Solicitation of clients.

§ 11.703 Solicitation of clients. (a) “Solicitation” or “solicit” denotes a communication initiated by or on behalf of a practitioner or law firm that is directed to a specific person the practitioner knows or reasonably should know needs legal services in a particular matter and that offers to provide, or reasonably can be understood as offering to provide, legal services for that matter. (b) A practitioner shall not solicit professional employment by live person-to-person contact when a significant motive for the practitioner's doing so is the practitioner's or law firm's pecuniary gain, unless the contact is with a: (1) Practitioner; (2) Person who has a family, close personal, or prior business or professional relationship with the practitioner or law firm; or (3) Person who routinely uses for business purposes the type of legal services offered by the practitioner. (c) A practitioner shall not solicit professional employment even when not otherwise prohibited by paragraph (b) of this section, if: (1) The target of solicitation has made known to the practitioner a desire not to be solicited by the practitioner, or (2) The solicitation involves coercion, duress, or harassment. (d) This section does not prohibit communications authorized by law or ordered by a court or other tribunal. (e) Notwithstanding the prohibitions in this section, a practitioner may participate with a prepaid or group legal service plan operated by an organization not owned or directed by the practitioner that uses live person-to-person contact to enroll members or sell subscriptions for the plan from persons who are not known to need legal services in a particular matter covered by the plan. [86 FR 28467, May 26, 2021]