§11.703. Solicitation of clients.
37 C.F.R. § 11.703
“Solicitation” or “solicit” denotes a communication initiated by or on behalf of a practitioner or law firm that is directed to a specific person the practitioner knows or reasonably should know needs legal services in a particular matter and that offers to provide, or reasonably can be understood as offering to provide, legal services for that matter.
A practitioner shall not solicit professional employment by live person-to-person contact when a significant motive for the practitioner's doing so is the practitioner's or law firm's pecuniary gain, unless the contact is with a:
Practitioner;
Person who has a family, close personal, or prior business or professional relationship with the practitioner or law firm; or
Person who routinely uses for business purposes the type of legal services offered by the practitioner.
A practitioner shall not solicit professional employment even when not otherwise prohibited by paragraph (b) of this section, if:
The target of solicitation has made known to the practitioner a desire not to be solicited by the practitioner, or
The solicitation involves coercion, duress, or harassment.
This section does not prohibit communications authorized by law or ordered by a court or other tribunal.
Notwithstanding the prohibitions in this section, a practitioner may participate with a prepaid or group legal service plan operated by an organization not owned or directed by the practitioner that uses live person-to-person contact to enroll members or sell subscriptions for the plan from persons who are not known to need legal services in a particular matter covered by the plan.
Notes, amendments, and revision history
Amendments
[86 FR 28467, May 26, 2021]
Source
Source: 78 FR 20201, Apr. 3, 2013, unless otherwise noted.
Authority
Authority: 5 U.S.C. 500; 15 U.S.C. 1123; 35 U.S.C. 2(b)(2), 32, 41; Sec. 1, Pub. L. 113-227, 128 Stat. 2114.
Source
Source: 69 FR 35452, June 24, 2004, unless otherwise noted.
Amendments
[86 FR 28467, May 26, 2021]