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Rule
Eleven: Advertising and Solicitation
(a) A paralegal may advertise
the availability of his/her services to attorneys, but shall do so in
such a way as to not be false or misleading.
(1) A paralegal who chooses
to advertise may do so through the use of public media, such as telephone
directories, legal directories, newspapers or other periodicals, billboards,
radio or television, or through other forms of written communication.
(2) A paralegal shall not advertise
services directly to a lawyer's clients.
(b) A paralegal may carry and
distribute a business card which shall contain the following:
(1) the name of the paralegal;
(2) the designation "paralegal"
or "legal assistant" or such other designation indicating the
individual's status;
(3) the name of the employer;
and
(4) not contain false or misleading
information.
(c) A paralegal's name may
be included on the letterhead of law firm stationery, if the paralegal's
status is clearly indicated on the letterhead, so as to not be misleading.
(d) A paralegal shall not use
the terms "certified, specialist, expert," or any other, similar
terms to describe his/her qualifications unless the reference is truthful,
verifiable and not misleading.
(e) A paralegal shall not solicit
professional employment on behalf of an attorney where the significant
motive for doing so is the lawyer and/or paralegal's pecuniary gain.
Commentary
The rules regarding advertising
and solicitation apply equally to paralegals working in traditional employment
settings and to those who are freelance paralegals. Both the traditional
paralegal and the freelance paralegal provide legal services for attorneys.
They do not provide services to clients while working independently of
a supervising attorney. Consequently, paralegals are allowed to advertise
their services to attorneys, with the caveat that such advertisement must
not be false or misleading. A communication is false or misleading if
it meets the criteria established in Rule 7.1 of the Illinois Rules of
Professional Conduct.
Paralegals are allowed and
encouraged to carry business cards and to have their names appear on law
firm letterhead. This follows from the Supreme Court's decision in Bates
v. Arizona (1977), 433 U.S. 350, 97 S.Ct. 2691, 53 L.Ed.2d 810, which
held that a communication that is not misleading cannot be absolutely
prohibited without violating free speech rights.
However, in order to avoid
misleading clients as to the nonlawyer status of the paralegal, the paralegal
must always include his or her title on any document designed to be seen
by a present or potential client. Therefore, business cards and letterhead
must clearly identify the nonlawyer as such. See, In re Bachmann (Bkrtcy.
S.D. Fla 1990), 113 B.R. 769.
Paralegals are absolutely prohibited
from engaging in the solicitation of potential clients. Solicitation is
defined in Rule 7.3 of the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct as "contact
by a person other than a lawyer in person, by telephone or telegraph,
by letter or other writing, or by other communication directed to a specific
recipient." In Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar (1978), 436 U.S. 447, 98
s. Ct. 1912, 56 L. Ed.2d 444, the Court disallowed the solicitation of
clients, holding that in-person solicitation presents certain dangers
to the public. The Court reasoned that this includes solicitation by the
lawyer's agents. Conceivably, this would include the lawyer's paralegal.
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