ABA Notices

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70 || ABA JOURNAL JULY 2018

Your ABA

NOTICE BY THE SECRETARY:

NOMINATING COMMITTEE

MEETINGS

The Nominating Committee will meet

in conjunction wi th the 2018 Annual

Meeting in Chicag o on Sunday, Aug. 5,

beginning with the business session at 9

a.m. in the Cry stal Ballroom B/C, West

Tower, Lobby Level at the Hyatt Regency

Hotel. Immediately following the busi-

ness session, the Nominating Committee

will hear from candidates seeking nomi-

nation at the 2019 Mi dyear Meeting.

This portion of the m eeting is open to

Association members. If you have ques-

tions regarding the foregoing, contact

Leticia Spencer at 312-988-5160 or

leticia.spencer@americanbar.org.

Mary L. Smith, ABA Secretary

NOTICE BY THE SECRETARY:

MEETING OF THE MEMBERSHIP

Pursuant to Sectio n 6.11, the Secretar y

hereby gives notice to memb ers of the

American Bar Association that the

meeting of the memb ership will be held

in conjunction with the Nominating

Committee Busine ss Session and Co ee

with the Candidate s Forum, Sunday, Aug.

5, at 9 a.m. in the Cr ystal Ballroom B/C,

West Tower, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel

in Chicago.

Mary L. Smith, ABA Secretary

MAINE STATE DELEGATE

VACANCY ELECTION

Pursuant to Sectio n 6.3(e) of the ABA’s

Constitution, th e state of Maine will elec t

a State Delegate to fi ll a vacancy due

to the passing of Wendell G. La rge. The

term will commence immediately upon

certifi cation by the Board of Elections

and expires at the conc lusion of the

2020 Annual Meetin g. The deadline

for fi ling pet itions is Monday, July 9. For

rules and procedure s, go to ambar.org/

MaineVacancy. If you are interested

in fi ling or have questions, contact

Leticia Spencer at 312-988-5160

or leticia.spencer@americanbar.org.

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS

TO THE CONSTITUTION,

BYLAWS AND HOUSE RULES

OF PROCEDURE

Proposed amendmen ts to the

Constitution, Bylaws and House Rules

of Procedure of the Ameri can Bar

Association summarized below have

been duly fi led with the Secretar y of

the Association by the indicated spon-

soring members of the Association for

consideration by the House of Delegates

at the 2018 Annual M eeting in Chicago.

For the full text of this Noti ce, go to

ambar.org/amendments.

ANNUAL MEETING

OF THE MEMBERS

The Annual Meetin g of the Members

of the American Ba r Endowment will

be held in Chicago on M onday, Aug. 6,

at 8:45 a.m. at th e Hyatt Regency, in

the Grand Ballroom , on the Ballroom

Level, East Tower. The agenda includes

the election of two B oard members.

Go to abendowment. org for the full text

of this Notice.

the legal space was completely absent, even

though it’s ubiquitous in every other indus-

try,” explains Kevin Chern, who joined

Total Attorneys in 2005 as president and is

now the managing partner of UpRight Law.

Chern says Total Attorneys had little

competition when it started because

Rule 7.2 on advertising kept entrepreneurs

away. The rule, according to Chern, limited

business models to a fl at-fee structure,

while every other industry paid for the

quality of the marketing.

Attempting to create a lead-generating

model that comported with Rule 7.2

wound up bringing unwanted attention.

In 2009, Connecticut lawyer Zenas

Zelotes fi led nearly 500 ethics complaints

against attorneys using the ad service in

47 states. The complaints alleged that the

lawyers were using Total Bankruptcy, a

part of Total Attorneys, in violation of local

versions of Rule 7.2(b).

Chern says the company spent

$1.5 million on legal expenses to battle

these complaints on behalf of its customers

and the company. Ultimately, the com-

plaints were found baseless or dismissed

in every jurisdiction.

Mary Robinson, an attorney in Chicago,

represented Chern in Illinois during these

challenges. She says that 7.2(b) is “a hard

provision to support” because it incentivizes

“highly ethical lawyers … to be unavailable

to consumers.”

She says, “We’ve got to rethink that.”

Proposed Comment 2 to Rule 7.2 does

say that directory listings and group adver-

tisements “do not constitute impermissible

‘recommendations.’ ” But according to the

letter, this defi nes the word recommenda-

tion “outside of the word’s usual and com-

monly understood defi nition” and “may in

fact be confusing the issue all the more.”

The ethics committee will address these

comments, Rendleman says. However,

he says the concerns regarding for-profi t

referrals go “beyond the scope of just

amending the advertising rules.”

“It’s really a practice of law issue,”

he says.

Rendleman believes that the changes

proposed are balanced and reasonable,

and he is hopeful that the House of

Delegates will approve them.

“We were going for Goldilocks,” he

says. “We didn’t want the bed too hard

or too soft; we wanted it just right.” Q

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