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THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT WWl€R ADVERnSlNG &&Firnu brochures typically are not requid to be submitted to the State Bar because of how they are ussally dissen~inated. 'IjpicaUy, they are sent to clients, people who have requested information, or tl~ey are gouug to otlw lawym. Evel~ though a broclmre aiay be exempt, a lawyer is still prolubited from including false, misleading or deceptive statenlents in the material. If a brochure is illded to sonleone that has a specific legal problem, then the brochure and any cover letter attached to il are required to be formally submitted to the Advertising Review Department. Similarly, if a brochure is disseminated at a public place, such as a couvt house, tluen it must also be sub~uitted to the Advertisi~~g Review Deparknent. CONSEQUENCES FOR NON-COhlPLIANCB Violation of tlue lawyer Advertising Rules is a violation of the Disciplina~y Rules. See Chapters I! and E The Advertising Review Coni~nittee may fo~~vard my 11o11-comp1ying attorney to an appropriate Grievance Con~rniltee Non-Gler fee of $200 for la\vyers that do not appropriately file their ads. WHERE CAN I TURN TO FOR GUIDANCE ON UNDERS'1'MDlNG THESE RUL!jS? Interpretive Cou~~~~ents define the Comniittee's inte~yretatioes in order to clarify specific aspects of the 1111es Cd or write the r\live-tising Review Departrent Staff, P.O. Bos 12487 Austin TX 78711 or 800-566-4616 \Vrifien request of nn opinion from Advertishg Review Can~nuittee Televisioa Advertising - Helplid hints If possible, submit the script to the Advertising Re\icwDeprtment for pre-approval before tlue video is produced. The script will be reviewd and the attomcy will be sent correspo~~dence indicating whether it has been approved or not. This do\vs the attorney to m- ily make changes to the script ifnecessa~y. Pre-approval of tlue Script is not required. If a lawyer produces the video and subwits it to us upon first dissemniuation, that is acceptable. IIo~vever, there may be potential problems if the video is produced and then submitted to the i\dvertising Review Depastment. If there are problenis with the script, the attorney will have to go re-edit the conlmercial, u~luch is usuaUy an added production cost. 1n some instances, attorneys have not been able to use their conmerciak because they could not be re-edited for various reasons. Actors may not portray layers Actors niay portray clients, as long as the appropriate "D~amatization" statenlent is clearly displayed 011 tlue screen wl~ere the actass are appeariag. See 111terpretive Conln~ent Nun~bcr nvo. Make sure that appmpuiate disclaimets are co~ispicuous and on tlue screen long enongl~ to be read. For example, the "Not certified ...." disclainer IIIIISI be clearly displayed on the screen. I'lacing the text in a black box may make it easier to read. Gcneially, the disclimer must be 011 the screen for at least five seconds. If there is other written text on the screen at the salne tulle, !hen it nmst be displayed for n~ore than five seconds. INTBRNET WEBSITE ADVERTISEMENlS Notes: See Interpretive Co~nnlent 17 for more inforn~ation ~\ttomey nmst submit pru~tout of hon~epage (first screen) of website to Advertising Review Department u~lless othe~nise noted in Interpretive Con~nuent 17. Altl~ough the attonley \rill only submit the first screen of the website, the other pages may not violate the provisions of the h\\~er Adwtising Rules in any capacity Principal office disclosure nmst be on homepsge. If areas of law referenced on homepage, then attornqs nlust indicate if they are "Not Cerlified by Texas Board of Legal Specialiation" on tlue l~omepage. If areas of law are not referemd on Iuotnepage, but are referenced on other pages, then tlue "Not Certified ...." disclaimer is requked on tlme pages. FREQUENnY ASKED QUESTIONS FROM SSA'TE BAR OF TBXAS ADVERTISING REVIEW DEPARTMENT For more idorn~ation, contact: The Ad\'cdising Review Committee C/O State Bar of Texas PO. Box 12487 Austin, IX 78711-2487 Telephone: 1-800-566-4616 Fax: 512-463-1475 Attention: Ray Ca~tu Web Site: 11ttp://\\?wtesesbar.~0n1/at~info/adrev/q11est.l1t1i1 (Unless otl~ellrise noted, the ten11 "ad" or "advertise~nent" dso refers to written solicitations. The term hRC denotes the Advertising Review Comniitfce.) 1. Wl~ere a n I find tlie new rules for lawyer advertising a ~ the ~ application d form to submit materials to the State Bar? The "nen*' Iauyr Ad\wtising Rules went into effect in July of 1995 and can be found in Part W of tl~e Texas Discipliiia~y Rules of Professional Conduct. You nlay request a packet of inforniation containing these 1111es, nu application fon~i, and other infor~native materials from the Advertising Review Department at 1-800-566-4616. 2. Horn do I submit advertisenlei~ts to the State Bar? AII advevtising lawyer must sub~uut a copy of his or her ad, a conlpleted application form, and a $50 filing fee to the Advertising Review Departnle~t of the State Bar. If the ad ill question is a television or mdio spot, a productio~~ script nmst be subniitted along nith a tape of the conin~ercial. (The production script may be submitted without the tape if the lawyer is requesting pre-approval prior to actual production of the conmercial.) If the ad is a solicitation leftel; a copy of the envelope must be included with the letter For print advertisements, a copy of the ad itself nus st be submitted. For Websites, a printout of the homepage (see interprelive con~n~ent 17) and a statement 22 VOICE FOR THE DEFENSE W.TCDLA.COM NOVEMBER 2001
