Va. Bar Says Lawyer's Blog Is Advertising That Must Include Disclaimer, Nixes Post About a Client
A Richmond attorney contends that he has a First Amendment right to write about his cases and other matters of interest on a law blog related to his law firm.
However, the Virginia State Bar didn’t agree and ruled Tuesday that Horace Hunter must include a disclaimer on his law blog within 30 days, the Washington Post reports on its Capital Business page.
The ruling also said he must remove a post concerning a juvenile client, which uses a pseudonym for the youth, within 30 days. Although Hunter argued that he had his client’s consent to put up the post, the bar upheld a misconduct charge (PDF) contending that information disclosed in the post could be embarrassing or detrimental to the client, according to the newspaper.
Admonished about the ethics infractions, Hunter said he plans to appeal.
A previous ABAJournal.com post provides additional details about the case:
Should Lawyers Worry About Virginia State Bar Crackdown on Firm’s Law Blog?
