Senate Bill No. 690
(By Senators Chafin and Yoder)
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[Introduced March 21, 2005; referred to the Committee
on the Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §30-2A-1, §30-2A-2,
§30-2A-3, §30-2A-4 and §30-2A-5, all relating to regulating
advertising by attorneys.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §30-2A-1, §30-2A-2,
§30-2A-3, §30-2A-4 and §30-2A-5, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2A. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING.
§30-2A-1. Definitions.
As used in this article, the following words and terms have
the following meanings, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise.
(1) "Board" means the West Virginia Lawyer Disciplinary Board;
(2) "Advertising" means any communication, whether oral or written, between a lawyer or other entity acting on behalf of one
or more attorneys and the public. It includes, but is not limited
to: Business cards, signs, insignias, letterheads, web pages,
Internet communications, radio, television, newspaper and magazine
ads, and display or group ads or listings in telephone directories,
or both.
§30-2A-2. Attorneys at law may advertise.
(a) Any advertising engaged in by a duly registered and
currently licensed lawyer in West Virginia shall be in compliance
with the provisions set forth herein and as set forth in article
two of this chapter.
(b) A duly registered and currently licensed lawyer may not
use or participate in the use of any advertising containing a
false, fraudulent, misleading, deceptive or unfair statement or
claim.
(c) Any advertisement must contain the name of or names of all
of the duly registered and currently licensed attorneys providing
legal advice and services and who are regularly employed in or
responsible for the management, supervision and operation of each
office location listed in the advertisement.
(d) A duly registered and currently licensed lawyer may:
(1) Use the titles or degrees, including, if the lawyer holds
a degree or degrees from an accredited school;
(2) Use the words specialist, specializing in, limited to the specialty of, or practice limited to if the lawyer has specialized
training or education which is recognized by the Board as a
specialty area of practice.
§30-2A-3. Announcement of Services.
(1) Any announcement of services by a lawyer in general
practice shall state in a prominent manner that the legal practice
is the general practice of law.
(2) The announcement of services of the general practice of
law shall be clearly legible, with print equal to or larger than
the announcement of services, and clearly audible, with speech
volume and pace equal to the announcement of services.
(3) If terms implying services associated with specialty
practices are used, a disclaimer must be used. The disclaimer
shall be clearly legible, with print equal to or larger than the
announcement of services, and clearly audible, with speech volume
and pace equal to the announcement of services. The disclaimer
shall state: "(list nonspecialty interest areas) (is or are)
nonspecialty interest areas that require no specific educational
training to advertise this service."
(4) Any announcement or advertisement of services implying
nonspecialty interest areas, which are not recognized by the Board,
must include a disclaimer. These or other terms, which imply a
nonspecialty interest area, must be accompanied by a disclaimer
that is clearly legible, with print equal to or larger than the announcement of services, and clearly audible, with speech volume
and pace equal to the announcement of services. The disclaimer
shall state: "(list nonspecialty interest areas) (is or are)
nonspecialty interest areas that require no specific educational
training to advertise this service."
(5) Any duly registered and currently licensed lawyer who
directly or indirectly advertises the availability and price of
services shall do so in a clear and nondeceptive manner and include
all material information necessary to fully inform members of the
general public about the nature of the goods, appliances or
services offered at the announced price. Any listed prices shall
be extended for a reasonable period of time. Any advertised price
for a routine service shall be a fixed price, with no range of
fees, and no client may be charged a fee in excess of that
advertised price for that particular service.
(6) Any client who receives any free services in response to
an advertisement, from any duly registered and licensed lawyer in
West Virginia shall have the right to refuse to pay, cancel payment
or be reimbursed for payment for any other service, examination or
treatment which is performed as a result of and within seventy-two
hours of receiving the free service unless the other service,
examination or treatment is requested by the patient at the time
she or he seeks the free offer. The lawyer shall inform clients in
writing of their rights under this section prior to the patient receiving the free service.
(7) Any advertising engaged in by a duly registered or
licensed lawyer in West Virginia containing an offer of a discount
or a credit toward a fee, whether expressed in terms of a
particular dollar amount or a particular percentage shall contain
a statement of the highest fee normally charged by the advertising
lawyer for the services which the discount or credit applies and a
statement of exactly what services are included in the offer. If
the offer of a discount or credit applies to the full range of
legal services offered by the lawyer, then a fee schedule stating
all fees for the services shall be made available to any person
requesting it and its availability shall be noted in the
advertisement.
§30-2A-4. Articles, messages or newsletters.
Any legal article, message or newsletter published under an
attorney at Law's byline to the public without making truthful
disclosure of the source and authorship, or designed to give rise
to questionable expectations for the purpose of inducing the public
to utilize the services of the sponsoring lawyer, or designed to
imply specialization or unusual expertise in a recognized specialty
area unless the lawyer is currently licensed in the particular
specialty area discussed in the article is a false, misleading or
deceptive representation to the public.
§30-2A-5. Compliance.
Any registered and currently licensed lawyer in West Virginia
failing to comply with the provisions of this article is subject to
disciplinary action as provided in the Rules of Lawyer Disciplinary
Procedure.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to regulate the advertising
of the practice of law.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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