THE CASE OF THE RIDICULOUS RULES IN A SUBLIME PROFESSION

            ‘Splain me something.

            In 2006, the New York State Bar Association asked for comments on proposed new regulations regarding lawyer advertising. They seemed particularly concerned about blogs, and the potential excesses of such as personal injury advertising. Shocking, yes, but no great surprise.

            For reasons I described in my letter to them, (scroll down on this blog), their reasoning was ludicrous.  And, I understand, they got many such letters.

            A few weeks ago, Northern District Court  Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr. issued an injunction on enforcement of several provisions in the guidelines, which, unless a stay is obtained, eliminate several of the guidelines. A rational decision at the head of which might well be a slippery slope toward reason. The guidelines in question, said the judge, were unconstitutional.

            Significantly, the judge also noted that the state submitted no “statistical or anecdotal evidence of consumer problem with, or complaints about, misleading attorney advertising.”

            Some of the rules still are in force, but they are, in my opinion and as described in my letter, either redundant or just plain foolish. Moreover, I believe they show absolutely no knowledge of law firm marketing, or the value that marketing has to both the practice of law and the needs of the clientele.

            I am not a lawyer, although there are a few of us around who can read stuff like the U.S. Constitution, and legal decisions, like Bates v. State Bar of Arizona.  So…

             If  I, and many others like me (including many lawyers), knew at the outset that the new advertising rules, both in their proposal stage and in final form, were unconstitutional, why didn’t the wizards of the Bar Associations that promulgated or accepted those rules, not know it as well?

            In fact, many of us, particularly those of us who understand law firm (and accounting firm) marketing knew that these regulations were at least ridiculous, and at most onerous. You might want to look at the letter (few posts down) that I (among many others, writing in the same vein), sent to the New York State Bar.

            ‘Splain it to me. Please.