Ethics Opinions
Iowa Supreme Court Board of Professional Ethics and Conduct
Date of Opinion:
09/15/2004
Opinion Number:
05-01
Title:
ADVERTISING: DISTRIBUTION OF “PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS” CARDS
Opinion:
You have provided the Board with a copy of a laminated card from a Nebraska lawyer, printed in Spanish, for which the English translation of the title is “Protect Your Rights.” You also have provided the Board with a mock up of the card, in English, attributed not to the Nebraska lawyer but to your own firm, and a mock up of the same card, in Spanish, again not attributed to the Nebraska lawyer but to your own firm. The card advises generally what an employee should do to ensure he receives benefits for a work related injury or illness. You wish to have similar laminated cards prepared for distribution to current clients and representatives of organized labor, and ask whether such distribution would be acceptable under Iowa’s rules of ethics.
In considering your request for an ethics opinion, the Board makes no determination as to any obligation you might have to the Nebraska lawyer for appropriation of his work product, nor as to the accuracy of the information with respect to Iowa’s workers compensation rules.
The board notes the proposed card neither requests nor directs readers to contact your firm for any work related injury or illness; however, your firm name is prominently displayed at the bottom, together with your telephone number, street address, Web Site, and email address, and the statement that “[t]hese important recommendations have been provided to you by (your law firm).” Distribution of the cards to representatives of organized labor implies further dissemination to individuals who sustain work related injury or illness. It is the opinion of the Board that such distribution would be in violation of Iowa Code of Professional Responsibility for Lawyers DR 2–103(C), which provides that, except under circumstances not present here: “A lawyer shall not request a person or organization to recommend or promote the use of the lawyer’s services ...” Distribution of the cards to current clients would not be improper.