At a Glance

Oregon’s advertising rules cover websites, social content, paid campaigns and direct outreach. Truthfulness is the central standard. A campaign also needs an identifiable responsible lawyer or firm, accurate descriptions of the practice and careful handling of prospective clients.

For a law firm, those requirements begin before a campaign goes live. A headline, image, intake script and landing page should tell the same story. A statement that sounds harmless on its own can create a misleading impression when paired with a dramatic result or an overstated promise.

Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Read source: Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Who Regulates

The Oregon Supreme Court’s Rules of Professional Conduct supply the core professional standards. The Oregon State Bar publishes the rules and formal ethics opinions that help lawyers evaluate particular situations. A formal opinion should be read with its facts and assumptions, rather than treated as approval for every campaign that uses the same channel.

Oregon statutes also matter, particularly for personal-injury solicitation and referral arrangements. Firms should evaluate the complete campaign under both applicable rules and statutes.

Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct; Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 9

Read source: Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct · Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 9

What Counts as Advertising

Think beyond a traditional paid advertisement. A practice-area page, sponsored video, directory listing, testimonial graphic or intake-focused social post can communicate something about a lawyer’s services. Rule 7.1 addresses materially misleading statements and omissions; Rule 7.2 allows advertising across written, recorded and electronic media subject to the other rules.

The practical question is what a prospective client is likely to understand. If an agency writes the copy, the firm should still review the facts: who performs the work, where the lawyers practice and what the offered service actually includes.

Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Read source: Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Required Disclosures

Rule 7.2(c) requires a responsible lawyer or firm’s name and contact information. The operative text says contact information, not a universal office-address requirement. The former Advertising Material labeling requirement was removed from Rule 7.3 in 2017.

Keep that identification readable in the actual format people see. Review cropped images, mobile layouts and video captions instead of assuming a desktop footer solves every presentation problem. Those are practical production safeguards, not a claim that Oregon prescribes a particular font size or placement for every advertisement.

Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Read source: Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Filing, Review & Recordkeeping

The advertising rules discussed here do not establish a general prepublication filing program or a universal advertising-retention period. That does not resolve obligations under other laws or for a particular campaign.

As a practical safeguard, keep the approved copy, creative, destinations, publication dates and supporting evidence together. Save materially different versions rather than retaining only the final website page. An archive makes it easier to explain what a consumer saw and to correct outdated information across platforms.

Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Read source: Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Results, Testimonials & Comparisons

Past results and client praise need context. Under Rule 7.1, accurate words can still mislead if important facts are left out. A strong result from one matter should not become a promise about another person’s case.

For marketing teams, a useful review asks whether a result includes enough explanation to be understood fairly, whether the testimonial is genuine and whether comparative language can be supported. A generic disclaimer should not be used to rescue a misleading headline.

Client-information rules require a separate review before publishing a case story or responding to a review. Consider the applicable confidentiality obligations and any needed informed consent. Do not assume that changing a name is enough to make a detailed story appropriate for publication.

Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Read source: Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Specialization & Certification

Oregon Rule 7.4 is reserved. Avoid copying another state’s specialist-certification framework into an Oregon page. Claims about expertise and credentials still need to satisfy Rule 7.1.

Describe the credential actually held, the organization that issued it and the work the lawyer actually performs. A practice focus, a private certification and a claim of government approval convey different things. Marketing copy should preserve those distinctions.

Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Read source: Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Firm, Trade & Domain Names

Rule 7.5 permits a trade name only if it is not misleading and does not imply a connection with a government agency or a public or charitable legal-services organization. Multijurisdictional firms may use the same name, but office listings must indicate jurisdictional limits for lawyers not licensed where the office is located. Lawyers may describe a partnership or other organization only when it actually exists.

A lawyer holding public office cannot remain in the firm name or its communications during a substantial period when that lawyer is not actively and regularly practicing with the firm. Of Counsel requires a continuing professional relationship other than partner or associate. General Counsel on a client’s stationery requires the lawyer or firm to devote a substantial amount of professional time to that client.

