The Ethics of Attorney Websites

By now, almost every law firm has a website. Some firms have websites which merely contain contact information for their attorneys while others have large, interactive sites with extensive content available to visitors. With this participation by law firms in the internet comes ethical concerns and obligations regarding the content of the site, email communication via the firm's website, and the use of technology. The purpose of this article is to give a brief overview of the ethical issues attorneys face when advertising on the internet and make suggestions as to what's required to be in compliance.To see your state bar's guidelines, visit the ABA page here: http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/clientdevelopment/adrules.htmlIs a website considered advertising, solicitation, or an educational resource?The classification of what type of material a website constituted was an issue which was considered initially when the internet first started to become widely used. Now, all state bars (and the ABA) consider a law firm's website to be advertising, even if it may provide general information or include education resources. As such, the guidelines applicable to how a website should be presented and what it should and should not contain fall under the guidelines for advertising.Misleading and False StatementsBecause a website is advertising, the same rules regarding the type of statements which can be made in traditional print, radio and T.V. ads apply. A firm's website should not contain any false or misleading statements regarding the credentials of the attorneys or past case results. It should not include superlatives statements either. No expertise or specialty should be stated (unless certified by the proper authority). All of these attorneys are familiar with if they have ever done any type of advertising.There are however some specific issues regarding websites which may not immediately come to mind, but are just as important: * Domain Names: Domain names should not include any false or misleading statements, any superlative statements, nor any implied or explicit specialty or expertise (unless certified). So, the domain name "bestlawyer.com" is out. Also, law firm websites should be aware of the TLD of their domain name (the part after the domain, such as .com or .net). Many state bars have held that law firms should not use the TLD .org as the public may infer they are a non-profit or government organization. Similiarly, country specific TLD's (such as .uk or .au) should only be used by a firm if that firm has an office in the country and the website is primarily about practicing law within that country. * Email Addresses: The same above about domain names applies also to attorney email addresses. "bestlawyer@aol.com" may be considering an ethics violation. * Metadata: Metadata, or data contained within a website that is not normally viewable, is also subject to the same guidelines. The reasoning is that search engines use this data to organize websites within their directory. Metadata which contains misleading statements may appear within search results which the public can view and would be an ethics violation. Advertising NoticesWebsites are required to display the same advertising disclaimer as traditional print advertising. The required disclaimer varies from state to state. Check this list if you would like to see what your state is: http://www.successfulattorneys.com/index.php?option=com_content

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