| LEO Num | Topics | Summary | Date |
1029
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| [WITHDRAWN 4/18] A lawyer referral service may not call itself "The Litigation Group" without explaining that it is not a law firm, and may not use the statement "no recovery -- no fee" because clients will be liable for costs even if they lose [explained in LEO 1750]. | 2/1/1988 |
1380
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| [WITHDRAWN 9/16] Although the Bar cannot determine if two affiliated professional corporations are a single entity for purposes of the ethics rules, a determination that they are two separate entities might mean that they are violating: the fee-splitting rules; the prohibition on paying compensation to recommend employment; the ban on using the name of a lawyer who has left the firm and is engaged in business elsewhere. | 11/30/1990 |
1750
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| A compendium opinion on lawyer marketing reflects the 7/1/17 ethics rules changes. First, lawyers must disclose that their advertising includes actors rather than lawyers "when the language used implies otherwise" (as when actors "use first person references to themselves as lawyers"). Second, lawyers may use a phrase such as "no recovery, no fee" only when they have already decided that the "client's responsibility for advanced costs and expenses will be contingent on the outcome of the matter." Third, law firms may not include the name of a lawyer "not associated with the firm or a predecessor of the firm," and must "actually practice" under their advertised name. It is "potentially misleading" for lawyers to advertise "the use of a non-exclusive office space" if lawyers do not provide legal services there. Fourth, lawyers may not advertise that would-be clients "will have to consult an attorney" before speaking with an insurance company representative. Fifth, lawyers may advertise their participation in lawyer referral services, as long as the service is: "operated in the public interest; is open to all area lawyers who meet the services requirements; requires service members to pay malpractice insurance or otherwise ensure financial responsibility; has adopted procedures for admitting and removing lawyers; prohibits any fee-generated referral to any lawyers who have an ownership interest in the service. Among other things, such referral service membership advertising may not: falsely imply that membership is based on some objective "quality of services" assessment; state or imply that the services contain all eligible lawyers; falsely state or imply that a "substantial number" of lawyers participate in the service. Sixth, although advertising specific or cumulative case results no longer must be preceded by a specific disclaimer, such advertisements "can be misleading." For instance, it would be misleading to advertise a $1,000,000 verdict if the lawyer's client had turned down a $2,000,000 settlement offer before trial. Seventh, lawyers may not use such "extravagant or self-laudatory" advertisements such as "the best lawyers," "the most experienced," etc. Eighth, lawyers may not advertise or use client testimonials that cannot be "factually substantiated" – the same standard as the lawyers' own advertisements. Lawyers may use "soft endorsements" that describe lawyers' return of clients' phone calls, appearance of concern, etc. Ninth, lawyers may list their inclusion in publications such as The Best Lawyers In America, but if they are delisted they must accurately state the "year(s) or edition(s) in which the lawyer was listed." Tenth, lawyers may advertise as a "specialist" or "specializing in" certain areas, as long as they can establish its accuracy. Eleventh, lawyers may advertise using terms such as "expert" or "expertise" if they can factually substantiate the description. | 10/2/2019 |
1341
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| A firm's letterhead may include a retired former partner's name as long as the former partner is accurately characterized. Corporate counsel must disclose the name of the corporate employer on letterhead and business cards. If a lawyer operates a private law practice out of a company's office, there must be separate office space, separate sign, separate files and a separate telephone listing. | 4/20/1990 |
0828
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| A foreign citizen who is not licensed to practice law in the United States may not indicate on letterhead that the lawyer is a legal adviser to various countries, since it would tend to be misleading. [The new foreign legal consultant rule (Rule 1A:7) may permit this activity.] | 9/23/1986 |
1242
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| A law firm letterhead may not indicate that it is a partnership of professional corporations without revealing that they engage in the practice of law. | 6/14/1989 |
0935
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| A law firm may call itself "Accident Adjustment Service, PC" or "Attorney's Accident Adjustment Service, PC." | 6/11/1987 |
1706
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| A law firm may continue to use a deceased or retired partner's name in its title. Although declining to indicate whether a lawyer who has only been an independent contractor of a firm may continue to use the firm's name after all of the firm's partners retire (calling the question a "legal issue") the Bar refers to a Maryland LEO indicating that such use would be improper. As long as the lawyer was a "successor in interest" to the firm, the lawyer could continue to use a deceased partner's name in the firm name. Although sole practitioners may not use words like "group" or "associates" in their firm's names, using a deceased lawyer's name is acceptable as long as the firm's letterhead indicates that the other lawyer is deceased. | 11/21/1997 |
1659
