Special Issues in Lawyer Speech

It also bears mentioning: it’s not just via advertising regulation that the state governs attorney speech.

Brown County Courthouse - Green Bay, WI
Brown County Courthouse – Green Bay, WI

Fortunately, non-advertising regulations shouldn’t be difficult to stay on the right side of. They make intuitive sense, and they’re rarely subject to regulatory overreach.  For the diligent, responsible lawyer who puts his or her clients first, complying with these dictates should be roughly as natural as breathing.  

But just as the rise of social media communication creates questions about what crosses the line into “lawyer advertising,” so too does it sometimes create new opportunities to run afoul of those speech-restricting rules unique to the attorney-client relationship and the lawyer’s role in the justice system.