ETHICS OPINION 626-1974 SOLICITATION

NUMBER 626

QUESTION.

 

Is it proper for a lawyer, who will continue to engage in general practice during the day, to write several insurance companies that he is available in the evenings to represent defendants in negligence actions in the Small Claims Court?

 

ANSWER.

 

Solicitation of retainers from non-lawyers through advertisement or personal communication is in violation of the Disciplinary Rule DR 2-103(A) of the Code of Professional Responsibility, which states that:

 

“A lawyer shall not recommend employment, as a private practitioner, of himself, his partner, or associate to a non-lawyer who has not sought his advice regarding employment of a lawyer.” See also EC 2-3.

 

Accordingly, it would not be proper for the lawyer to offer his professional services to the insurance companies in the manor proposed in the inquiry.

 

June 13, 1974