By David Majchrzak and Edward McIntyre
19.4.6 State Bar of California Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct Opinion No. COPRAC 2019-199
Issue:
What are a lawyer’s ethical obligations regarding the lawyer’s profile on a professional third-party directory website?
Analysis:
A lawyer is not responsible for the content of the lawyer’s profile on a professional third-party directory and rating website. But, if the lawyer controls the profile’s content by “adopting” the profile or otherwise using it to market the lawyer’s practice, then the lawyer is responsible for its content. When a lawyer uses the profile to market the lawyer’s practice, the profile becomes a communication about the lawyer’s services by or on behalf of the lawyer and so must comply with advertising rules. This means the lawyer cannot post or induce another to post content that is false or misleading, and must undertake reasonable efforts to correct any false or misleading content.
In addition, if third-party testimonials are posted on the profile, the lawyer should take reasonable steps, such as through an appropriate disclaimer or qualifying language, to ensure that such testimonials are not presented so as to lead a reasonable person to form an unjustified expectation that the same results could be obtained for other clients.
A lawyer who abandons a profile on a third-party website has no further obligation to correct false or misleading content contained in the profile. But the lawyer should take reasonable steps to alert the public that the lawyer is no longer monitoring the profile. This may include posting a notice of that fact on the profile as well as ceasing to use it in marketing the lawyer’s practice.
David Majchrzak and Edward McIntyre are co-editors of Ethics Quarterly.