To claim MCLE credit, it is necessary to fill out the personal information area at the right so we can send you your certificate of completion. Without this information, we cannot issue the Certificates of Completion mandated by the individual State Bars and Attorneys and Paralegals cannot claim credit for taking this quiz.

For questions regarding this, or any of our MCLE exercises, contact Mark Rosch at 310/559-1632.

PAYMENT METHOD

Please select one of the three payment method at the right.

BY CREDIT CARD

I have already charged the $20.00 fee for this one quiz to my credit card.

Click here to pay by credit card if you have not already done so.

BY CHECK

To pay by check, print a copy of the "MCLE Submission" form that appears on your screen after you hit the "Submit Quiz Answers" button below. Mail a copy of that "MCLE Submission" form and your $20.00 check made payable to "Internet For Lawyers" to P.O. Box 1065; Culver City, CA 90232.

The Legal Ethics of Attorney Web Sites in California:

What You Should and Shouldn't Do

 

Online, participatory ethics MCLE credit for California Attorneys

 

INSTRUCTIONS: Click here to read the California State Bar Standing Committee on Professional Responsibilty & Conduct's Formal Opinion No. 2001-155 and here for an article discussing the opinion and its relation to attorneys' online activities. Then read and answer the following 10 questions for 1 hour of participatory MCLE ethics credit. Answers to all questions (with the exception of number 10) are found in the formal opinion.

If your browser does not support filling in this type of form, you may print out these questions and write your answers in by hand and mail the completed quiz to our postal mail address at the top of this quiz.

Internet For Lawyers can teach you how to get the most out of the Internet for your law practice.

Used properly, the Internet can be one of the greatest enhancements to the practice of law.

Attorneys can use the Internet to:

extend the range of their marketing and networking activities

increase access to FREE online legal resources

save time and money currently lost to handling paper, pulling cases, photocopying and maintaining a library, by accessing this free information, right at your own desk.

Internet For Lawyers offers:

One-on-One Training

Group Seminars

Web Site Audits

Electronic Marketing Consulting

Online Participatory MLCE Materials

for all legal professionals including Paralegals, Law Office Administrators, Law Office Marketing Departments and Legal Secretaries, in addition to Attorneys.

The answers to all of these questions (with the exception of number 10) are based upon the California State Bar Association Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility & Conduct's recent Formal Opinion No. 2001-155. This Formal Opinion deals specifically with the ethical issues attorneys must address when creating and displaying Internet web sites related to their law practice.

Click here to read an article outlining how the opinion effects attorneys' online activities. Click here to read the opinion. After reading these two items answer the questions below.

1. According to Formal Opinion 2001-155, does an attorney web site constitute a "communication" as defined under rule 1-400(A) of the Rules of Professional Conduct?
Select One: Yes No

2. According to Formal Opinion 2001-155, does an attorney web site constitute an "advertisement" as defined under Business and Professions Code sections 6157 to 6158.3?
Select One: Yes No

3. According to Formal Opinion 2001-155, does an attorney web site constitute a "solicitation" as defined under rule 1-400(B) of the Rules of Professional Conduct?
Select One: Yes No
It depends on whether there is a back-and-forth exchange between the attorney owning the web site and the perspective client (e.g. via e-mail)

4. Formal Opinion 2001-155 cites rule 1-400(F) of the Rules of Professional Conduct to instruct attorneys that they should keep copies of each page of their web site for how long?
Select One: 60 Days 90 Days One Year Two Years

5. Formal Opinion 2001-155 instructs that it is permissable for an attorney web site to present a "guaranty [sic] of outcome" as part of its message if the site also "provides a method for prospective clients to contact the attorney for clarification regarding such guaranty [sic]."
Select One: True False

6. Formal Opinion 2001-155 also states that "[because] e-mail is transmitted via telephone lines, it is to be treated as any other phone communication as defined under rule 1-400(B) [of the Rules of Professional Conduct]."
Select One: True False

7.  Unlike a local newspaper or local Yellow Pages ad, a California attorney's web site can very likely be seen outside of California. Formal Opinion 2001-155 cites Rules of Professional Conduct 1-100(D)(1) and 1-300(B) to address attorney's responsibilities in other jurisdictions.

To avoid the appearance of (the web site as an indication of) practicing law in jurisdicitons where an attorney is not licensed to do so, the Formal Opinion suggests including: (Check all that apply)
an explanation of where the attorney is licensed to practice law

a description of where the attorney maintains law offices and actually practices law

a copy of the attorneys license to practice law

an explanation of any limitation on the courts in which the attorney is willing to appear

a statement that the attorney does not seek to represent anyone based solely on a visit to the attorney's web site

8. Formal Opinion 2001-155 recognizes that its suggestions may not meet the requirements set out by authorities regulating the practice of law in other jurisdictions. The Formal opinion, however, counsels that attorneys licensed only in California should not concern themselves with the requirements of any other jurisdictions since only an "entity that has physically issued a license to a specific attorney (to practice law) shall have any jurisdiction over that attorney's actions."
Select One: True False

9. As a "Formal Opinion," is Formal Opinion 2001-155 binding on all members of the California State Bar and enforceable by the courts?
Select One: True False

10. Don' t let these numerous ethical rules keep you from developing your own web site, however. The State Bar of California offers an "Ethics Hotline" (http://www.calbar.org/2pub/3eth/3ethndx.htm) to "assist attorneys with questions relating to their ethical responsibilities." This service is available between the hours 9:00 AM and 5:00 PM on weekdays.

The "Ethics Hotline" is available via a toll-free "800" number. Enter the phone number here: 

CALIFORNIA: Internet For Lawyers certifies that this activity has been approved for MCLE credit by the State Bar of California in the amount of 1 hour of participatory general or ethics credit. Internet For Lawyers is a State Bar of California approved MCLE provider.

If you are paying by credit card, please be sure to click the "Payment method; Visa/Mastercard" button and click the PayPal button to complete your payment BEFORE you click the "Submit Answers" button. (Note: Clicking the PayPal button will open a payment screen in a NEW browser window. Your answers on this quiz will not be cleared when you click the "Credit Card" payment option and the new payment screen opens.)