At a Glance

Primary authority: Delaware Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct 7.1–7.5.

Responsible-party identification: name and office address under Rule 7.2(c).

Targeted outreach: Rule 7.3 delivery restrictions and Advertising Material labels, with defined exceptions.

Later authorities and campaign-specific requirements need legal review.

Rules 7.2(c), 7.3

Read source: Delaware Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct, official court PDF

Who Regulates

The Delaware Supreme Court’s professional-conduct rules govern lawyers’ communications about their services. The Office of Disciplinary Counsel provides the official rules and information about the disciplinary system. A campaign cannot be evaluated only as a branding exercise: the responsible lawyer must assess its substance, audience and delivery method.

The core advertising provisions are Rules 7.1 through 7.5. Related duties include client confidentiality, supervision of marketing vendors, professional independence and restrictions on unauthorized practice. A multistate campaign also needs a jurisdiction-specific analysis rather than assuming Delaware’s rules control every recipient.

official rules index, Delaware Courts rules and amendment index; official professional-conduct rules, Delaware Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct, official court PDF

Read source: Delaware Courts rules and amendment index · Delaware Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct, official court PDF

What Counts as Advertising

Rule 7.2(a) allows lawyers to advertise through written, recorded and electronic communications, including public media, subject to Rules 7.1 and 7.3. Websites, directories, video and paid campaigns are therefore evaluated under substantive rules, not categorically forbidden because of their medium.

The commentary recognizes information about services, fees, payment arrangements, language ability and other useful practice details. A general website and a private message aimed at a person with a known legal problem are not interchangeable. The latter may be solicitation subject to additional restrictions.

Rule 7.1 prohibits material factual or legal misrepresentations and material omissions. Even literally accurate words can mislead if the overall presentation creates a specific conclusion for which there is no reasonable factual foundation. The rule applies across communications about the lawyer’s services.

A claim about a case result, fee advantage or level of experience must be supportable in context. Avoid suggesting improper influence over an official or agency. Editing a headline to remove an explicit guarantee does not necessarily fix a misleading visual, testimonial or comparison elsewhere in the same advertisement.

Rules 7.2(a), comments [1]–[4], and 7.3 comment [1], official rules PDF; Rule 7.1 and comments [1]–[4], official rules PDF

Read source: official rules PDF

Required Disclosures

Rule 7.2(c) requires a communication made under that rule to include the name and office address of at least one lawyer or law firm responsible for its content. A telephone number or contact form alone does not satisfy that text. Check the advertisement itself rather than assuming a platform profile supplies everything required.

Targeted solicitations covered by Rule 7.3(c) also require “Advertising Material” labeling, with its placement and exceptions discussed below. Disclosures should clarify the actual message; they are not a cure for a materially false statement. Other disclosures may depend on specialization, firm identity or the circumstances of a particular claim.

Rules 7.2(c), 7.3(c) and 7.4(d), official rules PDF

Read source: official rules PDF

Filing, Review & Recordkeeping

The reviewed text of Rules 7.1 through 7.5 does not itself establish a general advertisement prefiling procedure or a fixed advertising-retention period. That is a statement about the provisions reviewed, not a conclusion that no other Delaware authority could impose a requirement. A final review of applicable orders, opinions and practice-specific obligations remains necessary.

As an internal control, keep the approved copy, image or recording, targeting settings, dates of use, claim support and lawyer sign-off together. This is a recommended review process, not a purported Delaware retention deadline. Do not import another state’s three-year or filing requirement into a Delaware checklist without authority.

Rules 7.1–7.5 in the official rules PDF. Check other applicable procedures and opinions before relying on this summary

Read source: official rules PDF

Results, Testimonials & Comparisons

Rule 7.1’s commentary warns that accurate achievements can mislead if readers are led to expect the same outcome without regard to each matter’s facts and law. Appropriate qualifying language may prevent an unjustified-expectations problem, but the rule does not make a disclaimer an automatic safe harbor.

A testimonial selected for the firm’s website should be reviewed as part of the firm’s message. Obtain an appropriate basis under Rule 1.6 before revealing representation-related information. A result being publicly known is not itself a complete confidentiality analysis. Do not invent a universal state-mandated testimonial sentence: the reviewed rule describes a contextual standard.

Delaware’s reviewed advertising text applies the false-or-misleading standard to comparisons rather than providing a separate universal awards disclaimer. Rule 7.1 comment [3] specifically addresses unsubstantiated comparisons of services or fees. An award badge should therefore accurately describe what was awarded and not imply an objective superiority conclusion the selection process cannot support.

As a practical substantiation measure, preserve the issuer, award year, selection criteria and any payment relationship. Those details help counsel assess the advertisement, but this guide does not label that checklist as express wording in the rule. Check any applicable award-specific Delaware ethics opinion before using the claim.

Rule 7.1 comment [3] and Rule 1.6(a), official rules PDF; Rule 7.1 and comment [3], official rules PDF

Read source: official rules PDF

Specialization & Certification

Rule 7.4(a) permits a lawyer to identify fields in which the lawyer does or does not practice. Its comment [1] generally permits terms such as specialist or specializes, subject to Rule 7.1. This is different from claiming certification.