I I I of the URL address of the website mnst be submitted. 3. Do all advertisements have to be submitted to the State Bar? No. Not all advertisements are required to be submitted for review. Rule 7.07(d) wtlines the exemptions to Sling An advertisingattomy sl~ould review tllis 11de to determine whether he or she is required to submit his or her advertisements to the Bar. If an ad meets the exemptions, it is not reqnired to be submlned but must st& comply with dl other applinble portions of the adve~?ising lules. If an ad does not meet the exemptions, the lawyer must file it with the ARC. 4. mat happens if I don't snbmit nly non-exempt advertisement for review? Failure to file a nnn-exempt ad is a violation of the disciplinaty rules. The ARC may fonvard to the Bar's disciplinal). system any attorney who fails to comply with the 111lles. In addition, if it comes to the Committee's attention that a lavyr has not timely Ned a partic~rlnr advertisement, a $150 non-filer fee will be ;tssessed (inaddition to the stru~dard $50 filing fee) for failure to co~nply with theflling requirements. 5. Do I have to get my advertisement approved before 1 can disseminate it? No. A lawyer is not required to seek pre-approval before disseminating an ad. (Requesting pre-approval is an option for the lauya and is discussedin the next question.) Ifan ad does not meet the Rling exemptions in Rule 7.07(d), it is n~andato~y that the laver simply file the nd upon k t dissemination. 6. What is the difference between a pre-approval and nfiliog? Alauyer requesting preapproval of an advertisement must submithis or her material to the Advertising Review Department at least thty (30) days prior to the first dissemination of the matedal (NOTE: In the case of telephone directories or simihr pnblicalions, it1 order to request a pre-approval, the lawyer must submit his or her ad to the Bar at least thirty (30) days prior to the deadline for changes/co~~ections to the ad.) The ARC will review the ad for violations and respond to the applicant within hventy-five (25) da)s from lhe date of receipt. The response will either approve the ad or outline the applicable vtnlations. If violations are noted, the attorney is glven twenty (20) days to correct the ad and respond back to the ARC if he or she still intends to dissenrinnte the ad. A pre-approval opinion given by the Committee is bimcllngin favor of the attorney in any subsequent disciplinruy proceeding concerning the ad. If a layw intends to disseminate the ad in less than (30) days or if the ad is already in public disseminatiw, thelavamust sin~ply Ne the ad with the ARC. (There is a space on the application form in which the attorney must either request a pre-approval opulion or declare the submission a 6li11g instend.) Once Ned, the ad is reviewed for applicable nolations, and if none are present.a written approval is sent to the attorney. Depending on the more of the violations in a filing, if any, the ARCwill either (1) refer the mdter to the Bar's disciplinmy system, or (2) inform the attorney of the violutions. If the latter occurs, tl~e attorney is then giw ten (10) days to stop dissemtion of the advertisement immediately and respond back to the ARC with either a corrected ad or a notice that dissemination had been permanently ended. 7. There are some aspects of the lawyer advertising rules that I jnsf don't understand. Ate there my additional guidelines avdahle that can help me to more clearly understand these rules? Yes. In an effort to help attorneys, the ARC developed Interpretive Co~iunents thut ontllne the Committee's specific interpretations of certain rules. T11ese comments along with other helphd hfonnation can be obtained in the information packet available tluough the Ad~wtising Review Department. The o~ajority of the material in the inforniation packet is also posted here in this site. In addition, an attorney may seek guidance about inte~praations of the rules by calling the staE of the Advertising Review Department at 1400-566-4616. 8. How do the new rdes apply to Internet Web sites? Web sites are considered by the ARC to be a form of public media advertising. Lawyers or law frrms that post Web sites concerning legnl setvices must s~~b~nit a p~dnted copy of the homepage of the web site to the ARC along with an application form md $50 fee unless the information on the homepage fits within the exemptions in Rde 7.07(d). The homepage must contain app~opriate disclaimers and disclosures where applicable. (Please see interpretive Comment 17 for fu~*her details about Iiling web sites and bringing them into compliance \vith the 1111es ) 9. Do 1 have to submit my advertisement for review every year? No. Once an adis apprnved, it is not required to be re-sobmined until a substantive change is made to the ad. According to the ARC, a simple change of street address or phone number does not constitute a snbstantive change. However, any other addition, deletion, or changc of text in the ad requires that the ad be subnlitted with a new application form and filing fee. 10. gihat is the status of the disclaimer statement "Not Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization?" Are lawyers still reqnired to include the disclaimer in advertisements? Yes. Rule 7.04(b)(3) requires that any lawyer who sdvertises any area of p~xtice in which he or she is not board certi- Bed must inclnde the disclaimer shtemcnt in the ad. The disclajmer nust containno cl~anges, abbreviations or additions. It nust be displayed conspicc~ously and be sepnrate and apart from ofher text. Cu~rently, this disclain~erequiremenl is &ill a par$ of the Texas Mscipllnruy Rules of Pmfessional Conduct, and ali advertisements must comply with Rule 7.04(b)(3). In April of 1997, the State Bar Board ofDirectors approved aprnpod to delete Rule 7.04(b) (3) from the rules. This proposal is currently under review by the Supreme Court of Texas. It is likely that the Court will order the Bar to hold a referendum on this and other rules cl~anges in the coming year. in a aeferendurn, all licensed atton1e)s in the state will be notitled of the proposed i111e cl~anges and given an opportunity to vote on the proposals. At least 51% of the state's attorney must vote in the referendum for its outcome to be binding. 11. Can the department staff tell me wer the phone if my ad is exempt? if 1 fax or otherwise send my ad to sW or describe it to than over the phone, can they giveme an opinion or polnt out violations7 No. The stdfofthe Ad\ertising ReviewDepa~lment does not
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Page 4 and 5: lHE PURPOSES OF TCDLA The purposes
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Page 8 and 9: PRO BONO SERWCES COMMENT R ule 6.1
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