The ABA is proposing changes to the Model Rules on lawyer advertising, modestly streamlining them and trying to re-establish their relevance to the way lawyers and clients interact in the digital age. The proposed amendments and their supporting memo fail to make any express adjustment for the elephant in the room — on-line referral services
New Jersey says “no” to Avvo, other on-line legal service platforms
Just last month, we wrote about a North Carolina draft proposal that would ease the way via its ethics rules for Avvo and other on-line legal services to operate there. Now, after a joint opinion from three New Jersey Supreme Court committees, the Garden State has turned thumbs down on such law platforms, citing issues
Join ‘em if you can’t beat ‘em? NC considers ethics rule changes to aid Avvo-like services
Avvo Legal Services has been meeting with North Carolina bar regulators, resulting in a draft proposal that would amend several legal ethics rules and make it easier for Avvo to operate in the Tar Heel State, according to Prof. Alberto Bernabe, a Chicago law professor who has seen some of the relevant documents, and
First Amendment protects Avvo advertising shakedown, district court holds
Avvo has a First Amendment right to use a lawyer’s publically-available information to generate advertising revenue for itself, the district court for the Northern District of Illinois held on September 12. The ruling means that Avvo can park ads for your competitors on the profile it creates for you — unless you pay Avvo to keep them off.
Avvo misappropriated identity for commercial use, says lawyer in class action
Lawyer-rating site Avvo is violating a state statute barring unauthorized use of “an individual’s identity for commercial purposes,” an Illinois lawyer has charged in a putative class-action complaint filed last week in the chancery division of Cook County Circuit Court.
Fee- based marketing plan
The gist of the complaint is that without any authorization or
LegalForce v. UpCounsel suit challenges on-line lawyer ratings, processing fees
Making big news this summer was the shut-down of Avvo Legal Services just a few months after it was acquired by Internet Brands. (A couple of the many reports are here and here.) Some speculated that the new corporate owner had no stomach to continue to fight for that portion of Avvo’s business
Top legal ethics trends 2018: cyber-safety, the “Uber effect,” and more
Greetings 2018! Time for some ethics trend predictions to kick off the Year of the Dog (according to the Chinese zodiac). Let it be a year in which you doggedly pursue ethical practice (ouch). No more bad puns — here’s what’s hot as we begin the year:
Law firm cyber-security
No surprise here that the
FL firm trawling for clients in PA draws suit for unfair competition
A Philadelphia personal injury law firm has sued an out-of-state competitor in Pennsylvania federal court, claiming that its TV, billboard and on-line ads reaching the Philadelphia area are false and misleading, violating the Lanham Act and constituting unfair competition.
The case is a reminder that the ethics rules and disciplinary action aren’t the only exposure
Tech innovation must shape legal practice, ABA Futures Comm’n chair says
What is the future of legal services in the U.S.? How should the enormous unmet need for services — to the middle class and to the poor — be met? Judy Perry Martinez, the Chair of the ABA Commission on the Future of Legal Services, was in Cleveland last week, and discussed the
Beware: malicious e-mail campaign is targeting lawyers with fake disciplinary, bar notifications
A cyber-alert issued earlier this month by the non-profit Center for Internet Security warns of a dangerous wave of malicious e-mails that are specifically targeting lawyers. The fake e-mails are calculated to get your adrenaline pumping and to get you to open them and click on a link — because they’re personalized, they look urgent, and they’re disguised as coming from your own state’s disciplinary body or bar association.