Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel Ethics Opinions
Free plain-English summaries of legal ethics opinions issued by the Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel, with full citations and source links on every page.
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My firm wants to distribute a publication advertising our services that also carries ads for our non-lawyer business partners (financial planners, realtors, in-home care, and the like). Does including those partner ads violate the advertising rules?
No. The panel held that including non-lawyer business-partner advertisements in the firm's publication does not violate Rules 7.1 through 7.5, because the partner ads contained no false or misleading …
Can I help organize and moderate a public civic panel on local housing as a private citizen, when many attendees could be potential clients of my elder-law firm, without violating the solicitation rules?
Yes. The panel concluded the attorney may organize and moderate the panel because two facts remove the concern Rule 7.3(a) targets: the attorney would act as a private citizen with no pecuniary motive…
May I walk around my office neighborhood and personally solicit legal business from local business owners, leaving a letter?
Yes. The panel concluded Rule 7.3(a), which bars in-person solicitation for pecuniary gain, contains an exception for business organizations, so the lawyer may solicit business owners and operators in…
May my law firm email other Rhode Island lawyers, using publicly listed bar email addresses, to ask them to refer clients to us in our practice areas?
The panel concluded yes. Because the emails go only to other lawyers, they are neither prohibited solicitations under Rule 7.3 nor advertisements under Rule 7.2, so the firm may send them, subject to …
I'm suing a club on behalf of a member, and I found a list of other members in the same situation through discovery. Can I write to them for information about the club's practices without triggering the lawyer-advertising solicitation rules?
It depends on what the letter says. The panel held the inquiring attorney may send a letter to Golf Club members seeking information about the client's case without complying with Rule 7.3, but the sp…
In a medical malpractice case, can I run a newspaper ad asking the defendant physician's other patients to contact me about whether they filled out a patient-history questionnaire, without complying with the lawyer-advertising rules?
Yes. The panel held that a newspaper advertisement seeking factual information from other patients about the physician's use of patient-history questionnaires is neither a solicitation of professional…
Can I send direct-mail advertising for my employment-law practice to companies that have had discrimination complaints filed against them with a human rights agency?
The panel held direct-mail solicitation is barred only toward employers currently represented by counsel on a pending agency complaint; employers with past complaints, or pending but unrepresented emp…
The Bar's Lawyer Referral Service sends me referrals but the clients often don't call. Can I phone or write to them first without following the rules for solicitation letters?
The panel concluded that following up by telephone or letter with a person the Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service has already referred is not a solicitation under Rule 7.3, because the prospectiv…
I'm on the approved-attorney panel of a prepaid legal service plan and want to send an introductory mass mailing to all plan members. Does that letter have to follow the solicitation rules?
The panel concluded that an introductory mass mailing to prepaid-plan members is a solicitation of prospective clients and must comply with Rule 7.3(b), because an attorney's status as an approved pla…
Can I cold-call a pro se appellee and offer to represent the appeal for free if my real goal is to log the appellate experience I need to get onto the paid court-appointment list?
The panel concluded that the proposed telephone solicitation would violate Rule 7.3(a), because a significant motive was the lawyer's own pecuniary gain in qualifying for future paid appointments, and…
A trade organization's president wants to send members a letter announcing that my discounted legal services are available to them. Must that letter comply with Rule 7.3's direct-solicitation requirements?
The Panel concluded the president's letter is a direct written solicitation on the inquiring attorney's behalf, whether or not it describes the attorney's services, fees, or experience, and therefore …
I want an employer to hand its employees a notice and fee schedule offering my legal services, plus an employment-verification form. Must the notice and the form comply with Rule 7.3's advertising requirements?
The Panel concluded the employer's notice and attached fee schedule must comply with Rule 7.3 (marked 'advertisement' and filed with Disciplinary Counsel), but the employee verification form need not;…
I do estate planning and just got licensed to sell life, accident, and health insurance. May I sell insurance to my law clients, and may I provide estate planning to my insurance customers?
The Panel concluded the attorney may not sell insurance to estate planning law clients and may not provide estate planning legal services to insurance customers, because a nonwaivable conflict under R…
A business networking 'Leads Group' meets biweekly for breakfast so members can pass business opportunities to each other. May I, as a lawyer, join it without violating Rule 7.2(c) on paying for referrals?
