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Ethics Rules (Arizona) and Case Law related to a law firm's
web site:
 | ER 7.1 provides limitations
on the nature of communications with prospective clients. |
| Yaklin v. Glusing, Sharpe
& Kreuger, 875 SW2nd 380, 383 (Tex.App.1994) a potential
client's belief that a person was his lawyer combined with
no "hint or suggestion" that no representation was
established has been determined to be sufficient to create a
fact-issue on the existence of an attorney client
relationship. Moral: do not ignore e-mails (solicited
or not). |
| Bates vs State Bar of
Arizona, 433 US 350 (1976). The United States Supreme
Court held that lawyer advertising was a form of commercial
speech and could not be prohibited outright. The State
could not prohibit an attorney from listing fees for routine
services. But advertising deemed false, misleading or
deceptive could be prohibited. |
| ER 7.2(a) provides that
subject to the requirements of ER 7.1 and 7.3, a lawyer may
advertise services using electronic means, including public
media (internet). |
| ER 7.2(c) - all
communications must include name and office address of at
least one lawyer or law firm responsible for the content of
the communication. |
| ER 7.2(e) Electronic media
advertising must contain the same information as set forth
in ER 7.2(c). |
| ER 7.3 prohibits soliciting
professional employment from a prospective client, unless
there is a prior close personal or professional
relationship. |
| ER 7.3(c) Electronic
communications designed to solicit employment must contact
the words "Advertising Materials" in twice the font size of
the body of the communication at the beginning and ending of
the electronic communication. A written copy must be
forwarded to the Clerk of the Supreme Court and the State
Bar of Arizona.
 | it is not clear if a
purely informational site would fall into this
requirement. |
| It does appear that
interactive sites may fall into this requirement. |
|
| Arizona Ethics Opinion 97-04
- It is "probably" appropriate for lawyers to place on-line
intake forms for prospective clients on their web sites, so
long as "(1) there is no unenthical solicitation involved;
and (2) thre is no communication of of confidential
information through cyberspace." |
| Arizona Ethics Opinion 99-06
(1999) holds that Arizona lawyers may not participate in an
Internet service that sends legal questions form individuals
to attorneys based on the subject matter of the questions.
Any referral program must be approved by the State Bar. |
| Arizona Ethics Opinion 97-04
- a website may not use a tradename as the firm's name, but
exempts out domain names. Arizona Ethics Opinion
2001-05 (2001) holds that a law firm domain name does not
have to be idential to the firm's actual name. It also
holds that a for-profit lawfirm may not use the suffix
".org". |
| ER 7.3(a) would govern
message boards and chat rooms. This ER prohibits
solicitation by real-time electornic contact.
|
| Arizona Ethics Opinion 97-04
(1997) advises that it is inappropriate to answer specific
on-line questions because of the confidentiality issue and
potential conflict with existing clients. |
| ER 5.5 holds that a lawyer
shall not practice law in a jurisdiction where doing so
violates the regulation of the legal profession of that
jurisdiction. See also Rule 42. When does the
information on your website become "the practice of law" in
a jurisdiction where you are not licensed? A question
yet to be addressed in full. |
Resources:
|
Lawyer Lounge.com "Welcome to The ESQlawtech Weekly, a
weblog dedicated to law office technology tips, tools, and
tricks for lawyers. Come here regularly and learn how law office
technology resources can help you manage and expand your
practice. We concentrate on providing you with the most current
information on law office technology, law firm management, and
law office management, and you will benefit by being a regular
part of our community." |
|
Law
Office Technology Review
the place to come for
information about new technological products designed for the
law industry. |
|
MicroLaw.com
- lots of practical solutions, including slide shows depicting
the integration of technology. |
|
NetLawTools.com Internet tools for Lawyers, includes weblogs,
research, etc. |
|
NetTechInc.com technology resources for lawyers. |
Case Law
|
Supreme Court
records and brief -
The Curiae
Project developed at Yale Law School. Selects
cases based on rankings developed from citation data in
historical and constitutional texts. |
Forms
http://forms.lp.findlaw.com/
Over 8,000 FREE online court forms in ONE location. Get the
latest forms legal professionals use everyday such as summonses,
complaints, affidavits, and schedules, all in FindLaw's court
forms area. Browse by federal, state, district, and bankruptcy
courts, or by subject areas from adoption to divorce to civil
harassment.
Technology
Help for Solos and Small Firms
www.lawyerexpress.com
www.attorneyexpress.com
www.CEOexpress.com
www.froogle.com
www.bandwidthspeedtest.com
www.aldaily.com
The Chronicle of Higher Education brings you the world.
Directories, maps, etc
Business
Information
|
Legal
Technology Online, a non-profit organization in Maryland, has compiled a
directory of
Legal Software Vendors on the Internet. The Center provides consulting,
training, and development services to legal service organizations,
corporations, and law firms to help them apply information technology to the
delivery of legal services. |
| Findlaw has a
software and technology section with a search engine. (Also see their
bankruptcy resource page.) |
|
LawyerWare.com offers law-related shareware, freeware, and demo programs.
You'll find lengthy descriptions of products and you'll be able to download
from their site. Legal software is categorized by practice areas, and you'll
also be able to use their search engine to search their site for what you're
looking for. Also includes discussion forums, internet/intranet utilities and
more. |
| An excellent resource for law firms of all sizes is
Law Office Computing, a bimonthly magazine with helpful computer and
software tips to help you use your software more effectively and reviews to
help you decide what to buy. Editorial is written not for the techno-geek but
for anyone using software at a law firm. Their website contains legal software
reviews and more. Subscriptions can be obtained through the
James
Publishing website or by calling 1-800-440-4780. |
| If you are looking for a particular type of legal
software, you can try the search engine at the
Findlaw web
site. |
|
ZDNet is a directory of shareware and evaluation software, (not just legal
software), with its own search engine that lets you search for the type of
software you are looking for. Descriptions of packages are included, and demos
can be downloaded directly from their site. |
| The
Internet Lawyer's web site has connections to various internet resources
for lawyers. They publish a monthly newsletter and have an on-line internet
guru who will answer your questions about the internet. |
| Nerd World has a listing of
legal resources and
legal software. |
| The
All Law site
has a directory of legal vendors on the web, as well as links relevant to
particular legal practice areas, legal news, federal and state branches of
government, statutes on line, law schools, law journals, CLE information, and
more. |
| The
Law Lounge
is a site for lawyers in the UK, US, Australia, and Europe. It contains lawyer
directories, legal news, legal topics, office technology links, legal
publishers, services, (expert witnesses, vendors, etc.), and more. They have a
legal software page. |
Discovery
| Case Law Reviews of Electronic
Discovery Issues -
Spinelli Report "Electronic Evidence Examiner" (Free) |
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