A domain name and the page it opens should create a consistent impression. Before using a geographic or practice-focused name, check the accompanying copy, lawyer biographies and contact information. Make sure the presentation does not imply an office, team or affiliation that does not exist.

Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Read source: Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Solicitation & Direct Contact

Rule 7.3 prohibits solicitation when the lawyer knows or reasonably should know that the recipient’s physical, emotional or mental state prevents reasonable judgment in hiring a lawyer. It also prohibits solicitation after a person has expressed a desire not to be solicited, and solicitation involving coercion, duress or harassment. Its restrictions apply regardless of the medium.

Oregon State Bar Formal Opinion 2021-196 considers outreach about condominium construction defects. On its stated facts, an initial telephone call could be permissible; a follow-up email after the recipient said not to bother them again was not. The opinion conditions its approval of the call on the solicitation not being for personal-injury business of the kind addressed by ORS 9.510. That limitation matters. The opinion is not blanket permission to contact accident victims.

Keep opt-out information available to the people and systems conducting outreach. Moving a conversation from telephone to email should not become a way to disregard a recipient’s refusal.

Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct; Formal Opinion 2021-196; Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 9

Read source: Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct · Formal Opinion 2021-196 · Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 9

Channel-Specific Notes

Websites: Review page titles, descriptions, intake calls to action and lawyer biographies together. Remove stale results and credentials when their context changes.

Social media and video: Check the complete visual and spoken message. A qualification buried in a caption may not correct the impression created by the graphic.

Paid search and directories: Compare the ad with the destination page. Make sure locations, services and identifying details remain accurate after platform truncation or automated changes.

Email, calls and direct messages: Consider the recipient, purpose and applicable solicitation restrictions before outreach begins. Carry opt-outs across the campaign.

Referral and lead-generation arrangements: Review what the provider actually does and what the firm pays for. Advertising placement and a paid recommendation are not interchangeable descriptions. Rule 7.2(b) prohibits giving anything of value for a recommendation except reasonable permitted advertising or communication costs, usual charges of a legal-service plan or lawyer-referral service, a law-practice purchase under Rule 1.17, and nominal appreciation gifts neither intended nor reasonably expected to compensate for recommendations. Its referral-service exception is not limited to nonprofit services, but it does not override separate fee-sharing and personal-injury restrictions. Rule 5.4(a)(5) permits percentage-based referral charges for a bar-operated not-for-profit lawyer referral service; usual charges under Rule 7.2 are not blanket permission to share fees with a for-profit lead provider. ORS 9.505 prohibits offering, promising, paying or accepting consideration for referring a personal-injury or death claim to an attorney. ORS 9.515 preserves referrals between bar licensees and fee division consistent with the professional rules. A violation of ORS 9.505 can carry a fine up to $1,000, up to one year in county jail, or both under ORS 9.990(3).

Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct; Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 9

Read source: Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct · Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 9

Recent Changes & Scope

Older Oregon advertising summaries can be misleading. The rule history records changes to responsible-party contact information and advertising labels in 2017, to the solicitation rule in 2018, and to Rule 7.2(b) in 2020, when the nominal-gift exception was added. The current published compilation is dated September 3, 2026.

Use the operative rule text rather than treating historical comparison notes as current requirements. Before a new campaign, check the official sources for changes that affect the channel, audience or practice area.

This guide is general educational information, not legal advice or approval of a particular advertisement.

This summary does not establish that every later enactment or special-session amendment has been incorporated. Check current statutory text before relying on it for a campaign.

Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Read source: Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct

Official Sources

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

1. Oregon Rules of Professional ConductOfficial source · Checked November 12, 2026
2. Oregon State Bar Formal Opinion 2021-196Official source · Checked November 12, 2026
3. Oregon Revised Statutes, Chapter 9Official source · Checked November 12, 2026