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| A law firm may hire an associate who also maintains a separate law practice; the firm may include the associate's name on its letterhead but should disclose the associate's separate office address "to avoid the possibility of misleading the public regarding the associate's relationship with the law firm." | 1/23/1996 |
0264
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| A law firm may indicate on its letterhead the jurisdiction limits of its lawyers. | 12/3/1974 |
0851
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| A law firm may not continue to use a former partner's name on printed material once the former partner becomes a judge. | 10/9/1986 |
0230
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| A law firm may not indicate on its letterhead that one of its lawyers is a Commonwealth's Attorney. | 9/27/1973 |
0970
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| A law firm may not pay a disbarred lawyer for work the lawyer performed before disbarment. A law firm may include a non-lawyer's name on its stationery as long as the stationery explains the non-lawyer's status. | 9/30/1987 |
0589
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| A law firm may not use the name "Closing Company, PC" because it is misleading; the name "Closing Company, a Professional Law Corporation" would be proper. | 7/5/1984 |
0277
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| A law firm may not use the name of a lawyer who has stopped practicing law and is now engaged in a business. | 12/15/1975 |
0767
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| A law firm may pay legal assistants on a profit-sharing basis, and include legal assistants and other staff on the firm letterhead as long as they are properly identified. | 1/17/1986 |
1376
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| A law firm may use the name of a retired partner as long as the retired partner practiced with the firm until retirement and is not practicing law elsewhere or taken a public office. | 9/13/1990 |
1288
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| A law firm's letterhead may contain the name of a non-lawyer unless it would be misleading. | 10/19/1989 |
0283
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| A law firm's letterhead may indicate that one of its lawyers is registered to practice before the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. | 6/23/1976 |
1143
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| A law firm's letterhead should indicate the jurisdictional limitations of any of the listed lawyers' practices. A non-Virginia lawyer may negotiate with a Virginia lawyer without engaging in the unauthorized practice of law. | 10/26/1988 |
1704
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| A law firm's name may include the names of deceased partners. During the process of a firm dissolving, partners may operate under the old firm name "for the limited purpose of winding up its affairs" while simultaneously practicing under a firm name that includes some of the same names as the old firm. | 9/12/1997 |
0206
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| A law firm's name may not include the name of a lawyer/legislator who is not actively practicing in the firm. | 5/28/1970 |
0469
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| A law practice may indicate the absence of a partnership by using the term "affiliated law offices." | 9/20/1982 |
0775
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| A lawyer employed by an insurance carrier must make full disclosure of the employment status on business cards, letterheads, office signs and other public representations. | 4/3/1986 |
0402
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| A lawyer may not include on the lawyer's letterhead the chairmanship of a Virginia State Bar committee, since it could mislead the public as to the lawyer's status, ability or integrity. | 1/20/1981 |
0193
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| A lawyer may use firm letterhead in soliciting support for a public office that must be held by a lawyer. | 9/28/1965 |
1532
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| A lawyer may use the term "and associates" in describing the lawyer's practice if the lawyer employs an associate in a manner that is more than office-sharing. The lawyer may use the term "associates" in the plural only if the lawyer employs at least two lawyers. | 5/11/1993 |
1275
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| A lawyer may use the word "lawyer" in a non-profit corporation unless it is misleading | 9/27/1989 |
0321
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| A lawyer selling a law practice may advise clients that they may retain the new lawyer or some other lawyer. The lawyer purchasing the law practice may not purchase clients' files or an interest in pending litigation, and may not use the selling lawyer's name in the letterhead. [Rule 1.17 permits the purchase or sale of a law firm's practice, including good will, under certain circumstances.] | 4/19/1979 |
0202
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| A lawyer who holds a JD degree may use the title "Doctor." | 11/13/1969 |
0858
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| A multi-state law firm must indicate on its letterhead which lawyers are members of the Virginia State Bar and which are not, and may include a footnote indicating that the non-Virginia lawyers are admitted in other states. | 11/10/1986 |
0762
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| A multi-state law firm's letterhead which lists the firm's lawyers must state the lawyers' jurisdictional limits. | 1/19/1986 |
1356
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| A professional corporation may establish a subsidiary for collections practice, as long as there is disclosure to prospective clients, and nothing in the law firm's or new professional corporation's name was misleading. | 1/22/1990 |
