Attorney Web Sites
Setup Hints
The following suggestions can help the attorney to avoid some of the pitfalls identified in this presentation. However, the attorney must evaluate his own state's ethical and advertising rules and regulations before posting any web site to the Internet.
Passive Site
In order to protect against any suspicion of personal solicitation, the attorney should make the public access areas of his web site as passive as possible. This public area is the area of the site available without any password or sign-in. Since Internet browsers can reach this public area directly from the Internet, the attorney is advised to avoid any appearance that he is actively soliciting clients from this area.
To make this area passive, avoid any feedback of any kind, including questionnaires, guest books, or any other means of two way communications. To be absolutely safe, the attorney may also want to avoid putting any links to his e-mail on this public portion of the site, although this greatly reduced the utility of the public area. Hopefully, guidence on this issue will come from future cases or Congressional action.
No Personal Solicitation
In addition to making his public area passive, to be safe the attorney should avoid all activities that could be deemed as personal solicitation, including postings on other Internet sites (except those referral services that meet ethical requirements of attorney advertising in general), spamming, and perhaps even banner advertising. Of course, as the state regulations begin to address attorney/Internet concerns, and as case law develops, these activities may be accepted in the near future. The attorney would be wise to watch the rulings coming out of his state regulatory bodies.
Protected Areas
In order to avoid the appearance of soliciting outside one's jurisdiction, the web site should contain only general personal or firm information on the public areas of his web site. This area should make it clear, using disclaimers (covered below), that the web site is not actively soliciting anybody outside of the attorney's jurisdiction of practice. However, in order to make the web site useful to the attorney's clients, the web site can have special private areas set up, with user IDs and passwords, that allow clients to get detailed information and periodicals that would be useful. Also, the attorney can set up question and answer postings on the web site, as well as set up feedback mechanism for two way communications.
In addition, the attorney will want to actively solicit clients in the attorney's jurisdiction of practice. The attorney can set up a special page that contains a disclaimer, and requires the browser to proclaim that he/she is geographically located in the attorney's jurisdiction. Once the browser registers on this page, with any required information that the attorney desires, that browser can then have access to an area of the site that is designed to solicit the browser. This area would contain detailed information about the law firm and its expertise and areas of practice. Of course, the attorney must be sure to follow his jurisdictional ethical rules regarding such information. Click Here for an example of what such a page might look like.
By taking these precautions, the attorney will better be able to argue that he has not availed himself of the jurisdiction of foreign states or nations outside the jurisdiction of his practice, and he will have a strong argument under the specific jurisdiction line of cases that any assertion of jurisdiction by foreign states or nations is unfair and unconstitutional.
Ethics Rules
The attorney must be sure to investigate the ethics and advertising rules of the jurisdiction of his practice. Because these vary greatly across the nation, it is difficult to generalize the rules, but see our ethics portion of the presentation for more guidelines. The attorney should pay special attention to the rules regarding the format of advertising, whether prior approval is necessary, what claims as to expertise the attorney may make, required disclaimers and information, and rules about testimonials and experience.
The attorney must be sure to use disclaimers liberally and freely, on both web pages and in e-mail, to protect himself from the danger of inadvertent attorney-client relationships, claims of practicing law outside his jurisdiction, and claims of personal solicitation. Examples of such disclaimers are contained below (these disclaimers were taken from Michael P. Malakoff and David W. Snyder, Lawyer Advertising on the Internet: Ethical Quagmires and Global Opportunities, 1047 PLI/Copr 131, 277 (1998):
I. SAMPLE WEB PAGE DISCLAIMERS
A. The material appearing in this Web site is for information purposes only and are not legal advice. Transmission of the information is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Internet subscribers and online readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. The information provided in this Web site is provided only as general information which may or may not reflect the most current legal developments. This Web site is not intended to be advertising and we do not wish to represent anyone desiring representation based upon viewing this Web site in a state where this Web site fails to comply with all laws and ethical rules of that state.
B. The information at this site has been prepared by, or on behalf of [your firm] for general information purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice. Moreover, the information is presented without any representation or warranty whatsoever, including as to the accuracy or completeness of the information. Links to information on sites other than those operated by, or on behalf of [your firm] is for your convenience only and is not an endorsement or recommendation of those sites.
C. Electronic mail or other communication to [your firm] resulting from your receipt of information from this site cannot be guaranteed to be confidential and will not, and should not be construed to, create an attorney-client relationship between [your firm] and you or anyone else.
D. We are happy to provide links to all Web sites for lawyers, law firms and other legal resources. However, we do not intend such links to be referrals or endorsements of those sites, and we will not accept referrals for employment from unregistered referral services. The links provided are maintained by their respective organizations and they are solely responsible for the content of their own sites.
II. SAMPLE E-MAIL DISCLAIMERS
A. E-mail communications on the Internet are not secure. There is a risk that this confidential communication may be illegally intercepted. There may also be a risk of waiving the attorney-client privilege that may attach to this e-mail. Do not forward this e-mail to a third party.
B. This e-mail communication contains confidential and/or privileged communication intended for the addressee only. If you have received this communication, please call us immediately at [your number].
Lowest Common Denominator
The attorney could also attempt to protect himself by following the ethics guidelines of the strictest states and nations. T his would ensure that the attorney met the ethical guidelines everywhere. Of coures, in practice this is nearly impossible, as finding the strictest rule can be a challenge. However, in the United States, the rules of Florida and Texas seem to be the strictest at this time, and could well be used for guidence. See our discussion on these states ethics rules.
Additional setup hints and model sites can be found at College Hill Internet Consultants, Reading Room.
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NOTHING IN THIS PRESENTATION REPRESENTS LEGAL ADVICE, AND NO ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP IS IMPLIED BY ANYTHING ON THIS SITE.
This page developed by Robert F. Bodi
for a Cyberlaw class at The
University of Akron - School
of Law
This page hosted by CleveNet; Original
material copyright © 1998 by Robert F. Bodi. All rights reserved. The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly
those of the page author. Information in
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nor implied. Other products and companies referred to herein are trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective companies or mark holders. Cases cited in this document are
public domain. Links to other web sites are unique works and not the property of
Robert F. Bodi, and he is not responsible for their content. None of the links are
used by permission. This page last updated on Friday, November 20, 1998
The material appearing in this Web site is for information purposes only and are not legal advice. Transmission of the information is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. Internet subscribers and online readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. The information provided in this Web site is provided only as general information which may or may not reflect the most current legal developments. This Web site is not intended to be advertising and we do not wish to represent anyone desiring representation based upon viewing this Web site in a state where this Web site fails to comply with all laws and ethical rules of that state.
