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(504) 598-6753.

Ethics Fridays
“Ethics Fridays” is a series of seven low cost CLE’s at the LSBA Bar Center and
transmitted online to give members the opportunity to attend an hour of ethics on a variety of
topics and assist members with understanding ethics issues and the Louisiana Rules of
,
Professional Conduct. The first program was March 22 2019.

Lawyer Advertising

On June 26, 2008, the Supreme Court of Louisiana signed an Order repealing and
reenacting the Rule 7 series of Article XVI of the Articles of Incorporation of the Louisiana State
Bar Association, i.e., the lawyer advertising and solicitation rules within the Louisiana Rules of
Professional Conduct. The Court’s Order effectively adopted—nearly verbatim—the written
recommendations made to the Court in June 2007 by the LSBA with the overwhelming approval
th
of the LSBA House of Delegates. The Court’s June 26 Order indicated the new Rules would
become effective on December 1, 2008. However, the Court deferred that effective date, first to
April 1, 2009 and, then again on February 18, 2009, to October 1, 2009, in light of constitutional
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challenges that were raised in the federal courts. With the signing of the Court’s June 26 Order,
the LSBA proceeded to educate and prepare our 20,000-plus members regarding these new
Rules. The LSBA began accepting and evaluating advance filings of lawyer advertising since
July 1, 2008.
Within the text of new Rule 7.7, the Court has specifically assigned and delegated to the
LSBA Rules of Professional Conduct Committee (or any subcommittee designated by that
Committee) the following tasks: 1) to evaluate all advertisements filed with the Committee for
compliance with the Rules governing lawyer advertising and solicitation and to provide advisory
opinions concerning compliance with those Rules to the respective filing lawyers; 2) to develop a
handbook on lawyer advertising for the guidance of and dissemination to the members of the
LSBA; and 3) to recommend, from time to time, such amendments to the Rules of Professional
Conduct as the Committee may deem advisable.
Following the Court’s June 26, 2008 Order, the Committee immediately formed a
subcommittee to draft and publish a Handbook on Lawyer Advertising and Solicitation. That
Handbook was published and disseminated to every member of the LSBA in conjunction with
the mailing of the October/November edition of the Louisiana Bar Journal. The Committee
also developed a set of Internal Operating Procedures (published/available on LSBA.ORG) and,
therein, delegated the day-to-day operation and administration of the lawyer advertising filing
and evaluation process to LSBA Ethics Counsel, with Ethics Counsel and staff performing
evaluation of all simple/routine/repetitive filings. In the event that Ethics Counsel determines
that a filing would be more appropriately processed with the consultation/guidance/assistance of
others, the LSBA Ethics Advisory Service/Advertising Advisory Subcommittee and/or an
Advertising Executive Review Group of the Rules of Professional Conduct Committee are
available to perform evaluations of those filings referred to them by Ethics Counsel.
The LSBA also maintains an up-to-date Lawyer Advertising web page, containing all
pertinent information, interactive on-line filing forms, the full text of the new Rules and the
Handbook and pertinent contact information
http://www.lsba.org/Members/lawyeradvertising.aspx

Lawyer Advertising Filing & Evaluation

Under rule 7.7 of the Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct, lawyers are obligated to file ALL
non-exempt advertisements and unsolicited written communications with the LSBA Rules of
Professional Conduct Committee, through LSBA Ethics Counsel, prior to or concurrent with first
use/dissemination of the advertisement/communication.