Follow up: You need an attorney.

A colleague of mine came across this and forwarded it to me:

Examples of Advertisements the Florida Bar says comply and don't comply with the Rules.

This .pdf gives examples of print advertisements, but the Florida Bar regulates Web advertisements similarly or identically to print advertisements.

Ad no. 5 says, in part, "Then you need an attorney." The Bar notes that this statement is "[m]isleading in violation of Rule 4-7.2(c)(1)(B) because an attorney is not always required."

Other colleagues have tried to make the case that "need" is ambiguous. By their terms, a need is something that one is lacking or wanting. I agree with this analysis, but only in context.

"Hire an attorney to meet your needs" is not the same as "You need an attorney." The latter is flatly stating a false requirement. The latter is suggesting to the public, whom the ABA Model Rules clearly says we must assume is not sophisticated about legal matters, that they need to hire attorneys.

There are very few universal cases where a person must hire an attorney. The public does not have to hire attorneys. A person may hire an attorney. A person most certainly should hire an attorney. But a person need, in fact, not hire an attorney.

Why can't you say, "If you want legal counsel, then you need to hire an attorney" instead?

Some claim marketing reason. That we're throwing 100 years of marketing knowledge out the window if we cannot tell people what they need to do.

The Rules are clear on this argument also. Attorneys are not to be overly concerned with any particular style or marketing scheme. The fact is that 100 years of advertising "wisdom" (and I use the term loosely) simply do not apply to attorney advertising.

Lawyers must follow their own rules. Part of the price of admission to the profession is agreeing to maintain the dignity of the profession.