The New Jersey Supreme Court’s Committee on Attorney Advertising Demands Verifiable “Super” Awards and Honors
Last week New Jersey’s Supreme Court Committee on Attorney Advertising issued a notice cautioning lawyers that terms like “super,” “top,” “best,” and “rising star” that may be awarded to lawyers by various organizations may only be used in advertising if the lawyer seeking to advertise has conducted a careful investigation of the process by which the organization recognizes lawyers. In other words, the organization must have made a verifiable inquiry into the lawyer’s qualifications.
The Committee explains that the inquiry “must be more rigorous than a survey or a simple tally of the lawyer’s years of practice and lack of disciplinary history. Pursuant to Rule of Professional Conduct 7.1(a)(3)(ii), the basis for the comparison must be substantiated, bona fide, and verifiable.”
The Committee has advised on this topic before in Opinion 39 in 2008 and again in Opinion 42 in 2010, but posted this new notice after receiving an abundance of grievances about the various honors and awards that are being used in attorney advertising.
The Committee did its own investigation and learned that many of these awards are conferred without an independent inquiry into the lawyer’s fitness. Instead, the honor may be based upon a popularity contest of individuals voting electronically for a particular lawyer or membership in the awarding organizations internet cite. Additionally, if the issuance of the award requires payment of money or joining the awarding organization then the Committee deems those awards to be “suspect.”
Assuming an organization’s award process renders the award acceptable for advertising, then the Committee has four additional requirements for advertising the award.
First, the advertisement must contain a description of the award process or a link to an available description.
Second, the name of the issuing organization must be included.
Third, there must be a disclaimer indicating that the advertisement was not approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.
And, fourth, if the award contains a superlative, then a lawyer may not apply it to him or herself, but rather must state that the lawyer was included in the organization’s list of super, best, or top-rated lawyers.
Finally, these steps and required language cannot be avoided by posting only a badge or other logo signifying the award.
The Committee provides further clarification by including the following compliant sample:
So, despite your incredible track record and honest self-confidence, be careful about advertising your honors and awards in New Jersey if not “verifiable.” Read the entire notice here.
See other New Jersey recent advertising advice here.
