Ad task force moves toward drafting rules.

A rule that would require criminal defense lawyers to wait 30 days before direct mailing potential clients is being considered by the Bar's Advertising Task Force 2004.

The group has also begun discussions on whether the Bar can require advertising attorneys to submit their ads to the Bar for review before they are published or aired.

The task force met by teleconference July 26 and began discussion on 22 "questions" designed to help the group begin formulating its recommendations.

One of the most controversial was the query on whether the Bar should extend its 30-day ban on direct mail solicitations in personal injury cases to all such mailings in criminal cases.

Task force members reached no consensus, but agreed to ask Bar staff to draft such a rule amendment for consideration at the group's next meeting, September 9, during the Bar's General Meeting in Tampa.

Pensacola attorney David Sellers said defendants are arraigned shortly after an arrest and will need the help of an attorney to protect their rights. "People don't understand what goes on in a case," he said.

But Tallahassee attorney Hal Lewis disagreed. "They have already been told they have a right to counsel," he said. "How does getting a letter in any way assist you? You already know you need a lawyer."

Added Bar Board of Governors member Robert Rush, "If you read the [rule] comment that prohibits direct mail solicitation for personal injury, it also applies to criminal cases."

After several minutes of vigorous discussion, Chair Manny Morales noted that an agreement was unlikely that day, and asked staff to draw up a rule change for consideration next month.

The matter of reviewing ads before they are published or broadcast was the last item discussed by the task force, which ran out of time before reaching any conclusions. Reviewing ads before publication was one of the specific items that Bar President Kelly Overstreet Johnson asked the task force to look at when it was created earlier this year.

Current Bar rules require members to file ads that must be reviewed no later than concurrently with the first publication or broadcast. Morales asked members for their views on an amendment that would require ads to be filed 30 days before their debut. Under that scheme, the Bar would have 30 days to review the ad or the ad would be deemed approved and the advertising lawyer would be immune from prosecution for violating ad rules. Similarly, if Bar staff okayed the ad during the...