On June 21, 2020, the Appellate Division departments issued a joint order amending Rule 7.5 of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct (22 NYCRR 1207.5). Rule 7.5 had previously been captioned Professional Notices, Letterheads and Signs. The rule is now captioned Professional Notices, Letterheads and Names. The order also made substantial changes to the body of the Rule, to be discussed below.
Some context will highlight how much of a break this amended rule is from past practice and common law. For example, in 1983, the Third Department ruled that a law firm could not use the trade name of “The People’s Law Firm of Jan L. Shephard, Attorney, P.C.” and censured that attorney. In re Shepard, 92 A.D.2d 978 (3d Dept. 1983).
