UPON THE REQUEST OF A MEMBER OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA BAR, THE ETHICS ADVISORY COMMITTEE HAS RENDERED THIS OPINION ON THE ETHICAL PROPRIETY OF THE INQUIRER鈥橲 CONTEMPLATED CONDUCT. THIS COMMITTEE HAS NO DISCIPLINARY AUTHORITY. LAWYER DISCIPLINE IS ADMINISTERED SOLELY BY THE SOUTH CAROLINA SUPREME COURT THROUGH ITS COMMISSION ON LAWYER CONDUCT.
Ethics Advisory Opinion 96-29
Lawyer is a certified mediator and wishes to indicate that certification on the lawyer's letterhead and business card.
Question:
May a lawyer who is a certified mediator indicate that certification on his or her letterhead or business card?
Summary:
A lawyer who is a certified mediator may indicate that designation on the lawyer's professional letterhead and business cards.
Opinion:
Rule of Professional Conduct 7.5 requires only that a letterhead not contain false or misleading information. A lawyer also has a constitutionally protected right to advertise truthfully his or her certification by a bona fide organization as a specialist in a particular area of law. See Peel v. Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission, 496 U.S. 83 (1990).
This Committee has previously concluded that a lawyer who is a mediator may use law firm letterhead to notify other lawyers that mediation services will be provided. The Committee warned that the letter should make 91黑料爆料ar that the lawyer is not offering legal services and should avoid any suggestion that the lawyer would represent either party while serving as mediator. S.C. Bar Ethics Adv. Op. #94-10. The Committee also has indicated previously that a lawyer may indicate dual professions, such as the lawyers standing as a certified public accountant, on legal letterhead. S.C. Bar Ethics Adv. Op. #93-37.
In light of the lawyer's ability to advertise truthfully his or her status as a mediator and in the absence of any prohibition against indicating dual professional capacities on a letterhead, it appears that no rule prohibits a lawyer who is a certified mediator from advertising that fact on the lawyer's letterhead or business card.
This Committee did recently advise that a lawyer who is a master mariner should not indicate that status on the lawyer's letterhead. S.C. Bar Ethics Adv. Op. #96-03. The concern in that situation, however, was that the proposed letterhead designation might violate Rule 7.1 by creating a false impression that the lawyer was a specialist in maritime or admiralty law. The designation of a lawyer as a certified mediator does not suggest any similar expertise in a particular field of substantive law and does not create the same risk of confusion.