Sorry. None handy. I do remember reading an ABA advisory opinion (I think) when I took ethics in law school that said calling yourself “Joe Blow, Doctor of Laws” was deceptive advertising. On the other hand, that was several years ago – before lawyers started running TV ads with jingles – so the rules may have changed.
chula
June 1, 2002, 2:47am
22
I found this this (warning: PDF file):
Another issue that comes up is whether a lawyer’s professional cards may include the term “doctor.” Originally, use of such a title was prohibited because it was considered self-laudatory. See ABA Informal Opinion 1064 (October 8, 1968) (lawyer may not use the title “doctor” on personal stationery because it runs afoul of the prohibition against self-laudation); ABA Informal Opinion 1001 (October 16, 1967) (lawyer may not use title “doctor” professionally or socially because it has a tendency to emphasize the importance of the lawyer’s position). In light of more flexible rules on lawyer advertising, an argument has been made that use of the title “doctor” should be permitted because it indicates training in the law and enhances respect for the legal profession. See Doctor Wolfe, of Livingston, I Presume, 122 N.J.L.J. 3 (Dec. 1, 1988); see also ABA Informal Opinion 1152 (Feb. 25, 1970)(permissible for lawyer with LL.B. and LL.M. degrees to use title “doctor”); ABA Informal Opinion 1151 (Feb. 25, 1970) (lawyer may use title “doctor” and allow others to refer to him as such); Philadelphia Ethics Opinion 81-83 (undated) (lawyer with J.D. may use "doctor"designation); Suffolk County (New York) Ethics Opinion 87-6 (undated) (lawyer with J.D.may use title “doctor” professionally and socially); cf. New Jersey Ethics Opinion 461(9/11/80) (lawyer may use “J.D.” and “doctor” but may not use any degree that does not indicate training in law such as “Ph.D. in Spanish”).
On the other hand, some opinions have held that use of the term “doctor” is potentially misleading. See, e.g., Arizona Ethics Opinion 81-16 (5/26/81) (lawyer with Juris Doctor degree may not use “doctor” designation; use is “misleading, unseemly and undignified”); North Carolina Ethics Opinion 5 (1/16/86) (lawyer with Juris Doctor degree may not state that he has a doctorate or use “doctor”; such terms without explanation could be misleading).
And this
“. . . so long as one ignores the fact that there are two kinds of doctorates–professional and research–and so long as the standards in which the first professional degree must be compared is the Ph.D., no professional degree can be a doctorate. However, this does not correspond with reality, as the M.D. and D.D.S. would be excluded . . . Only when we free our minds from the erroneous notion that all doctorates must be the same can we proceed . . .”
chula has provided the definitive answer. The rules have changed since I learned them. tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis!
Doctor Tullius.
For some reason I originally read this as saying “the Connecticut practice” and I spent the better part of a day thinking I had learned something interesting about Connecticut.