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14 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 1099 (2000-2001)
Navigating a Sea of Uncertainty: How Existing Ethical Guidelines Pertain to the Marketing of Legal Services over the Internet

handle is hein.journals/geojlege14 and id is 1109 raw text is: Navigating a Sea of Uncertainty: How Existing Ethical Guidelines Pertain to the Marketing of Legal Services over the Internet AMY HAYWOOD* AND MELISSA JONES** INTRODUCTION History indicates that the advent of new technology requires society to undergo a paradigm shift. When a new communicative medium becomes increasingly affordable and accessible, and therefore, increasingly common, there are both positive and negative implications. When communication becomes more effec- tive with the use of the new media, greater immediacy and the ability to reach a larger audience are possible. Society is also faced with the daunting task of molding the current laws and social and ethical mores to embrace the new technologies. Lawyers, as practitioners, are not strangers to this concept. The practice of law has come to accept not only the advantageous efficiency of such developments as computer programs, fax machines, and cellular telephones, but also the increased pressures of immediacy and perfection imposed by the use of these devices. This paradigm shift also affects lawyers as advertisers, as lawyers attempt to navigate, with antiquated compasses, the uncharted waters of the Internet. In November of 1994, five law firms had websites on the Internet.' As that figure continues to climb, the advertising lawyer must concern himself with how far he can go in utilizing the Internet in the advertising and maintenance of his business so as not to offend the current ethical and professional rules that govern behavior. After a brief history of the ethics of attorney advertising in general, this Note will discuss the complexities that the Internet presents to a lawyer as a solicitor of business, focusing on the various forms Internet advertising can assume and the ethical ramifications of each; the state-to-state variance questions created by the Internet's unique and pervasive capacity to cut across state lines; and the current ethical rules' success in meeting the task of guiding lawyers through the ethical problems they face when choosing to advertise on the Internet. * J.D., Georgetown Law University Law Center, 2002 (expected). ** J.D., Georgetown Law University Law Center, May 2002 (expected). 1. Elizabeth Wasserman, Lawyers Market Their Wares via World Wide Web, SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, July 17, 1995. 1099

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