WSR 20-04-075

RULES OF COURT

STATE SUPREME COURT

[January 30, 2020]

The Washington State Bar Association, recommended suggested amendments to Rules of Professional Conduct (RPCs) 5.5; RPC 7.1; RPC 7.2; RPC 7.3; RPC 7.4; RPC 7.5. The amendments were published for comment by Order 25700-A-1247. The court having reviewed the comments submitted during the original comment period has revised RPC 7.3 to incorporate specific suggestions. The court has approved the revised suggested amendment for publication;

Now, therefore, it is hereby

(a) That pursuant to the provisions of GR 9(g), the suggested amendment as shown below is to be published for comment in the Washington Reports, Washington Register, Washington State Bar Association and Administrative Office of the Court's websites in February 2020.

(b) The purpose statement as required by GR 9(e), is published solely for the information of the Bench, Bar and other interested parties.

(c) Comments are to be submitted to the Clerk of the Supreme Court by either U.S. Mail or Internet E-Mail by no later than May 30, 2020. Comments may be sent to the following addresses: P.O. Box 40929, Olympia, Washington 98504-0929, or supreme@courts.wa.gov. Comments submitted by e-mail message must be limited to 1500 words.

dated at Olympia, Washington this 30th day of January, 2020.

Purpose: The Supreme Court originally ordered amendments to advertising rules RPC 5.5, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, and 7.5 with original GR 9 cover sheets, published for comment with a comment period ending April 30, 2019. Original proposed amendments were published in 192 Wn.2d Proposed-10-32 (January 2, 2019). Comments were received and, in response, the court revised the proposed revision to RPC 7.3 to exclude specific practice areas. The court decided to re-publish the proposed revisions to RPC 7.3 for comment.

(a) A lawyer shall not directly or through a third person, by in-person, live telephone or real-time electronic contact solicit professional employment in the areas of personal injury law, family law, criminal law or bankruptcy law. A lawyer may solicit professional employment in other areas of law from a possible 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 an LLLT orthe solicitation is false or misleading;

(2) has a family, close personal, or prior professional relationship with the lawyer; orthe lawyer knows or reasonably should know that the physical, emotional, or mental state of the subject of the solicitation is such that the person could not exercise reasonable judgment in employing a lawyer;

(3) has consented to the contact by requesting a referral from a not-for-profit lawyer referral service.the subject of the solicitation has made known to the lawyer a desire not to be solicited by the lawyer; or

(b) A lawyer shall not solicit professional employment from a 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), ifcompensate, or give or promise anything of value to, a person who is not an employee or lawyer in the same law firm for the purpose of recommending or securing the services of the lawyer or law firm, except that a lawyer may;:

(1) the target of the solicitation has made known to the lawyer a desire not to be solicited by the lawyer; orpay the reasonable cost of advertisements or communications permitted by RPC 7.1, including online group advertising;

(2) the solicitation involves coercion, duress or harassment.pay the usual charges of a legal service plan or a not-for-profit lawyer referral service;

(c) [Reserved.]

(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.[Reserved.]

[1] [Washington revision] A solicitation is a targeted communication initiated by theor on behalf of a lawyer that is directed to a specific person and that offers to provide, or can reasonably be understood as offering to provide, legal services. Solicitations can include in-person, written, telephonic, and electronic communications. In contrast, a lawyer's communication typically does not constitute a solicitation if it is directed to the general public, such as through a billboard, an Internet banner advertisement, a website, or a television commercial, or if it is in response to a request for information or is automatically generated in response to Internet searches.

[2] [Reserved.]There is a potential for abuse when a solicitation involves direct in-person, live telephone or real-time electronic contact by a lawyer with someone known to need legal services. These forms of contact subject a person to the private importuning of the trained advocate in a direct interpersonal encounter. The person, who may already feel overwhelmed by the circumstances giving rise to the need for legal services, may find it difficult fully to evaluate all available alternatives with reasoned judgment and appropriate self-interest in the face of the lawyer's presence and insistence upon being retained immediately. The situation is fraught with the possibility of undue influence, intimidation, and overreaching.

[3] [Reserved.]This potential for abuse inherent in direct in-person, live telephone or real-time electronic solicitation justifies its prohibition, particularly since lawyers have alternative means of conveying necessary information to those who may be in need of legal services. In particular, communications can be mailed or transmitted by e-mail or other electronic means that do not involve real-time contact and do not violate other laws governing solicitations. These forms of communications and solicitations make it possible for the public to be informed about the need for legal services, and about the qualifications of available lawyers and law firms, without subjecting the public to direct in-person, telephone or real-time electronic persuasion that may overwhelm a person's judgment.

