ABA-501
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| Lawyers may be ethically responsible for violating ABA Model Rule 7.3’s prohibition on “live, person-to-person solicitation of legal services” by the following persons acting with the lawyer’s knowledge (“and [if the lawyer] in some way requests or authorizes the conduct”): (1) “current employees of the lawyer, marketing firms hired by the lawyer, existing clients, former clients, friends and family of the lawyer, or even professional colleagues such as bankers, real estate agents, and accountants”; (2) a “professional lead generator” who telephones possible clients; (3) a firm paralegal working weekends as a paramedic, who hands out the lawyer’s business cards to injured accident victims, and whom the lawyer congratulates and often rewards with a bonus, but does not train, or stop from doing so. Lawyers would violate this prohibition if they place telephone calls offering general legal services to arrestees on a list the lawyer receives from a sheriff. Lawyers would not violate this prohibition by asking a personal friend banker to provide the lawyer’s name to those who might need an estate plan (without targeting any specific people, and without directing the banker to do so). Federal and state laws might also prohibit these types of solicitation. |