Model Rules of Professional Conduct
INFORMATION ABOUT LEGAL
SERVICES
RULE 7.3 DIRECT CONTACT WITH
PROSPECTIVE CLIENTS
(a) A lawyer shall
not by in-person, live telephone or real-time electronic
contact solicit professional employment from a prospective
client when a significant motive for the lawyer's doing
so is the lawyer's pecuniary gain, unless the person contacted:
(1) is a lawyer;
or
(2) has a family,
close personal, or prior professional relationship with
the lawyer.
(b) A lawyer shall
not solicit professional employment from a prospective client
by written, recorded or electronic communication or by in-person,
telephone or real-time electronic contact even when not
otherwise prohibited by paragraph (a), if:
(1) the prospective
client has made known to the lawyer a desire not to
be solicited by the lawyer; or
(2) the solicitation
involves coercion, duress or harassment.
(c) Every written,
recorded or electronic communication from a lawyer soliciting
professional employment from a prospective client known
to be in need of legal services in a particular matter shall
include the words "Advertising Material" on the
outside envelope, if any, and at the beginning and ending
of any recorded or electronic communication, unless the
recipient of the communication is a person specified in
paragraphs (a)(1) or (a)(2).
(d) Notwithstanding
the prohibitions in paragraph (a), a lawyer may participate
with a prepaid or group legal service plan operated by an
organization not owned or directed by the lawyer that uses
in-person or telephone contact to solicit memberships or
subscriptions for the plan from persons who are not known
to need legal services in a particular matter covered by
the plan.
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