2.6 Information About Legal Services

• Library: Estate Planning in Virginia (Virginia CLE) (2018 Ed.)

2.6 INFORMATION ABOUT LEGAL SERVICES

2.601 Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services - Rule 7.1.

RULE 7.1. Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services

A lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's services. A communication is false or misleading if it contains a material misrepresentation of fact or law, or omits a fact necessary to make the statement considered as a whole not materially misleading.

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A. New Virginia Advertising Rules. The Virginia Supreme Court made significant changes to the advertising rules in 2013 and again in 2017. The court also updated LEO 1750 in 2018 to consolidate and reflect these changes. The comment to Rule 7.1 indicates that this rule governs all communications about a lawyer's services, including advertising. ²⁴⁶

B. Misleading Statements Prohibited. The ACTEC Commentary to the rules clarifies that communications through public media as well as those that are targeted to specific individuals are subject to this rule. Even if a statement is truthful, it may still be misleading if it is likely to cause a reader to form an erroneous conclusion about the lawyer or the lawyer's services. The ACTEC Commentary suggests that lawyers should consider including a disclaimer on their websites indicating that they are not offering any legal services or advice through the website. ²⁴⁷

A lawyer may communicate the fact that the lawyer does or does not practice in particular fields of law. The lawyer may communicate a specialty or certification as long as the statement is not false or misleading. ²⁴⁸ The lawyer must identify the name of the organization that purportedly conferred the certificate so that a prospective client can verify the validity and criteria used for the certification. ²⁴⁹ The claim of certification must not be false or misleading, and the certifying organization must have undertaken some evaluation based on objective criteria, rather than just awarding the certification to anyone who pays a fee or joins the organization. ²⁵⁰

2.602 Solicitation of Clients - Rule 7.3.

RULE 7.3. Solicitation of Clients

(a) A solicitation is a communication initiated by or on behalf of a lawyer that is directed to a specific person known to be in need of legal services in a particular matter

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and that offers to provide, or can reasonably be understood as offering to provide, legal services for that matter.

(b) A lawyer shall not solicit employment from a potential...