The Panel concluded the attorney may join the group subject to limits: referring clients cannot be the sole purpose, the attorney cannot trade referrals with members, cannot solicit members, and canno…
I want to offer free senior-law seminars at senior centers and assisted living communities, and to promote them by phoning the facility directors. Is calling those directors a direct solicitation barred by Rule 7.3?
The Panel concluded the telephone contact does not violate Rule 7.3, because the directors are not the prospective clients (the individual senior attendees are), and the rule permits contacting an org…
May I offer a client company's employees a set menu of legal services at a fixed fee, with the employer simply announcing the program, and roll the same offer out to non-client businesses? Does Rule 7.3 allow it?
The Panel concluded the arrangement is acceptable for an existing client's employees so long as the employer's cooperation is voluntary, the employer receives no consideration, and employees face no p…
May I send an 'advertisement'-labeled direct mailing to businesses affected by a new regulation, offering legal help? And does it matter if a recipient is represented by counsel on unrelated matters?
The Panel concluded the mailing does not violate Rule 7.3 if the advertising requirements are strictly observed, and that a recipient's representation by counsel on unrelated matters does not bar the …
A nonlawyer wants to sell collection forms bundled with my services, refer the buyers to me, and pay me a cut of the form sales, plus name me in a pamphlet. Is that allowed?
The panel advised against the arrangement. It concluded that the nonlawyer's soliciting business for the lawyer violates Rules 7.3 and 5.3, that using the lawyer's name for the nonlawyer's solicitatio…
My firm wants to mail businesses letters offering a free meeting to discuss legal issues. Do we have to mark the letter 'advertisement,' even though it doesn't ask for their business?
The panel concluded that the letters are solicitation under Rule 7.3 even though they do not request employment, so the firm may send them only if each letter is clearly labeled 'advertisement' on the…
I want to mail realtors an ad offering title searches and a 'closing cost coupon' crediting buyers they refer to me. Does that comply with the advertising rules?
The panel concluded that the mailing would comply if 'advertisement' appears in larger type on the letter, envelopes, and coupons and a copy goes to Disciplinary Counsel within 48 hours, but it declin…
As an assistant town solicitor, I want to offer my breathalyzer-refusal prosecution services to other towns. Can I pitch police chiefs or solicitors directly, and can I mail the offer to each town's solicitor?
The Panel concluded that under Rule 7.3(a) the attorney may not solicit prospective clients in person when the motive is pecuniary gain, so a direct solicitation to town police chiefs is improper, but…
I represent a nonprofit association and have done work for some of its members. May I send each member a letter offering my estate-planning services, or must that letter comply with the solicitation rules under Rule 7.3?
The Panel concluded that because the attorney had a professional relationship with the association but not with each individual member, letters offering services to members are solicitations for pecun…
I want to run a newspaper notice asking the public for information about a notorious case, not to get clients. Are the lawyer advertising rules triggered?
The Panel concludes that because the attorney does not intend to solicit business, the notice is not an advertisement; if the intent were to solicit business, the attorney would have to comply with th…
Is an unsolicited brochure mailed to prospective clients a solicitation under Rule 7.3, and does a shared trade-organization membership count as a prior professional relationship?
The Panel concludes the unsolicited brochure mailing is solicitation subject to Rule 7.3(b) (including the advertisement marking), a common trade-organization membership is not a prior professional re…
I want to publish a newspaper advice column as an advertisement. Does Rule 7.2 let me satisfy the filing requirement by sending Disciplinary Counsel a subscription to the paper instead of each ad?
No. The Panel concludes that Rule 7.2(b) requires the attorney to send a copy of each print advertisement to Disciplinary Counsel; mailing a newspaper subscription does not comply.
Can I mail people who are owed unclaimed money or property a letter with a contingency fee agreement offering to recover it for them?
The panel advised that such a letter is or may be construed as a direct solicitation of legal services governed by Rule 7.3, so the attorney must comply with Rule 7.3(b)'s written-communication requir…
I want to offer zoning-consulting services to a town and others after seeing a newspaper notice. Do the solicitation and advertising rules apply to me?
The panel advised that the attorney must comply with the Rules of Professional Conduct, including Rule 7.3 on direct contact with prospective clients (with the written-communication requirements of Ru…
Can I advertise and run law-related educational seminars, promoted by newspaper ads and direct mail, if the materials don't push my legal services?
