May a lawyer who has moved offices send invitations to an 'open house' along with the announcement of the new location?

Plain-English summary

An attorney who established new offices, in addition to notifying people of the move, extended invitations to numerous people (members of the bar, clients, and friends) to an "open house" at his new law offices. The committee was asked whether the open-house invitations were permissible.

The committee relied on its Advisory Opinion No. 195 (May 5, 1958), which permits an attorney to announce the opening of new offices by mail to the local bar, personal friends, clients, and outside lawyers with whom personal contacts have been made, authorizing a "truthful, dignified, and appropriate announcement." It held that this language cannot be expanded to include invitations to an "open house." The announcement should state only the facts involved, that is, the opening of the new office, the address, and the telephone number. Coupling an open house with the announcement was patently unnecessary to inform recipients that the move was completed, and so constituted personal publicity that is in effect a subterfuge for indirect advertising, violating the tenor of Canon 27.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1962, decades before Oklahoma replaced its original Rules of Professional Conduct (patterned on the ABA Canons of Professional Ethics) with the Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct (adopted 1988) and the later Ethics 2000 revisions. The advertising prohibitions underlying the opinion no longer reflect current law: the United States Supreme Court held in Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1977), that categorical bans on truthful lawyer advertising violate the First Amendment, and lawyer communications are governed by different rules today. Treat this page as historical context, not current guidance.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 lawyer announce his office move by mail?

A: Yes. The committee said, following Opinion No. 195, that an attorney may announce the opening of new offices by mail to the local bar, personal friends, clients, and outside lawyers with whom he has had personal contacts.

Q: Could he add an invitation to an "open house"?

A: No. The committee said the truthful-announcement language cannot be expanded to include open-house invitations.

Q: Why was the open-house invitation treated as advertising?

A: The committee said an open house was patently unnecessary to inform recipients that the move was completed, so it was personal publicity and a subterfuge for indirect advertising under Canon 27.

Background and rules framework

The opinion applied Canon 27 of the Canons of Professional Ethics, adopted in Oklahoma, which bars indirect advertising, and its own Advisory Opinion No. 195, which sets the limits of a permissible office-opening announcement. The opinion predates the Model Rules and made no Model Rule citation.

Citations and references

Rules of Professional Conduct:

• Canon 27 (ABA Canons of Professional Ethics, adopted by the Oklahoma Bar): bars indirect advertising and limits announcements to truthful, dignified statements of fact.

Other opinions cited:

• Oklahoma Advisory Opinion No. 195 (May 5, 1958): an office-opening announcement may be mailed to the local bar, clients, friends, and outside lawyers with personal contacts.

See also

• Okla. Bar Ethics Op. 195: Firm reorganization announcements in legal publications
• Okla. Bar Ethics Op. 167: Reinstatement announcements
• Okla. Bar Ethics Op. 206: Christmas cards bearing an "attorney" designation

Source

• Landing page: https://www.okbar.org/ethics/ethics-opinion-no-218/

Original opinion text

Reproduced from the official source for research purposes. The linked source is authoritative.

Adopted June 14, 1962

INQUIRY

An Attorney has established new offices and in addition to notification of this move, he also extends invitations to numerous people (members of the Bar, clients, friends) to an “open house” at his new law offices. Are the invitations to the “open house” permissible?

OPINION

Advisory Opinion No. 195, dated May 5, 1958, permits an attorney to announce the opening of new offices by mail to members of the local Bar, personal friends, clients, and lawyers outside the local Bar but with whom personal contacts have been made. “A truthful, dignified, and appropriate announcement” is authorized; however, this language cannot be expanded to include invitations for an “open house.”

The announcement should state only the facts involved, i. e., opening the new office, address, and telephone number. This attempt to couple an “open house” with the announcement of a new office location is patently unnecessary to inform the recipients that a move has been completed. This constitutes personal publicity and, in effect, is a subterfuge for indirect advertising and thus violates the tenor of Canon 27.