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The Standing Committee on Lawyer Advertising and Solicitation (SCOLAS) monitors lawyer advertising and solicitation and issues informal written advisory opinions. The twelve members of SCOLAS are appointed by the president of the bar to serve three-year terms. The committee, with the assistance of the ethics counsel and staff, reviews print, broadcast and electronic media for compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct. The committee meets regularly to review yellow pages, radio, television and Internet advertising and issues non-compliance letters to those lawyers whose advertising appears to violate the rules. Typically the lawyers receiving such letters voluntarily comply with the committee's suggestion to rectify the problems identified with their advertising. In those few instances where a lawyer disagrees with the committee's interpretation of the rules, the matters are referred to the disciplinary department of the bar.
SCOLAS also provides a mechanism by which lawyers may voluntarily have their advertising pre-screened to ensure that the advertising comports with the Rules of Professional Conduct. One of the more challenging issues facing SCOLAS is how new technology and the Internet are rapidly changing the way lawyers advertise and solicit business.
The committee also studies and makes recommendations concerning revision of the advertising provisions in the Rules of Professional Conduct. The committee's work may include other specific assignments or requests in its area of general responsibility from the bar's officers, the executive committee or the council.
The full text of Advertising Opinions can be found at Advertising Opinions. Advertising Opinions are also published in two separate unnumbered volumes of the Michie Code of Virginia (1991 and 1996 added volumes) and are supplemented annually with a pocket part. In addition, the opinions are published as they are issued in the Virginia Lawyer Register. The Geronimo Case Finder and Michie's Law on Disk also include the Advertising Opinions in their CD-ROM libraries. The Virginia Advertising Opinions are included in WestLaw's database. All information identifying the requesting party is redacted prior to publication and such information is kept confidential.
A member of the bar may request an Advertising Opinion by completing the "Lawyer Advertising or Solicitation Request Form," which is available for download from this Web site,* or you can contact Michelle Townsend at (804) 775-0557 or and arrange to have the form faxed or mailed to you.
Downloadable Request Form for an Advertising Opinion: This form is in Adobe pdf format. You may need to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view and print this document. Once you have downloaded and installed the Acrobat Reader, you can download the form and print or view it.
* Request for Advertising Opinion
Any member of the bar can seek an informal opinion as whether their advertising material is in compliance with the Rules of Professional Conduct. The advertising material can be submitted to the Legal Ethics Department for review by the ethics staff attorneys.
The Committee has prepared a useful Checklist to assist lawyers in preparing advertisements that will comply with the Rules of Professional Conduct.
See Committee Roster for a current list of members of the Virginia State Bar’s Standing Committee on Legal Ethics.