Topic: Plan to solicit bids by lawyers to perform legal services on internet website; advertising, solicitation, and participation in a referral plan; duties with regard to advertising fees, client confidentiality, unauthorized practice of law, and conflicts of interest
Digest:
“Lawyers may respond to an invitation to bid on legal projects through an internet website where client’s invitation is not initiated by lawyer, where only the client is charged a fee, no legal fees are shared with the service provider, and responding lawyers are not pre-screened, approved, or otherwise regulated by the plan”
ABA Model Rules: DR 2-101; DR 2-103; EC 2-15; DR 3-101(B); DR 4-101(B); DR 5-105 (E); DR 5-107(B)
The full text of the opinion is available at http://www.nycbar…