1994-12

Lawyer’s communicating on letterhead and business cards fact that he has been certified as an arbitrator by the American Arbitration Association does not violate Rules 7.1 and 7.7

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Lawyer’s communicating on letterhead and business cards fact that he has been certified as an arbitrator by the American Arbitration Association does not violate Rules 7.1 and 7.7

QUESTION:

Is it a violation of Rules 7.1 and 7.7 of the Rules of
Professional Conduct for a lawyer to communicate on the
lawyer’s letterhead, business cards, or advertisement that
the lawyer is certified by the American Arbitration
Association as an arbitrator?

ANSWER:

It is not false and misleading and, thus, not a violation
of
Rules 7.1 and 7.7 for a lawyer to communicate the fact that
the lawyer has been certified as an arbitrator by the
American Arbitration Association.

DISCUSSION:

Rule 7.1(d) of the Rules of Professional Conduct provides
as
follows:

“Rule 7.1 Communications Concerning
a Lawyer’s Services

A lawyer shall not make or cause to be made
a false or misleading communication about the
lawyer or the lawyer’s services. A communication
is false or misleading if it:

* * *

(d) Communicates the certification of the lawyer
by a certifying organization, except as provided
in Rule 7.7.”

Rule 7.7 provides that a lawyer may not communicate that
he or she has been certified by a certifying organization
unless that organization has been approved by the Alabama
State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. This Rule
contemplates legal specialties that are within the practice
of law. It does not contemplate other disciplines outside
the practice of law, such as accounting, medicine,
engineering, financial planning, etc. The Disciplinary
Commission, on a number of occasions, has held that a
lawyer
may communicate non-legal disciplines on the lawyer’s
letterhead, business cards, or in the lawyer’s advertising
(see RO-87-8O-lawyer/engineer and RO-91-12-lawyer/financial
planner).

Since an arbitrator does not necessarily have to be a
lawyer, it is the view of the Disciplinary Commission that
an arbitrator should be characterized as a non-lawyer
discipline and, thus, such designation may be placed on a
lawyer’s letterhead, business card, or in advertising
without the lawyer being certified pursuant to Rule 7.7.

RWN/vf

9/30/94

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