A LEGAL AID SOCIETY MAY, UNDER PROPER CIRCUMSTANCES, INSTALL POSTERS
IN CITY BUSSES, ADVISING POOR PEOPLE HOW TO CONTACT THE SOCIETY
FOR LEGAL ASSISTANCE, PROVIDED THAT THE POSTERS ARE DIGNIFIED IN
TONE AND DO NOT MENTION THE NAME OF ANY INDIVIDUAL LAWYER.
CANONS INTERPRETED: (Professional Ethics)
Canon 27: Advertising, Direct or Indirect.
Canon 28: Stirring up Litigation, Directly
or Through Agents.
Canon 35: Intermediaries.
Canon 40: Newspapers
A legal aid society inquired concerning the ethical propriety of
placing posters in city busses, advising poor people how to contact
the organization for legal assistance. The posters would be about
11 inches by 28 inches, in size, on which cardboard with black lettering,
and contain language, substantially as follows, viz: "If You
Need Legal Advice and Cannot Afford a Lawyer, Contact the Legal
Aid Society for Information and Assistance at _____________________,
Telephone No. ______________".
The
Advisory Committee of the Nebraska State Bar Association is of the
opinion that this procedure would not violate any of the Canons
of Professional Ethics.
In Formal Opinion 121 of the Committee on Professional Ethics of
the American Bar Association, interpreting Canons of Professional
Ethics 27, 28 and 40, a local bar association was authorized to
purchase advertising space in a local newspaper, for the purpose
of informing the public how and when to consult an attorney, provided
that such advertising was dignified in tone, did not contain pictures,
and did not mention the name of any individual lawyer. Quoting from
the Opinion: "The articles, in purpose and effect, should be
for the intelligent guidance of the public and should be free form
the suspicion that selfish motives are the dominant purpose".
Formal Opinion 179, in approving sponsorship by a local bar association
of a radio broadcast, which dramatized the need for competent legal
advice in drafting, wills, provided that: (1) No reference to individual
lawyers be made; (2) The motivation was to benefit the lay public
rather than to increase professional employment; and (3) The manner
in which it was presented, was in keeping with the dignity and traditions
of the profession.
The ethical propriety of an attorney performing "Law Consultant
Service" for those served by a national charitable institution,
was exhaustively discussed and analyzed in Informal Opinion No.
888, rendered by the Standing Committee on Professional Ethics of
the American Bar Association on December 11, 1965. This Informal
Opinion, consisting of 10 pages, includes this statement, viz: "We
have consistently recognized that free legal clinics, carried on
by the organized bar, are not ethically objectionable (Opinion 191);
and that Canon 27 does not prohibit acquainting the lay public with
the expert services the legal profession is able to render, provided
it is not actuated to secure greater professional employment, and
is carried on by an organized bar association and not by individual
lawyers (Opinion 179) ". Formal Opinion 307, issued May 26,
1962, permits a bar association to sponsor and inform the public
of an annual legal check-up program by way of a dignified educational
campaign, provided that the names of no individual lawyers are advertised
and that the attorneys agree to abide by a fixed fee schedule.
Informal Opinion No. 992, issued August 26, 1967, permitted the
making of announcements and new releases pertaining to the opening
of Legal Aid offices by a legal assistance corporation. Involved
were five neighborhood offices where indigents, needing legal advice,
could receive legal assistance. Published and distributed was a
pamphlet, which described the organization, its facilities and its
programs, also receiving considerable favorable newspaper publicity.
It cites Formal Opinion 148, wherein is contained this statement:
"Offering publicly to render legal services without charge
to citizens, who are unable to pay for them, is not unethical".
The Informal Opinion clearly pointed out that no violations of Canons
27, 28 or 35 were involved in this type of situation.
Moreover, the use and dissemination of posters on busses, with language
similar to that which was proposed in this request, which posters
were in two colors and of the same approximate size as that contemplated
in this query, was recently approved in Kansas City.
Accordingly, it would appear that a legal aid society, especially
one which is in the nature of a charitable legal assistance corporation,
may properly and ethically install posters in city busses, advising
poor people as to how and where the society may be contacted for
legal information and assistance provided, however, that the posters
are dignified in tone and appearance and do not mention the name
of any individual lawyer.
68-2, October 9, 1968
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