14 September 2020

Colorado Supreme Court Overhauls Legal Advertising Ethics Rules

The Colorado Supreme Court has overhauled the Rules of Professional Conduct applicable to lawyers related to legal advertising, replacing strict limitations in former Rules 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4 and 7.5 with two more flexible and lenient rules, 7.1 (barring false or misleading advertising by attorneys) and 7.2 (limiting referral fees and regulating what disclosures are required if a specialty is communicated). The changes are effective immediately (September 10, 2020).

The old rules have frequently been criticized as unreasonable limitation of commercial free speech and harken back to the time when the economics of legal practice were more heavily regulated. The old rules  that were discarded primarily limited cold call solicitations aimed at injury victims.

No comments: