Advertising Rules Apply to Social Media Posts Signaling Lawyer’s Availability for Legal Work

California lawyers who use social media to boast about career milestones must comply with rules governing lawyer advertising if the postings indicate the lawyers’ availability for professional employment, according to a recent opinion from the California bar’s ethics committee (California State Bar Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct, Formal Op. 2012-186).

The opinion concludes that the advertising rules do not come into play if a lawyer’s social media post merely announces a victory or recent publication without suggesting that the lawyer is in the market for new clients. But when a message expresses the lawyer’s willingness to ...