031314 RIEO, 14-03

• Case Date: March 13, 2014
• Court: Rhode Island

14-03 Ethics Advisory Panel Op. 2014-03 Rhode Island Ethics Opinions Rhode Island Supreme Court March 13, 2014          FACTS          The inquiring attorney is a certified elder law attorney. He/she has been certified as such by the National Elder Law Foundation which is an organization that has been accredited by the ABA. The inquiring attorney would like to include his/her designation as a certified elder law attorney on his/her letterhead.          ISSUE PRESENTED          The inquiring attorney asks whether he/she may include the designation "Certified Elder Law Attorney" on his/her letterhead.          OPPNION          Rule 7.4 permits the inquiring attorney to include the designation "Certified Elder Law Attorney" on his/her letterhead, but requires him/her also to identify the National Elder Foundation on the letterhead and to include the disclaimer set forth in Rule 7.4(d)(4).          REASONING Rule 7.4 of the Rules of Professional Conduct applies to this inquiry. In pertinent part it states as follows.

Rule 7.4. Communication of fields of practice and specialization, (a) A lawyer may communicate the fact that the lawyer does or does not practice in particular fields of law.

(d) A lawyer shall not state or imply that a lawyer is certified as a specialist in a particular field of law, unless:

(1) the lawyer has been certified as a specialist by an organization that has been approved by an appropriate state authority or that has been accredited by the American Bar Association;

(2) the name of the certifying organization is clearly identified in the communication; and

(3) the lawyer also includes, as part of the same communication, the disclaimer that:

"The Rhode Island Supreme Court licenses all lawyers in the general practice of law. The court does not license or certify any lawyer as an expert or specialist in any particular field of practice."

         Rule 7.4(a) permits lawyers to indicate areas of practice in communications about their legal services. Communications about areas of practice include those made on a lawyer's letterhead. In Peel v. Attorney Registration & Disciplinary Commission, 110 S.Ct. 2281 (1990), a member of the Illinois bar identified himself on his letterhead as a "Certified Trial Specialist by the National Board of Trial Advocacy." 110 S.Ct. at 2285. The Illinois Code of Professional Responsibility prohibited lawyers from...