amendments to the Hawaii Rules of Professional Conduct

services. Lawyers who participate in a legal service plan must
reasonably assure that the plan sponsors are in compliance with
Rules 7.1, 7.2, 7.3(b), and 7.3(e) of these Rules. See Rule 8.4(a)
of these Rules.
Rule 7.4. COMMUNICATION OF FIELDS OF PRACTICE AND
CERTIFICATION.
(a) A lawyer may communicate the fact that the lawyer does or does
not practice in particular fields of law.
(b) A lawyer admitted to engage in patent practice before the United
States Patent and Trademark Office may use the designation “Patent Attorney”
or a substantially similar designation.
(c) A lawyer engaged in Admiralty practice may use the designation
"Admiralty," "Proctor in Admiralty," or a substantially similar designation.
(d) A lawyer may communicate the fact that the lawyer is certified as
a specialist in a field of law by a named organization, provided that the
communication
(1) is not false or misleading within the meaning of Rule 7.1 of these
Rules,
(2) clearly states the name of the certifying organization, and;
(3) is accompanied by a statement that “The Supreme Court of
Hawai‘i grants Hawai‘i certification only to lawyers in good standing who have
successfully completed a specialty program accredited by the American Bar
Association.”
COMMENTS:
[1] This Rule permits a lawyer to indicate areas of
practice in communications about the lawyer's services. If a
lawyer practices only in certain fields, or will not accept matters
in a specified field or fields, the lawyer is permitted to so
indicate. Language indicating that a lawyer "concentrates in,"
"practices primarily in," "emphasizes," or "limits practice to"
certain law areas is permitted. In addition, a lawyer is generally
permitted to state that the lawyer is a "specialist," practices a
"specialty," or "specializes in" particular fields, but such
communications are subject to the "false and misleading"
standard applied in Rule 7.1 of these Rules to communications
concerning a lawyer's services. However, a lawyer may not
communicate that the lawyer is recognized or certified as a
specialist in a particular field of law, except as provided by this
Rule and by Rule 1.13 of the Rules of the Supreme Court of the
State of Hawai'i.
[2] Recognition of specialization in patent matters is a
matter of long-established policy of the Patent and Trademark
Office, as reflected in paragraph (b). Paragraph (c) recognizes
that designation of admiralty practice has a long historical
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