By Donna Walter
The Daily Record Newswire
ST. LOUIS, MO -- Leaving on a firm's website the name and e-mail address of a lawyer who has left isn't only confusing -- it may also be unethical.
Failure to update contact information is misleading, said an American Bar Association opinion on potential ethical pitfalls for lawyers who use websites to market their services.
In general, lawyers and law firms must be careful not to mislead the public or inadvertently create attorney-client relationships through websites and social networking sites, the ABA's Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility said last week in an ethics opinion entitled "Formal Opinion 10-457, Lawyer Websites."
The ABA opinion "does a nice job of moving people in the right direction," said Michael P. Downey, a St. Louis partner in Hinshaw & Culbertson's national legal ethics and risk management practice.
Among the opinion's recommendations:
* Contact information should be updated on a regular basis;
* Lawyers must obtain permission from both clients and former clients before identifying them or their legal matters on law firm websites;
* Legal information posted on websites should be accompanied by a notice that it is general information and should not be relied on for legal advice.
* In footnotes citing various state bar opinions, the ABA document also discourages lawyers from answering legal questions on message boards, in chat rooms or on social networking sites.
"I think lawyers looking for business have tended to do these sorts of things, but it can be dangerous," Downey said. He said he's seen cases where lawyers have given long answers to questions on message boards when they don't know who's asking the question, where that person is located or the complete facts of the case.
Downey also said he's had conversations with about 10 people in the last three years on the failure of firms to remove from their websites the names and e-mail addresses of lawyers who leave. In at least one instance a lawyer was listed on his former firm's website months after leaving.
"You can only imagine it was done to prevent the lawyer from establishing a practice," Downey said.
He said he has also seen instances where law firms have continued to receive e-mails addressed to the lawyer who left.
The ABA opinion also cautions lawyers that inquiries from website visitors about legal advice or representation may be deemed confidential communications from prospective clients even if no lawyer responds.
Whether the inquiry is from a prospective client depends on whether the law firm invited the inquiry, the opinion says.
The ABA opinion also endorses the use of disclaimers to prevent misunderstandings about whether an attorney-client relationship has been created, whether the information provided to the law firm will be kept confidential, whether legal advice has been given, or whether the lawyer who received information will be barred from representing an adverse party.
"You want a disclaimer that says, 'This is what we will do, this is what we won't do,' where the average viewer is going to understand that," Downey said.
Once a law firm has the appropriate disclaimers on its website, the opinion cautions, lawyers must make sure they don't ignore them.
Published: Fri, Oct 15, 2010
