Since July 1, 2007, the Statewide Grievance Committee has had two principal ways to address concerns about attorney advertising. First, under Practice Book Section 2-28A, Connecticut attorneys must file with the committee a copy of each "written or recorded communication" used in advertising legal services to the public (there are some exceptions to the filing requirement). This means that for ads and promotional materials for a law firm, the firm needs to designate one of its attorneys whose individual juris number must accompany the filing of each firm ad.
The Office of Statewide Bar Counsel, in turn, reviews randomly selected advertising submissions for compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct. If the Bar Counsel concludes that the reviewed advertising is out of compliance with the rules, the attorney responsible for the ad has the opportunity to work out a resolution with Bar Counsel. If the problem is resolved to the Bar Counsel's satisfaction, usually accomplished by making the requested changes to the ad under review, the attorney in question will not be subject to disciplinary charges.
