Will one local Long Island law firm's decision to get creative with their marketing materials go bust with the proposed changes to the advertising rules for lawyers in New York?
Rather than using the same old, tired pictures of courthouses, gavels, scales of justice, or nameless, serious-looking people in business suits, this firm decided to use cartoons in its marketing materials. And not just any cartoons, but cartoons from the New Yorker.
The firm, Meltzer, Lippe, Goldstein & Breitstone, LLP, created their "brochure, corresponding web site and ads, ... to separate [their] law firm from the competition by stating [their] values in a simple, clear and succinct manner and ... with a professional sense of humor demonstrated by using the nationally renowned New Yorker cartoons."*
Meltzer, Lippe's purpose in using the New Yorker cartoons was to demonstrate their creative approach to the law and to state what they "will do" for clients, and what they "will not do" to them.
With the proposed changes to the New York rules, Meltzer, Lippe is concerned that their creative approach to marketing, including the time and effort they put into their campaign, will be all for naught. According to Meltzer, Lippe,
...rules that limit any one particular method of advertising, in this case the use of fictional situations and the portrayal of judges and court rooms (“Cartoons”)...[are] impermissibly “broad” by prohibiting our firm’s use of Cartoons as a method of advertising. It is our opinion that this rule is unconstitutional since it regulates a method of free speech rather than its content. Also by doing so, it handicaps a lawyer’s ability to communicate to clients in a clear, professional and humorous manner.*
Presumably, Meltzer, Lippe's comments are directed toward Section 1200.6 [DR 2-101], specifically, subpart (d), which prohibits (in part):
(4) the portrayal of a judge
(5) the depiction of a courtroom or courthouse
(6) the re-enactment of any events or scenes or pictures or persons that are not actual or authentic
Some of the cartoons used by Meltzer, Lippe in this campaign depict judges and courtrooms. As cartoons, they are, by definition, not actual or authentic.
Take a look at the Meltzer, Lippe website and decide for yourself - is this what the rules were meant to limit or prohibit, or do the rules go too far? If the rules go into effect as scheduled in January 2007, will all creativity and humor be banned from legal 'advertising' pieces in New York?
*Quotes excerpted from Meltzer, Lippe's letter to the Counsel for the Office of Court Administration as part of the comment process on the proposed changes to the New York rules.
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