A lawyer is allowed in the US for false internet advertising

The Superior Court of New Jersey in the United States applied disciplinary sanction to a freelance lawyer trained in the state for a list of violations of the Code of Professional Conduct, including false advertising on the company’s website, with reference to the trick. .

Attorney Alan Walkow advertised online, for example, that his office had the “lowest fees in the state,” according to the court’s Disciplinary Review Commission, which recommended the permit. Obviously, a mistake:

“It is difficult to see how the lawyer can substantiate such a statement because he does not know what the fees are at all law firms in the state,” the disciplinary commission report said. Obviously, this is a “false or false statement.”

The lawyer also posted ads on the firm’s website offering real estate services “from deal to closing” for just US$495 (equivalent to R$2,450).

Another “false or false statement” pointed out by the commission: he refers to the website as “our lawyers” despite being the only lawyer in the firm. More than that, he posted photographs of four unidentified persons and tricked people into believing them to be members of his group.

However, according to the commission, there was no ethical breach in this case because he did not identify the people, nor did he state that they were lawyers. The same goes for the report, “Eight locations in New Jersey are easy to make a free initial appointment.” He could have reserved: “by appointment only,” but that phrase is only required for virtual offices—and, in his case, it clearly isn’t.

However, Walko violated ethics rules by failing to submit his website for state Supreme Court approval, as well as failing to respond to inquiries from the Bar Association and the Commission on Legal Ethics.

Letters sent by investigators either went unanswered or were returned with an unknown address or recipient. A law firm responded that a message was sent to an email purporting to be his, but that it had nothing to do with Valco. The disciplinary notice was published in two newspapers.

Excuse me
In February 2020, the lawyer finally called the lawyer advertising group and told them that he was out of the country, that his office had been closed for a year, and that he was no longer practicing law. He also provided a new email address.

In December of the following year, he called the Legal Ethics Committee and said he had moved and hadn’t received his mail (he could have gone to the post office and asked for the letters to be sent to a new address). He also announced that he no longer practices law since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Your order On December 8, New Jersey’s Superior Court further ordered that the attorney be disbarred for violating the provision prohibiting the attorney, his legal services, or the making of false or misleading communications in any matter that solicits professional involvement by the attorney.

1) the entire record of this matter shall become a permanent part of the defendant’s record as an attorney in this state;

2) The respondent reimburses the Disciplinary Supervisory Board for the administrative costs and actual costs of the disciplinary action in this matter.

This is the second time Valco has been granted audit clearance. The first time, he was disciplined for representing three clients, while his license was suspended for failing to meet continuing legal education requirements. He was licensed in New Jersey in 2012 and in New York in 2001. With information from ABA Journal, Law360 and JD Journal.