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Ezel / Ethics Opinions / NYSBA
NYSBA May 29, 1975

Can a Legal Aid Society advertise in a newspaper that free legal help is available to the indigent and list the kinds of cases it handles?

Short answer: The opinion concluded that a Legal Aid Society may publish in a newspaper the availability of its services for the indigent and the categories of matters it handles, because the Code's advertising bans target commercialization by individual lawyers, not philanthropic legal-aid agencies.

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This page answers the general question as of 1975. Ezel answers yours: whether it's allowed on your facts, under the current New York Rules of Professional Conduct, with citations.

Currency note: this opinion is from 1975
Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later opinions or rule amendments may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.
Disclaimer: Advisory only. Not binding precedent.
About this page: The plain-English summary, reader guidance, and Q&A below were written by Ezel based on the official ethics opinion. The original opinion (linked on this page) is the authoritative source for any reliance.

Plain-English summary

A Legal Aid Society asked whether it could publish in a newspaper the availability of legal assistance for the indigent and the type or category of matters it handles. The committee explained that the ban on solicitation by circulars and other advertising exists to prevent commercialization by lawyers and efforts to obtain remunerative business, and that publicizing an individual lawyer would violate DR 2-101(A) and (B). Those prohibitions, however, are not necessarily applicable to a Legal Aid Society, which it described as a philanthropic agency rendering legal services in the public welfare on a non-profit basis (ABA 148 (1935)).

The committee drew on N.Y. State 222 (1971), which observed that the canon's ban on professional advertising is not aimed at activities intended to benefit the indigent rather than to obtain remunerative business, and on N.Y. State 71 (1968), holding the bans were not intended to proscribe actions promoting public or charitable interests. Because a legal-assistance program may be advertised to the public, the committee reasoned there is no prohibition on stating the types of cases the agency does or does not handle (ABA Inf. 888 (1965)), and a Legal Aid juvenile division could list "JUVENILE MATTERS ONLY" in bold in a classified directory, since bold face calls attention to the Society rather than to individual lawyers (N.Y. County 642 (1975)).

The committee grounded the result in the profession's duty to help make legal services available to those who need them (EC 2-1, EC 2-15), describing the Society not as a competitor of practicing lawyers but as a surrogate for all lawyers in their duty to serve those who cannot pay (ABA Inf. 992 (1967)). It concluded that publishing the availability of services for the indigent and the categories handled is not improper, provided it is dignified and complies with the Code, and it noted the recently adopted DR 2-101(B)(6).

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1975, before New York replaced the Code of Professional Responsibility with the Rules of Professional Conduct in 2009, and before Bates v. State Bar of Arizona (1977) reshaped the constitutional limits on lawyer advertising. The current rules on advertising, solicitation, and the duty to support pro bono legal services are in Rules 7.2, 7.3, and 6.1. Subsequent rule amendments or later opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance. Verify against current rules before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or requirement mentioned here.

Common questions

Q: Could a Legal Aid Society run a newspaper notice about its services?

A: Under this opinion, yes. The committee held the advertising and solicitation bans target commercialization by individual lawyers, not a non-profit philanthropic agency serving the indigent.

Q: Can the announcement say what types of cases the agency handles?

A: Per the opinion, yes. Because a legal-assistance program may be advertised to the public, the committee saw no bar to stating the categories of matters handled, or not handled, by the agency.

Q: Why are individual lawyers treated differently?

A: The committee said the bans aim to prevent lawyers from commercializing the profession and seeking remunerative business; a Legal Aid Society acts as a surrogate for all lawyers' duty to serve those who cannot pay, so the same concerns do not apply.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applied DR 2-101(A) and (B) (publicity and advertising) and EC 2-1 and 2-15 (the duty to make legal services available) of the then-current New York Code. The current analogues are Rule 7.2 (advertising), Rule 7.3 (solicitation), and Rule 6.1 (voluntary pro bono service). The opinion's distinction between individual-lawyer self-promotion and a charitable legal-aid program's public notice is its central move.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

  • MR 7.2 (advertising)
  • MR 7.3 (solicitation of clients)
  • MR 6.1 (voluntary pro bono publico service)
  • NY EC 2-1, EC 2-15; DR 2-101(A), 2-101(B)

Other opinions cited:

  • ABA 148 (1935): legal-aid advertising distinguished from lawyer self-promotion
  • N.Y. State 222 (1971); N.Y. State 71 (1968): bans not aimed at indigent-benefit or charitable activity
  • N.Y. County 642 (1975): bold directory listing for a legal-aid division

See also

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