Television Advertising of Legal Services
Adopted: October 29, 1993
Opinion rules television commercials for an attorney's services that depict fictional clients and cases are misleading and prohibited.
Editor's Note: This opinion is overruled by Rule 7.1(b).
Inquiry #1:
Attorney A wants to advertise on television. The scripts for the commercials are fictional and will be dramatized by actors depicting fictional clients of Attorney A. The scripts are based on representative cases of Attorney A and outcomes that Attorney A has achieved in actual cases. In each script, a fictional client of Attorney A tells the viewer why he or she used Attorney A's services and that Attorney A achieved a good outcome for the fictional client. The fictional client then recommends the service of Attorney A. Is the use of a fictional script based on representative cases of Attorney A and an actor dramatizing the role of a satisfied client a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct?
Opinion #1:
Yes. Commercial dramatizations of fictional cases are misleading communications about Attorney A and Attorney A's services in violation of Rule 2.1. Rule 2.1 prohibits false or misleading communications about a lawyer or the lawyer's services. A communication about a lawyer or the lawyer's services is misleading if it contains a material misrepresentation of fact or omits a fact necessary to make the statement, considered as a whole, not materially misleading. Rule 2.1(a). Viewers of Attorney A's commercials do not know that they are seeing actors and not Attorney A's actual clients. Even if a viewer is astute enough to realize the commercial contains actors, the viewer would not know that the characters, cases and outcomes portrayed are fictional. The commercials are misrepresentations of fact not only because they are dramatized by actors but also because they do not describe or depict actual events or cases handled by Attorney A.
Inquiry #2:
In the event that you find a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct, would the use of a written disclaimer on the screen, such as "Dramatization," remedy such violation?
Opinion #2:
No. See Opinion #1.