I Am Not Legally Allowed To Say I Am the Best Lawyer in Florida
No doubt you’ve noticed the title of my blog. It’s true. I am not legally allowed to claim I am the best lawyer in Florida. The body that governs attorney conduct and advertising, the Florida Bar Association, forbids lawyers from characterizing the quality of our services. We cannot say we are experts, that we provide outstanding legal services or the best legal services. We are not allowed to tell the public anything about the quality of our legal services. In addition, we are not permitted to promise results, or make guarantees. We cannot say “we’ll get you a million dollars for your broken fingernail!”
I agree with these rules. Look at my soon-to-be-demolished website. I do not make such claims there. I agree with the Bar that they can be misleading and harmful to consumers. They can be harmful because they do absolutely nothing to help consumers choose the best lawyer for their situation. This unhelpfulness is illustrated nicely by a scene from the movie Elf starring Will Ferrell. He plays a human who was raised by Santa’s elves in the North Pole. One day he travels to New York and stumbles upon a coffee shop that boasts it sells “The World’s Best Coffee.” He, being innocent and naïve, runs into the shop to congratulate the staff loudly on such a superlative achievement. The shop’s patrons look at him like he’s crazy of course. Everyone know that describing yourself as the best is a meaningless and hollow claim unless the topic is something quantifiable like world’s fastest man in the 100meter dash. So I agree that lawyers should not claim to be the best lawyers. However, I have many problems with the way the Florida Bar enforces its rules. The topic will surface again and again in this blog. In future blogs, I will discuss the more controversial aspects of lawyer advertising. It is for the most part rubbish and we have the Florida Bar’s enforcement division to thank for that. It’s not the rules; it’s the hard-line, heavy-handed, rote, color-by-numbers enforcement of them.
Explore posts in the same categories: Legal Advertising, Opinion
February 6th, 2009 at 12:40 am
Hmmm…While I certainly agree with the multitude of reasons for certain rules regarding lawyer advertising, I disagree with you about the ones cited here.
I think it is ironic that you chose the “Elf” situation as support for such a rule. Have we really come to be such a “literal” society? While certain regulations prohibiting lawyers from claiming some special certification in a particular area are appropriate, are people really “deceived” when a lawyer claims to be the best? What if she claims merely to be good? What if she claims to be honest? Should these self-endorsements be prohibited as well?
Florida is not alone in its arcane advertising rules. The rules of several State bars miss their intended mark.
There needs to be a re-focus on protecting consumers from misleading and misrepresenting advertisements while, at the same time, recognize the competitive and high-paced digital society in which we live.
Lawyers have a constitutional right to commercial speech the same as a used car salesman. Obviously, there are unique concerns when it comes to the legal profession. But, those concerns do not justify the burdensome chill that many State bars place on lawyer commercial speech.
February 6th, 2009 at 1:24 am
Thank you for the well-conceived comment. My post was meant as a quick’n'dirty introduction to the basic ground rules of legal advertising. As you certainly know, there’s a lot more to flesh out. I do not think the public would be deceived by lawyer statements claiming to be the best. However, I don’t mind that rule so much because statements of best or good are utterly useless in helping legal consumers chose the best lawyer for their situation. What is needed as you mention is a lifting of the chilling effect that Bars impose on lawyer advertising. For that to occur, new rules would help, but most of all more intelligent enforcement is needed. I’ll address that topic in future blogs. Thanks for commenting.
February 6th, 2009 at 1:32 am
I look forward to future posts! You have been added to Google Reader.