Advertising for Clients

Advertising is an important component of legal marketing. This course considers ethical issues every lawyer must understand before starting to advertise for bankruptcy clients, including specific words and phrases that must appear in every advertising piece, as required by the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Advertising is a relatively new phenomenon in the history of the legal profession. Until 1977, lawyers were prohibited from advertising. That all changed when the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Bates et al v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350 (1977). The Bates decision charged legal marketing forever.

Then, for the first time, lawyers could directly communicate with prospective clients and offer their services. But lawyers’ efforts to communicate directly with prospects is still limited by the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and rules of professional responsibility promulgated by licensing entities.

Lawyer advertising is held to a higher standard than laymen advertising. Best practices suggest creating every advertisement with the expectation that every ad will be scrutinized by the state ethics review board, the United States Trustee’s Office, and the United States Bankruptcy Court. Always keep this expectation in mind when implementing the advertising campaign. Doing so will keep the lawyer from accidentally meandering into trouble.

Attorney Bob Schaller

Bankruptcy/Tax Attorney & Registered CPA

Bob has practiced law for more than 35 years and filed more than 3,000 bankruptcy cases. He has argued bankruptcy cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. District Court, and U.S. Bankruptcy Court. He has authored 22 books including the 6-volume "Bankruptcy MasterClass Practice System & Toolkit."