CHAPTER 5 - 5-8 ADVERTISING
| Jurisdiction | United States |
5-8 Advertising
5-8:1 General Advertising Rules
Lawyers may communicate information regarding the lawyer's services their services through any media.102 The only content restriction on lawyer advertising is that it may not be false or misleading.103 The Grievance Committee maintains a publically accessible collection of advisory opinions on lawyer advertising.104 The Committee prohibits use of superlatives unless they can be factually verified.105 Advertising that contains reference to selection by rating groups such as Super Lawyers and Martindale-Hubbell must also contain information on the rating or selection process.106
All advertising solicitations must contain the name and contact information of at least one Connecticut-admitted lawyer responsible for the content of the ad.107 Contact information is defined by commentary to the rule as including a website address, telephone number, an e-mail address, or a physical office location. If the advertising solicitation is in the form of a writing or an audio or video recording directed to a prospective client known to be in need of legal services, it must contain a clear and prominent label in red ink that says "Advertising Material" on the first page and on the lower left corner of any envelope and at the beginning and the end of any solicitation by audio or video recording or other electronic means.108 If the advertising is in the form of a brochure or pamphlet, the words "Advertising Material" must appear in red on the address panel.109 "Being in need of legal services in a particular matter" requires knowledge that the recipient is actually involved in a legal proceeding.110
If a lawyer's advertising contains information on the fee to be charged, whether or not the fee is contingent on the outcome, the ad must contain, in type of the same size and style as the information regarding the fee as to whether and to what extent the client will be responsible for costs.111 Any lawyer who uses advertising that contains a specific range of fees for a specific service must honor the advertised fee or range for at least 90 days.112 If the reference to a fee or a range of fees is in a phone book or other advertising hat is published annually, the fees must be honored for no less than one year following publication.113
Lawyer advertising is regulated in Connecticut under both the Unfair Trade Practices Act and the Rules of Professional Conduct.114 Rule 7.2, Commentary, "Communications about Fields of Practice," allows a lawyer to communicate that she does or does not practice in a particular field of law. The rule specifically allows lawyers admitted to the patent bar to use the designation "patent attorney" and a lawyer engaged in admiralty to use terms which describe this area of concentration. The rule prohibits a lawyer from stating or implying a specialty in any other area unless she has been certified in a specialization by a board or body that has been recognized by the superior court under procedures established by Rule 7.4A or by an organization accredited by the American Bar Association and the lawyer has been certified by an approved entity.115 Rule of Professional Conduct 7.4A lists 28 approved fields in which attorneys may be certified as specialists. At present the Legal Specialization Screening Committee established by Rule 7.4B has recognized approved specialist certifications in the areas of Consumer and Business Bankruptcy, Civil Trial Practice, Criminal law, Child Welfare law, Workers' Compensation and Residential Real Estate. Elder law is an approved field, but no entity is approved as a certifying entity. Those wishing to know which entities are authorized to license lawyer in these specialties can consult: https://www.jud.ct.gov/Committees/lssc/Chart_Bd_entity.pdf.
The 2019 amendments added section 7.2(d)(1) that a lawyer may advertise a certification or specialist designation received from any organization approved by the American Bar Association. It is unknown whether there are any such organizations who are not also already approved by the superior court Rules committee under Practice Book § 7-4A. Questions about permitted claims of specialization should be directed to the Statewide Bar Counsel which manages and enforces the advertising registration and audit program. Practice Book § 2-28B contains a provision allowing an advertiser to request an advisory opinion as to a question about the propriety of an advertising claim or language.
The commentary to Rule 7.1 allows lawyers to indicate that he "concentrates in," "focuses on" or that his practice is "limited to" particular fields as long as the statements are not false or misleading. The commentary goes on to note that a lawyer is prohibited from using terms such as "specialist," "certified," "board certified," "expert" or any variation unless the lawyer has been certified in accordance with the Rule 7.4A procedures.116 Reference to an AV rating in Martindale-Hubbell with an explanation of what the term means is permissible.117
5-8:2 Pre-Filing of Advertisements
Advertising must be filed with the Grievance Committee prior to or concurrently with the first dissemination of the advertising.118 Certain advertising, such as telephone directory listings, law lists, and communications sent to existing or former clients are exempted from the filing requirement.119 Videos, such as on YouTube, may be registered as ads by registering the URL for the video quarterly.120 A copy of all ads must be made quarterly and kept for three years after its last dissemination.121
Records of all advertising, including the contents and information about where and when it was used must be kept for three years after the last dissemination of the material.122 Lawyer advertising is subject to random auditing by the Grievance Com-mittee.123 The Grievance Committee will issue an advisory opinion on a proposed lawyer ad.124
5-8:3 Advisory Opinion on Advertising
Practice Book § 2-28B establishes a process whereby attorneys wishing to have proposed...
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