The panel advised that a firm may provide legal seminars to clients and non-clients so long as neither the brochures nor the presentation recommends that the firm be employed; such seminars and brochu…
Can I mail a letter to business contacts who are not my clients telling them about pending legislation and urging them to contact legislators?
The panel advised that the proposed letter does not violate the rules on advertising (Rules 7.1-7.5) because its purpose is to inform the public of specific legislation rather than to solicit employme…
May I send a letter to other Rhode Island lawyers touting my firm's litigation experience, and do the solicitation rules apply?
The panel advised that a letter directed exclusively to Rhode Island attorneys is permissible if it contains no false or misleading statements and includes the Rule 7.4 specialization disclaimer; the …
Can I run an advertisement seeking parties to join a class action?
The panel concluded that the proposed advertisement is proper, because the comment to Rule 7.2 notes that soliciting class-action members is not prohibited, as long as the requirements of Rule 7.3 are…
Can my firm put its brochure in the waiting room and mail it to existing clients?
The panel advised that the firm's brochure may be placed in the attorney's waiting room as long as it complies with Rule 7.1 and contains the specialty disclaimer required by Rule 7.4, and that mailin…
I want to mail prospective clients a letter about bankruptcy and debt collection. How must I label it and what disclaimer does it need?
The panel concluded that under Rule 7.3(b)(1)(a) the letter must be plainly marked 'advertisement' on the envelope and at the top of each page in type one size larger than the largest type used, that …
I want to mail people who might qualify for the Victims' Compensation Fund. Is that allowed, and what do I have to tell them about fees and costs?
The panel concluded that such a mailing is permissible under Shapero v. Kentucky Bar Association as long as the letter is truthful and not deceptive, and that the letter should clearly state the clien…
I want to mail unknown business owners a letter saying my firm 'emphasizes collections and bankruptcies' and 'knows the area inside and out,' with 'Advertisement' marked in the same type size as the body. Does this comply with Rules 7.3 and 7.4?
Almost. The panel found the letter proper under the Rules of Professional Conduct except that the word 'Advertisement' must be printed in type one size larger than the largest type used in the letter …
I want to mail a letter advertising my legal services to homeowners 65 and older whom I don't know. It's marked 'Advertisement' and offers a free consultation. Does this comply with Rule 7.3?
Mostly yes, with one fix. The panel found the letter proper under the Rules of Professional Conduct except that the word 'Advertisement' at the top of the letter and on the envelope must be printed in…
I want to attend a social gathering of local businesspeople to make contacts who might later become clients for my corporate practice. Is that improper solicitation?
No. The panel held the attorney may properly attend any meeting he wishes, because the Rules of Professional Conduct do not limit a lawyer's social and civic opportunities or prohibit a truthful state…
I asked for reconsideration of the panel's opinion that my accident-victim solicitation letters violated the old Code. Rhode Island has since adopted the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Does that change the answer?
No, and the analysis is now independently confirmed under new Rule 7.3: the panel held that the same sample letters both failed Rule 7.3(b)(1)'s advertisement-labeling and Disciplinary Counsel copy re…
Can my firm mail a newsletter to companies or individuals who aren't current clients?
No, at the time of this opinion. The panel held that mailing a newsletter to non-clients was direct contact recommending the firm's employment under DR 2-103(A), and that the newsletter did not fall w…
Can I send letters offering my services directly to people who were injured in an accident, or to people connected to someone who was injured?
No, at the time of this opinion. The panel held that the proposed letters would violate DR 2-103(A)'s bar on recommending one's own employment to a layperson who has not sought advice about hiring a l…
Can I write or call unrepresented people who've already filed claims against a company in bankruptcy, to try to get them as clients?
No, at the time of this opinion. The panel held that directly contacting these unrepresented claimants in writing or by phone to recommend the attorney's own employment would violate DR 2-103(A), beca…
I represent clients with claims that might become a federal class action. Can I run an advertisement asking others with similar experiences to come forward?
Yes. The panel held the advertisement was proper under Code of Professional Responsibility DR 2-104(5), which permits contacting potential class members to obtain evidence and information in connectio…
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Legal ethics opinions from the Rhode Island Supreme Court Ethics Advisory Panel interpret the rules of professional conduct for working lawyers, in response to inquiries from members and committees. They are not binding like court discipline decisions, but courts and discipline boards treat formal opinions as substantial guidance on how the rules apply. Every opinion above has a plain-English question and short answer, plus a link to the original source on the bar's site.