Adams and Reese Partner Lucian Pera is featured in the January/February 2023 TECHSMART Edition of American Bar Association’s Law Practice magazine for his article outlining the changing tides of legal advertising and marketing. While solicitation rules vary state to state, Pera examines these regulations through a nationwide lens.
In “Avoiding Prohibited Lawyer Solicitation”, Pera details the evolution of solicitation regulations over the past 50 years, delving into its definition and practical applications by offering several hypothetical scenarios, as well as clarifying the difference between solicitation and advertising. He walks readers through the recent changes to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and how these regulations affect both new attorneys, previously exposed to advertising such as bus benches and personal injury lawyer commercials, and more experienced attorneys, who began practicing in a time where legal marketing was not seen as a respected business practice.
Pera recalls, when addressing the stark changes in the perception of advertising in the legal world, “The most senior partner in my law firm in those days even shared in the Tennessee Bar Journal his view that no single thing had contributed more to the decline of the profession than advertising.” In a profession where every private law practice has some form of marketing strategy, the contrasting generational attitude towards legal marketing continues to generate both debate and rule changes. Pera’s article acts as a guide on how to best navigate this ever-changing landscape.
One of the nation’s leading legal ethics practitioners and practicing for more than 30 years, Pera represents clients in matters ranging from lawyer discipline defense to lawyer malpractice defense to expert witness work. He advises on the ethical and lawful use of innovative marketing techniques, as well as lawyer and law firm relationships with vendors of all kinds, from marketers to outsourcing vendors, to litigation funders. He has helped lawyers and law firms establish and maintain compliance while providing non-legal ancillary services to clients and others.