly that as a form of attorney advertising, " a full list of participating attorneys must be readily accessible," but on the EZLAW web site no list of participating attorneys is to be found.
Moreover the limited representation agreement executed by the client with the law firm is provided by EZLAW on behalf of the law firm, so the client never knows the identity of the law firm prior to entering into an engagement with the attorney. Normally you would expect that the client would enter into a limited retainer agreement directly with the law firm. I never heard of a retainer agreement that wasn’t entered into directly between the client and the law firm. Not in this case.
Click here for a copy of the Representation Agreement between EZLAW and the client. You decide whether this agreement is ethically compliant? I am interested in hearing other opinions about this agreement. If you have one. please comment.
So what’s the bottom line? Lawyer’s need to read the fine print. Lawyers need to have a full understanding of how their ethical obligations apply to these new Internet-based marketing schemes lest they be caught in a web of disciplinary proceedings that wasn’t part of the bargain.
Tom Bruce to Congress: Get Your Data in Order
22
Jun
Reporting on last week’s hearing of the Committee on House Administration’s subcommittee on oversight in Congress Mulls How iPads, XML Can Cut Costs, Elizabeth Montalbano featured Cornell LII Tom Bruce’s presentation. Bruce suggested use of smart XML-based word processing, better…
An Intervention: ABA Violates 17 Department of Education Accreditation Regulations
13
Jun
The National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity advises the Secretary of Education on matters related to accreditation and to the eligibility and certification process for institutions of higher education. Last week, the Committee reviewed 10 agencies, including the…
Friday Fun: Filming of Congressional Reality Show Disrupts Committee Meeting
10
Jun
Is it just me or are you thinking you would love to supplement your income by being a writer for the Onion News Network. Imagine, for example, what would happen if the Onion News Network turned its attention to law…
