In Philadelphia, ChatGPT named 4 injury firms. Is yours one of them?

In Pennsylvania there is no filing or ad-copy retention rule since late 2024, but every online ad must name a responsible lawyer or firm with contact details, show the office city or town, and disclose dramatizations and paid endorsements.

Who enforces it

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, enforced by the Disciplinary Board and its Office of Disciplinary Counsel

The rules

Pa.R.P.C. 7.1 to 7.3 and 7.5 (Rule 7.4 and Rule 7.7 were removed or reserved), as amended by the Supreme Court order of October 15, 2024 (Pa. Bulletin Vol. 54, No. 43)

Filing or review

No general filing requirement found in the official rules. No filing or pre-approval of ads. The October 2024 amendments also deleted the old duty in Rule 7.2(b) to keep a copy or recording of each ad and a record of where it ran for two years.

Required labels

Every communication under Rule 7.2 must include the name and contact information of at least one responsible lawyer or law firm (Rule 7.2(k)). Ads and written communications must disclose the city or town of the office where the lawyers who will do the work principally practice (Rule 7.2(h)). Dramatizations, re-enactments and non-authentic pictures need a disclosure that they are dramatizations (Rule 7.2(f)). Paid endorsements must disclose the payment (Rule 7.2(e)).

Contacting accident victims

No general waiting period after an accident. Live person-to-person solicitation for pay is barred unless the person is a lawyer or has a family, close personal or prior professional relationship, and targeted direct mail is allowed (Rule 7.3(b), (c)). The one wait: do not solicit a defendant or respondent in a domestic relations action until proof of service appears on the docket (Rule 7.3(d)(4)).

Testimonials, results, specialist

Rule 7.1 comment 3 says reporting past results can mislead if it suggests the same result for other clients, and a disclaimer may help. Rule 7.2(e) bars endorsements by celebrities or public figures and requires disclosure of paid endorsements. Rule 7.2(f) bars portraying a client with a non-client without a dramatization disclosure. Specialist or certified claims are limited to certifying organizations approved by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (Rule 7.2(c)). Rule 7.2(g) requires ads that say no fee without recovery to disclose that the client may still owe expenses, and requires honoring an advertised specific fee for 90 days.

Online ads

Rule 7.2(a) now allows communication through any media. Rule 7.3 comment 1 says a billboard, an internet banner ad, a website or a TV commercial is not a solicitation, and neither are communications automatically generated in response to electronic searches. Comment 2 treats text messages as live person-to-person contact. Rule 7.1 comment 5 allows a distinctive website address or social media username if not misleading. Rule 7.2(i) requires ad co-sponsors to be disclosed when someone other than the firm pays for the ad.

ChatGPT Ads

OpenAI accepts US law-firm ads from firms licensed where the ad runs, after business verification and ad review. A ChatGPT ad aimed at Pennsylvania needs your Pennsylvania license, and it is still lawyer advertising under the rules above.

Sources: pacodeandbulletin.gov.

More on how the rules work across states: law firm advertising rules and can lawyers advertise on ChatGPT.