1108
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| A professional corporation may not use the name of a former partner after the partner has withdrawn from the firm and is no longer practicing law. | 7/12/1988 |
0937
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| A professional corporation may practice law under a fictitious name. | 6/11/1987 |
1554
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| A retired lawyer may be listed as "of counsel" to a firm even though the retired lawyer is not actively practicing law, as long as the lawyer "remains associated with the firm and available for occasional consultations." The designation would be improper if the retired lawyer's association "was limited to a pure business affiliation" or to "either the development of business or the management of the firm's business activities." The Bar quoted earlier LEOs as indicating that the "of counsel" relationship "turns on the actual practice of law and is not satisfied by a mere business or financial relationship with the firm, a sporadic affiliation over time, or the status of a forwarder or receiver of legal business." | 10/22/1993 |
1492
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| A solo practitioner may not use the term "attorneys at law" in describing the lawyer's practice. | 10/19/1992 |
0325
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| A Virginia law firm and an out-of-state law firm may not use the same name and letterhead if they are not a partnership or share professional liability. | 6/6/1979 |
0959
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| An in-house lawyer's letterhead must indicate the employer's name. | 9/3/1987 |
1285
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| As long as it is not intended to mislead the public, a law firm may retain its name even though two of the named partners marry and one wants to stop using her maiden name. | 10/19/1989 |
1395
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| If a geographic area and a military installation have become commonly used, a law firm may use the names in the law firm name because it would not imply some special connection with the military installation. | 1/14/1991 |
1026
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| If a law firm lists different states where its lawyers are licensed, the names of the lawyers should be included. A statement indicating that the law firm "serves" three jurisdictions might give the erroneous impression that each lawyer is licensed in those jurisdictions. | 2/1/1988 |
ABA-430
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| Lawyers employed as staff employees of insurance companies may represent both the company and the insured in "full coverage cases" -- in which the insured's monetary exposure is within the coverage limits, and there is no dispute about coverage. The lawyers must keep in mind "the importance of undivided fidelity to the insured-client." The issue of separate attorney-client relationships with the insured and the company (or both) is a question of state law, but some states follow a "dual client" approach while others recognize that the lawyer represents only the insured. Most states allow staff counsel to represent insureds, but some states prohibit such representations as the unauthorized practice of law. Insurance companies' staff lawyers representing insureds must disclose to their insureds clients -- "at the earliest opportunity practicable" their "employment status and affiliation with the insurance company." Staff lawyers for an insurance company may use a traditional law firm name or a trade name, as long as they make the required disclosure to their insureds-clients. | 7/9/2003 |
1369
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| Lawyers practicing as a professional corporation must reveal the form of their association in communications to the public or clients. | 11/15/1990 |
0853
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| No Opinion was issued with this number. | 10/9/1986 |
1034
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| The Canons of Judicial Conduct govern the permissibility of a lawyer appearing before a judge who was formerly a partner in the law firm (reaffirming LEO 552). It is improper to list a Congressman (who is precluded from the practice of law) as "of counsel" to a law firm. | 2/9/1988 |
1873
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| The hypothetical law firm of "Smith & Jones, P.C.," need not immediately stop using the Internet domain name and URL "smithjones.com" after Smith withdraws from the P.C. An immediate termination would not serve "the interests of the public" or "the partners in the former firm who collectively built goodwill and created value associated with that firm name." The "appropriate way of explaining why smithjones.com is no longer the Smith & Jones website" is to place a notice on that website. Although the P.C. owns the former domain name, it may not indicate on the website that the Smith & Jones "has now become" the "Jones Law Office," because that implies that Smith is no longer practicing law. Similarly, any redirection of visitors to the smithjones.com website to the "joneslawoffice.com" website also requires additional information. Such redirection is appropriate only if the joneslawoffice.com website, or a page visable during the process of redirecting, "explains the change from Smith & Jones to Jones Law Office and that Smith continues to practice law in a different firm." | 3/20/2014 |
0326
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| The name of a legal assistant may appear on a law firm's outside door if the label properly identifies the person as a legal assistant. | 6/19/1979 |
0660
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| This opinion was rescinded 2/13/03. | 2/4/1985 |