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Editor: Ben W. Glass
Profession: Attorney at Law

Category: Ethics and Regulation

Sweeping changes have been proposed in Virginia regarding lawyer advertising and solicitation. These revisions have been presented by the Virginia State Bar's Standing Committee on Legal Ethics, which is seeking comments from the public.

The amendments will be made to Rules 7.1 to 7.5 of the Rules of Professional Conduct. The Committee's proposed changes will make them more general in their application, as they will be taking away specific examples of lawyer advertising from the body of the rule. The requirements will instead be put in the comments with examples of their applications drawn from the Virginia State Bar's Standing Committee on Legal Ethics' opinions on lawyer advertising.

Here are some of the proposed amendments:

Rule 7.1 - Delete the words, "fraudulent" and "deceptive"
Rule 7.2 - Remove the requirement of a disclaimer for specific or cumulative case results
Rule 7.3 - Widen the range of prohibition against in-person solicitation to include all types of matters, not just personal injury or wrongful death cases
Rule 7.4 - Revisions are still be considered by the Committee
Rule 7.5 - Add clarification that attorneys should practice using the official name in which they are licensed or pursue the proper and legal change of name from the Supreme Court of Virginia

The Virginia State Bar is asking for comments by April 14, 2010. I would also be interested in hearing your perspective on these changes, as I have already started to receive calls and emails from Virginia members who want to talk about how these amendments may impact what we teach at Great Legal Marketing.

Read more about the proposed changes here: http://www.vsb.org/site/regulation/prop-rules-71-75.