[4] [Reserved.]The use of general advertising and written, recorded or electronic communications to transmit information from lawyer to the public, rather than direct in-person, live telephone or real-time electronic contact, will help to assure that the information flows cleanly as well as freely. The contents of advertisements and communications permitted under Rule 7.2 can be permanently recorded so that they cannot be disputed and may be shared with others who know the lawyer. This potential for informal review is itself likely to help guard against statements and claims that might constitute false and misleading communications, in violation of Rule 7.1. The contents of direct in-person, live telephone or real-time electronic contact can be disputed and may not be subject to third-party scrutiny. Consequently, they are much more likely to approach (and occasionally cross) the dividing line between accurate representations and those that are false and misleading.

[5] [Reserved.Washington revision] There is far less likelihood that a lawyer would engage in abusive practices against a former client, or a person with whom the lawyer has close personal or family relationship, or in situations in which the lawyer is motivated by considerations other than the lawyer's pecuniary gain. Nor is there a serious potential for abuse when the person contacted is a lawyer or an LLLT. Consequently, the general prohibition in Rule 7.3(a) is not applicable in those situations. Also, paragraph (a) is not intended to prohibit a lawyer from participating in constitutionally protected activities of public or charitable legal-service organizations or bona fide political, social, civic, fraternal, employee or trade organizations whose purposes include providing or recommending legal services to its members or beneficiaries.

[6] [Reserved.]But even permitted forms of solicitation can be abused. Thus, any solicitation which contains information which is false or misleading within the meaning of Rule 7.1, which involves coercion, duress or harassment within the meaning of Rule 7.3 (b)(2), or which involves contact with someone who has made known to the lawyer a desire not to be solicited by the lawyer within the meaning of Rule 7.3 (b)(1) is prohibited. Moreover, if after sending a letter or other communication as permitted by Rule 7.2 the lawyer receives no response, any further effort to communicate with the recipient of the communication may violate the provisions of Rule 7.3(b).

[7] [Reserved]This Rule is not intended to prohibit a lawyer from contacting representatives of organizations or groups that may be interested in establishing a group or prepaid legal plan for their members, insureds, beneficiaries, or other third parties for the purpose of informing such entities of the availability of and details concerning the plan or arrangement which the lawyer or lawyer's firm is willing to offer. This form of communication is not directed to people who are seeking legal services for themselves. Rather, it is usually addressed to an individual acting in a fiduciary capacity seeking a supplier of legal services for others who may, if they choose, become prospective clients of the lawyer. Under these circumstances, the activity which the lawyer undertakes in communicating with such representatives and the type of information transmitted to the individual are functionally similar to and serve the same purpose as advertising permitted under Rule 7.2.

[8] [Reserved.]

[9] [Reserved.]Paragraph (d) of this Rule permits a lawyer to participate with an organization which uses personal contact to solicit members for its group or prepaid legal service plan, provided that the personal contact is not undertaken by any lawyer who would be a provider of legal services through the plan. The organization must not be owned by or directed (whether as manager or otherwise) by any lawyer or law firm that participates in the plan. For example, paragraph (d) would not permit a lawyer to create an organization controlled directly or indirectly by the lawyer and use the organization for the in-person or telephone solicitation of legal employment of the lawyer through memberships in the plan or otherwise. The communication permitted by these organizations also must not be directed to a person known to need legal services in a particular matter, but is to be designed to inform potential plan members generally of another means of affordable legal services. Lawyers who participate in a legal service plan must reasonably assure that the plan sponsors are in compliance with Rules 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3(b). See 8.4(a).

[10] A lawyer who receives a referral from a third party should exercise caution in contacting the prospective client directly by in-person, live telephone, or real-time electronic contact. Such contact is generally prohibited by this Rule unless the prospective client has asked to be contacted by the lawyer. A prospective client may request such contact through a third party. Prior to initiating contact with the prospective client, however, the lawyer should confirm with the source of the referral that the prospective client has indeed made such a request. Similarly, when making referrals to other lawyers, the referring lawyer should discuss with the prospective client whether he or she wishes to be contacted directly.While all communications about a lawyer's services are subject to the general prohibition against false or misleading communication in RPC 7.1, in-person solicitation can create problems because of the particular circumstances in which the solicitation takes place, and those circumstances are, therefore, appropriately regulated. Subsection (a) of this rule prohibits solicitation in circumstances or through means that are not conducive to intelligent, rational decisions. Unwanted solicitations (after the subject has informed the lawyer not to make contact) or solicitations involving coercion, duress, or harassment are specifically prohibited. Such circumstances and means could be the harassment of early morning or late-night telephone calls to a potential client to solicit legal work, repeated calls at any time of day, solicitation of an accident victim or the victim's family shortly after the accident or while the victim is still in medical distress (particularly where a lawyer seeks professional employment by in-person or other real-time contact in such circumstances), or solicitation of vulnerable subjects, such as persons facing incarceration, or their family members, in or near a courthouse. The prohibition on solicitation of a subject who cannot "exercise reasonable judgment in employing a lawyer" extends to an individual with diminished capacity who cannot adequately act in the individual's own interest, and the provisions of RPC 1.14 may provide guidance in evaluating "the physical, emotional, or mental" state of the subject.

