The Ethical Concerns of Blogging Professional Successes

Professionals have embraced social media as a means to promote their businesses and market their professional successes.  Managing social media accounts and writing blog posts allow professionals to directly communicate with prospective clients and advance their brand.  However, professionals must be cautious that marketing tactics in the new age of digital media do not run afoul of traditional ethics rules and statutes regulating advertising and communications with clients.

The State Bar of California Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct recently issued a formal opinion addressing the legal ethics of attorney blogs.  The opinion addressed several scenarios involving attorney blogs to determine under what circumstances such blogs would be subject to the requirements of the Rules of Professional Conduct and related statutes regarding attorney adverting.

In one instance, the Committee described the conduct of a small-firm criminal defense attorney who wrote a blog in which he touted his courtroom victories, including a fifty-case winning streak.  The blog did not allow readers to comment on individual posts or allow readers to contact the attorney.  However, the blog did identify the attorney as “one of California’s premiere criminal defense lawyers,” and included a hyperlink to the attorney’s website.

In analyzing the ethics of the blog, the Committee noted that state rules governing attorney advertising prohibit communications that are false or deceptive in content, or that tend to mislead the public.  Further, attorney advertisements may not contain any guaranty of outcome or promise of quick payment.  Applying these standards to blogs, the Committee determined that blog posts which detail an attorney or firm’s courtroom victories or other professional successes may be held to be “communications” and “advertising,” despite lacking any specific invitation to retain the attorney.  Thus, the Committee resolved that the attorney’s posts about personal courtroom success constitute communications that are self-promotional rather than analytical.

The Committee further determined that the lack of comments on the blog precluded interactivity of the site and reinforced the intended self-promotion.  Accordingly, the Committee concluded that the attorney’s description of personal successes violated the state advertising rules prohibiting misleading messages and guarantees of success.

Take it from us, blogging has become an increasingly popular activity among professionals.  When used correctly, blogging can help to engage readers on new developments within a particular subject area and thereby increase visibility.  However, professionals should be cautious when using blogs to directly promote personal successes.  Doing so in a manner that makes specific representations of the quality of the professional’s services could be construed as deceptive communication in violation of ethics rules and state advertising law.