Super Lawyers Facts

Super Lawyers Process Meets Iowa Ethics Standards

Iowa is known in legal ethics circles as one of the most, if not the most restrictive jurisdictions in the country when it comes to lawyer advertising. So an OK by the Iowa Bar Assocation means a lot to us.   

The Iowa Bar's Committee on Ethics and Practice Guidelines took a close look at the selection process for the Super Lawyers list as well as that of Best Lawyers in America.  On October 31, the Committee issued an opinion stating that:

...the peer review process engaged by Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers in America is deemed to have met the criteria established by the Committee in Ethics Opinion 07-04... Consequently an Iowa lawyer may include in their marketing and advertisements that they are rated by either publication, their rating and the meaning thereof.

These opinions set a simple and practical standard for judging a bona fide ratings process:  that it is open to all Iowa lawyers, regardless of whether they subscribe or otherwise pay for service, that all lawyers have the potential to be rated, and that they are rated by a number of peers familiar with their work.

You can read the full opinion here."

Super Lawyers Now, Blogs Next?

Attorneys are starting to take note that some of the more extreme restrictions on attorney advertising and marketing are pointless in terms of protecting consumers and excessive in terms of a basic right to free speech. See Kevin O'Keefe's post, referring to a post by Connecticut attorney Norm Pattis.  O'Keefe notes that ethics regulators may not stop at advertising.

em>Lawyers, not wanting to take a chance, seek informal ethics opinions approving the lawyers plans to tell the world about themselves. I am already seeing it with blogs. Lawyers are asking me, 'should we submit our blog to the bar for ethics approval?'

As Norm says, few (I'm not aware of any) decisions seem to be directed toward the blogosphere. But unless lawyers, presumably the defenders of the First Amendment, take a stand we're going to find lawyer blogs regulated on the basis that someone may reach the conclusion the lawyer publishing the blog has some expertise and experience. God forbid. Protect the children."

As we've said many times, it's reasonable to ask that lawyers be truthful and not misleading when marketing themselves. Beyond that, consumers are harmed by too little information about lawyers --  certainly not by too much.