[11] Those in need of legal representation often seek assistance in finding a lawyer through a lawyer referral service. Washington adopted paragraph (a)(3) in order to facilitate communication between lawyers and potential clients who have specifically requested a referral from a not-for-profit lawyer referral service. Under this paragraph, a lawyer receiving such a referral may contact the potential client directly by in-person, live telephone, or real-time electronic contact to discuss possible representation.Under Rule 5.1, Rule 5.3, and Rule 8.4(a), the solicitation restrictions that apply to the lawyer's own acts or conduct also extend to acts or conduct by employees, agents, or any third persons acting on the lawyer's behalf.

[12] Washington has not adopted subsection (e) of the Model Rule creating a safe harbor for in-person and telephonic solicitations in the context of a prepaid or group legal services plan because solicitations of professional employment by any means and in all contexts are permitted subject to the exceptions contained in subsections (a)(1)–(4). In addition, prior provisions and comments under RPC 7.3 in Washington relating to in-person, telephonic, or real-time electronic solicitations in the context of referrals from a third party or a lawyer referral service have been removed because solicitations by any means in this context are permitted subject to the exceptions contained in subsection (a)(1)–(4) of this rule.

[13] The phrase "directly or through a third person" in paragraph (a) was retained from former Washington RPC 7.3(a).Subsection (b) of this rule was derived from former Washington RPC 7.2(b).

[14] The phrase "prospective client" in RPC 7.3(a) has been replaced with the phrase "possible client" because the phrase "prospective client" has become a defined phrase under RPC 1.18 with a different meaning. This is a departure from the ABA Model Rule which has dispensed altogether with the phrase "from a prospective client" in this rule. The rule is not intended to preclude lawyers from in-person conversations with friends, relatives or other professionals (i.e. intermediaries) about other friends, relatives, clients, or patients who may need or benefit from the lawyer's services, so long as the lawyer is not asking or expecting the intermediary to engage in improper solicitation. See RPC 8.4(a) which prohibits improper solicitation "through the acts of another." Absent limitation of prohibited in-person communications to "possible clients" there is danger that lawyers might mistakenly infer that the kind of benign conversations with non-client intermediaries described above are precluded by this rule.Except as permitted under subsections (b)(1)-(b)(5), lawyers are not permitted to pay others for recommending the lawyer's services or for channeling professional work in a manner that violates RPC 7.1 or RPC 7.3. A communication contains a recommendation if it endorses or vouches for a lawyer's credentials, abilities, competence, character, or other professional qualities. Subsection (b)(1), however, allows a lawyer to pay for advertising and solicitations permitted by RPC 7.1 and this rule, including the costs of print directory listings, online directory listings, newspaper ads, television and radio airtime, domain-name registrations, sponsorship fees, Internet-based advertisements, and group advertising. A lawyer may compensate employees, agents, and vendors who are engaged to provide marketing or client-development services, such as publicists, public-relations personnel, business-development staff, and website designers, as long as the employees, agents, and vendors do not direct or regulate the lawyer's professional judgment (see RPC 5.4(c)). Moreover, a lawyer may pay others for generating client leads, such as Internet-based client leads, as long as the lead generator does not recommend the lawyer, any payment to the lead generator is consistent with RPC 1.5(e) (division of fees) and 5.4 (professional independence of the lawyer), and the lead generator's communications are consistent with RPC 7.1 (communications concerning a lawyer's services). To comply with RPC 7.1, a lawyer must not pay a lead generator that states, implies, or creates a reasonable impression that it is recommending the lawyer, is making the referral without payment from the lawyer, or has analyzed a person's legal problems when determining which lawyer should receive the referral. See also RPC 5.3 (duties of lawyers and law firms with respect to the conduct of nonlawyers); RPC 8.4(a) (duty to avoid violating the rules through the acts of another). For the definition of "nonlawyer" for the purposes of RPC 5.3, see RPC 5.3 cmt. 5.