In the Matter of Anonymous (Ind.S.Ct. 3/4/03)
Per Curiam
The Court issued a private reprimand to two attorneys for violating the Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys at Law by advertising themselves as "specialists" when they had not been certified as such. Specifically, they placed an ad in the 2001-02 edition of a small, privately-owned directory service in NW Indiana, prominently including the words "Elder Law Specialists."
The Court states "In order for an attorney in this state to hold herself out to the public as a 'specialist,' the attorney must be certified as such pursuant to the provisions of" Rules 30, section 5 and 6 of Indiana Rules of Court - Rules for Admission to the Bar and the Discipline of Attorneys. Note: These Rules can be accessed here, then turn to pp. 64-65 to find sections 5 and 6.
The respondents were not certified as “Elder Law Specialists” pursuant to Admis.Disc.R. 30. Because the respondents advertised themselves as specialists when in fact they had not been so certified, we find that they violated Ind. Professional Conduct Rule 7.1(b) by using or participating in the use of a form of public communication containing a false, fraudulent, misleading, deceptive, self-laudatory or unfair statement or claim. Within the non-exclusive list of such statements or claims is any statement or implication that “a lawyer is certified or recognized as a specialist other than as permitted by Rule 7.4.” ... A lawyer is not prohibited from communicating the fact that the lawyer does or does not practice in particular fields of law, but may not express or imply any particular expertise except as otherwise provided in Prof.Cond.R. 7.4(b). Prof.Cond.R. 7.4(a).Posted by Marcia Oddi at March 24, 2003 11:57 AM