South Dakota Bar Rules for Attorney Advertising

Before you redesign your law firm's website or start a new internet marketing campaign, it's important to pay attention to the South Dakota Rules of Professional Conduct related to advertisements, website design, and internet marketing.

Attorneys in South Dakota are expected to follow the high standards of professional conduct that define proper conduct for a lawyer handling legal matters. To maintain these standards, discipline is handled by the Disciplinary Board of the State Bar, the Attorney General of the State of South Dakota, and the South Dakota Supreme Court.

The first step to understanding the applicable bar rules for attorney advertising requires reading each rule in its entirety. The rules related to attorney advertising can be found in the South Dakota Rules of Professional Conduct. Additional information explaining the bar rules in South Dakota can be found in the comments to each rule and the advisory ethics opinions interpreting the rules.

The section on "INFORMATION ABOUT LEGAL SERVICES" includes:

Rule 7.1 for communications concerning a lawyer's services;
Rule 7.2 for advertising;
Rule 7.3 for direct contact with prospective clients; and
Rule 7.4 for communication of fields of practice.

Although the rules in the State of South Dakota are restrictive, an attorney can stay in full compliance while still having an extremely effective internet marketing campaign. Taking an ethical approach to marketing means following the letter and spirit of each rule.

At Lawyer Legion, we developed this online attorney directory to help the public find a lawyer in the State of Vermont. This online attorney directory also provides information on legal organizations and lawyer referral services located throughout the state.

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Rule 7.4 on Fields of Practice and Specialization

According to South Dakota's Rule 7.4, a lawyer may communicate the fact that the lawyer does or does not practice in particular fields of law. The rule provides that:

If a lawyer practices only in certain fields, or will not accept matters except in such fields, the lawyer is permitted so to indicate. A lawyer shall not state or imply that the lawyer is a specialist except as follows:

A lawyer admitted to engage in patent practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office may use the designation "patent attorney" or a substantially similar designation.
A lawyer engaged in admiralty practice may use the designation "admiralty", "proctor in admiralty" or a substantially similar designation.
If a lawyer or firm practices in only certain fields and desires to advertise such limitations in the yellow pages of the telephone directory any such advertising must be accompanied by the following disclaimer appearing in a prominent and conspicuous manner in such advertising or on the same page as the advertising:
(1) Such certification is granted by an organization which has been approved by the appropriate regulatory authority to grant such certification; or
(2) Such certification is granted by an organization that has not yet been approved by, or has been denied the approval available from the appropriate regulatory authority, and the absence or denial of approval is clearly stated in the communication, and in any advertising subject to Rule 7.2, such statement appears in the same sentence that communicates the certification.
Pursuant to subsection (c)(1), the South Dakota Supreme Court hereby designates the American Bar Association as the appropriate regulatory authority to accredit specialty certification programs according to such standards and criteria as the American Bar Association may from time to time establish for accreditation of specialty programs.
A lawyer shall not state or imply that a lawyer is certified as a specialist in a particular field of law, unless:
(1) the lawyer has been certified as a specialist by an organization that has been approved by an appropriate state authority or that has been accredited by the American Bar Association; and
(2) the name of the certifying organization is clearly identified in the communication.

Resources for South Dakota Bar Rules

South Dakota Rules of Professional Conduct - Visit the website of the South Dakota Legislature to find the appendix to Chapter 16-18 of the South Dakota Rules of Professional Conduct including the Chapter 7 rules on how attorneys communicate information about their services to the public.

Ethics Opinions Indexed By Rule for Attorney Ads - Search the ethics opinions in South Dakota indexed by rule under Chapter 7 concerning information and communications about Legal Services.

Comparison of South Dakota Rules of Professional Conduct- Visit the American Bar Association (ABA) website to find a detailed comparison of the Newly Adopted South Dakota Rules of Professional Responsibility with the ABA Model Rules as of October 12, 2017.

Directory of Attorneys in South Dakota - At Lawyer Legion, we developed this online attorney directory to help the public find an attorney in South Dakota across hundreds of practice areas of the law. This online attorney directory also provides information on legal organizations and lawyer referral services located throughout the state.

This article was last updated on Friday, December 27, 2019.