Legal Blogs and Legal Blogging: Stay on the Right Side of the Law
YuryB | December 27th, 2011 - 9:02 pmIs a blog considered advertising? The Virginia State Bar seems to think it is, and has brought misconduct charges against attorney and blogger Horace Hunter for refusing to include a disclaimer. Most state rules regarding attorney advertising are similar to Virginia’s, including the requirement of a disclaimer on advertising to avoid misleading the public. So if you have a legal blog, you might want to consider whether your blog is legal.
Blogs fall into a bit of a gray area, because, in many cases, bloggers are not directly selling from their blogs. These bloggers—Mr. Hunter claims to fall into this category—are simply imparting information and offering opinions on news within their field and about themselves or their company.
On the other hand, bloggers also often hope their blogs will encourage readers to hire them at some time in the future. The Virginia State Bar says Mr. Hunter falls into this category, arguing that discussions of past cases on his blog suggest he is using the blog to attract new business.
Unfortunately, the main criterion for labeling a blog as advertising seems to be intent, which is a notoriously slippery beast, since content can be interpreted in multiple ways. For example:
• Do you intend for your article to help your readers understand the implications of a recent ruling, or are you hoping it will demonstrate to them that they should hire you for similar cases?
• Did you announce your promotion because you are proud and excited? Or because you are hoping it will encourage more people to hire you?
Gyi Tsakalakis analyzed this issue in more detail, including defining “blog” and “advertising,” in “Legal Blogging vs. Advertising & Marketing.”
If you write a legal blog, it’s worth considering how your local bar association will interpret it.
Information in this post gathered in association with Chicago Business Lawyers.
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