Under Rule 7.4(d), a claim of certified specialization requires certification by an organization approved by an appropriate state authority or accredited by the ABA, and clear identification of the certifying organization. Patent and admiralty designations have specific provisions in paragraphs (b) and (c). Do not convert a directory category, award or marketing training certificate into a legal-specialty certification.

Rule 7.4 and comments [1]–[3], official rules PDF

Read source: official rules PDF

Firm, Trade & Domain Names

Rule 7.5 allows nonmisleading trade names but prohibits implying a government or public/charitable legal-services connection. Multijurisdiction firms may use the same name, while identification of office lawyers must disclose jurisdictional limits for lawyers not licensed where that office is located.

The rule also limits use of a public official’s name during a substantial period when that lawyer is not actively and regularly practicing with the firm. Lawyers may imply a partnership or other organization only when it exists. Shared office space alone does not justify a combined firm identity. Websites and geographic branding should reflect the real practice, not imply a nonexistent office or association.

Rule 7.5 and comments [1]–[2], official rules PDF

Read source: official rules PDF

Solicitation & Direct Contact

Rule 7.3(a) restricts in-person, live telephone and real-time electronic solicitation when a significant motive is pecuniary gain, except contacts with a lawyer or a person with a family, close personal or prior professional relationship with the lawyer. The quoted relationship categories matter: an ordinary purchased prospect list is not a prior professional relationship.

Even otherwise permitted solicitation is prohibited when the target has expressed a wish not to be solicited or the contact involves coercion, duress or harassment. Rule 7.3(c) requires “Advertising Material” on the outside envelope, if any, and at the beginning and end of recorded or electronic communications soliciting someone known to need legal services in a particular matter, subject to the specified relationship exceptions. Comment [8] addresses responses to requests and general announcements.

The prepaid or group legal-services-plan exception in paragraph (d) is limited to membership or subscription outreach to people not known to need legal services in a particular matter covered by the plan. The organization cannot be owned or directed by a participating lawyer, and comment [9] says the personal contact cannot be undertaken by a lawyer who would provide services through the plan. It is not a workaround for prohibited individual solicitation. This guide does not establish a blanket accident-victim waiting period or certify a campaign under separate communications laws.

Rule 7.3 and comments [1]–[9], official rules PDF

Read source: official rules PDF

Channel-Specific Notes

Digital campaigns remain subject to the same content and solicitation rules. A passive page, search-generated response, automated funnel and real-time private exchange can raise different issues. Review the actual interaction rather than deciding compliance solely from a platform’s label.

Rule 7.2(b) generally prohibits giving value for recommendations, subject to Rule 1.5(e) and its stated exceptions. Rule 7.2(b)(2) permits the usual charges of a legal service plan or a not-for-profit or qualified lawyer referral service. A qualified referral service must have approval from an appropriate regulatory authority; this is not permission to pay every commercial referral provider. The rule also permits reasonable advertising costs and a practice purchase under Rule 1.17. Comment [5] permits payment for leads only within its conditions: the generator must not recommend the lawyer, payments must comply with fee-division and independence rules, and communications must comply with Rule 7.1. It also warns against implying the referral is unpaid or based on an analysis of the person’s legal problems. Vendor assurances do not replace review of scripts, pages and payment terms.

Separate statutory review can matter. Delaware’s Telemarketing Fraud Act has definitions and exemptions that require campaign-specific analysis; ethical permission is not a telemarketing exemption. For first-party property-insurance work, 18 Del. C. § 1759(b)(3) conditions the public-adjuster-law exception for attorneys on not regularly acting or publicly representing themselves as public insurance adjusters. Do not casually advertise a law practice as an adjusting business.

Rule 7.2 and comments [5]–[7]; 6 Del. C. ch. 25A, Delaware Telemarketing Fraud Act; 18 Del. C. § 1759, Delaware Code, public-adjuster scope and attorney exception

Read source: Delaware Telemarketing Fraud Act · Delaware Code, public-adjuster scope and attorney exception

Recent Changes & Scope

Source review date: November 12, 2026. This guide uses the court-linked professional-conduct compilation labeled amended through November 18, 2025. The court rules index lists subsequent amendments to other court rules; consult it for later professional-conduct changes and pending proposals as well.

This guide does not provide an exhaustive account of subsequent orders, disciplinary decisions, ethics opinions or campaign-specific statutes. Have counsel review the proposed advertisement against applicable current law. This guide is not legal approval of a campaign.

Delaware Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct, official court PDF

Read source: Delaware Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct, official court PDF

Official Sources

Read the official rules alongside other applicable law and obtain campaign-specific advice.

1. Delaware Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct, official court PDFOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026
2. Delaware Courts rules and amendment indexOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026
3. Delaware Code, public-adjuster scope and attorney exceptionOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026
4. Delaware Telemarketing Fraud ActOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026