Advertising in the Legal Profession (Legal Profession (Publicity) Rules & Bar Council Rulings)

Sec. 77, LPA:

- (1) The Bar Council may, with the AG’s approval, make rules for regulating the
professional practice, etiquette, conduct and discipline of advocates and solicitors
- (3) Any advocate and solicitor who fails to comply with any rules made under this
section may be liable to disciplinary proceedings.
Overriding principles:
- Ruling 5.01(1): It is the duty of every advocate and solicitor to uphold the dignity and
high standing of the legal profession and his own dignity as a member of it.
- Ruling 5.01(2): An advocate and solicitor shall not do or cause or allow to be done,
whether directly or indirectly, anything for the purpose of touting or which is likely to
lead to the reasonable inference that it is done for that purpose.
Prohibition against publicising the practice:

- Rule 4(1): No advocate and solicitor shall publicise his practice or the practice of his
firm, or permit or allow any of his employees or any other person to publicise that
practice, in any manner except in accordance with the Rules.
- Rule 2: “Publicise” means to make known to the public through any form of
advertisement, including an advertisement-
- (a) published in any newspaper, journal, magazine, book, booklet,
directory or other publication;
- (b) contained in any letter, brochure, bulletin, business card, leaflet,
nameplate, newsletter, notice, pamphlet or letterhead or stationery
used for professional purposes; or
- (c) placed in, stored in or transmitted through any electronic media
accessible to the public or to any section of the public.
- Rule 4(2): No advocate and solicitor shall solicit or attempt to solicit professional
business by doing or permitting to be done anything which will have the effect of
publicising his practice or the practice of his firm in a manner inconsistent with or not
permitted by the Rules.
Publicity within Malaysia:
- Rule 5(1): An advocate and solicitor who publicizes his practice or the practice of his
firm within Malaysia –
- (a) shall not do so:
- (i) in a manner that would diminish public confidence in the legal
profession or bring the legal profession into disrepute; or
- (ii) in a manner regarded as being ostentatious, in bad taste,
misleading, deceptive, inaccurate, false, sensational, intrusive,
offensive or in any other way unbefitting the dignity of the legal
profession;
 - (b) shall not in the publicity –
- (i) make any claim that he or any other advocate and solicitor practising
in his firm is a specialist or expert in any area of practice;
- (ii) make any direct or indirect reference to the number or proportion
of cases that have been successfully undertaken by him or his firm, or
to his earnings or the earnings of any other advocate and solicitor
practising in his firm;
- (iv) state anything that would be construed as offering any inducement
to, or imposing any duress, upon any person as a means of obtaining
professional business for himself or his firm;
- (v) make any statement relating to the rates charged by him or his firm,
or to his or his firm's methods of charging;
- (vi) make any laudatory references to himself or his firm, or directly or
indirectly extol the quality of the professional services provided by him
or his firm.

- Rule 5(3): A publicity is misleading, deceptive, inaccurate or false if –

- it contains a material misrepresentation of fact;
- it omits to state a material fact;
- it contains any information which cannot be reasonably verified; or
- it is likely to create an unjustified expectation about the results that can be
achieved by the advocate and solicitor or his firm.
Letterhead and stationery:
- Rule 7: No letterhead or stationery used by an advocate and solicitor or his firm for
professional purposes shall contain any information pertaining to him or his firm,
except approved information.
- Rule 2: “Approved information” means any one or more of the matters listed
under limb (a) – (r).

- Ruling 3.01: The use of colours in the letterhead or stationery of a law firm is permitted
so long as the colours are used in a manner that is not incompatible with the dignity
of the legal profession.

- Ruling 3.02:
- (1) The name of the sole proprietor or every partner in a law firm must be
stated on the firm’s letterhead
- (2)(a) The names of the legal assistants in a firm, if stated, must be
distinguished from those of the sole proprietor or partners of the firm.
- (3)(b) The name of a Syariah Practitioner, who is either a sole proprietor,
partner, consultant or legal assistant of a law firm, may appear on the
letterhead and stationery of the law firm.
- (4) The name of an advocate and solicitor who has left a firm shall not appear
on any letterhead or stationery of the firm.
 - (5) An advocate and solicitor who is temporarily not practising shall not be
described as being “on leave”.
- (6) The name of any person who is not an advocate and solicitor shall not
appear on the letterhead and stationery of a law firm.
- (7) The name of a registered patent, trade mark and/or industrial design agent
who is not an advocate and solicitor shall not appear on the letterhead and
stationery of a law firm.
Nameplate:
- Rule 9(1): An advocate and solicitor shall display a nameplate on the outside of the
premises at which his firm is located.
- Rule 9(2): The nameplate shall contain only approved information and shall not be
larger than 92 cm x 61 cm.

- Ruling 2.01(1): An advocate and solicitor may not use as a firm name or part thereof,
a variant spelling of his own name that does not appear in his identity card.

- Ruling 2.03: The following descriptions or qualifications are not permitted in a firm
name:
- (a) Academic Qualifications
- (b) Awards
- (c) Titles

- Ruling 2.04:
- (1): The nameplate of a law firm may be placed at the main entrance of an
advocate and solicitor’s residential premises only if his law firm is located at
such residence.
- (2): No nameplate of a law firm shall be placed on any road leading to or on
any road in the vicinity of the law firm.
- (3): Arrows or other signs indicating direction to a law firm are not permitted.

- Ruling 2.05: Nameplates and signboards which are lighted in a manner not
incompatible with the dignity of the legal profession are permitted.
Business card:
- Rule 11(1): An advocate and solicitor may distribute his business cards, or permit or
allow any of his employees to distribute the business cards, but such distribution must
be done –
- (a) discreetly; and
- (b) only on occasions at which it is proper for the advocate and solicitor to
establish his professional identity.
- Rule 11(2): An advocate and solicitor shall not permit any other person, not being his
employee, to distribute any of his business cards on his behalf.
- Rule 11(3): The business cards shall contain only approved information.
 - Ruling 4.01: The following descriptions are not permitted on a law firm’s name card:
- (a) “Articled clerk”
- (b) “Counsel”, “Senior Counsel” or “Special Counsel”
- (c) “High Court Lawyer”
- (d) “Senior Advocate and Solicitor”

- Ruling 4.02:
- (1) Advocates and Solicitors are permitted to carry name cards.
- (2) No employee, agent or pupil of a firm who is not an advocate and solicitor
shall be permitted to use a name card printed with the name of the firm
concerned or the words “Advocates and Solicitors” or “Lawyer”.

- Ruling 4.04: Current office bearers and members of the Bar Council and State Bar
Committees may carry a separate name card stating the office held, the term for which
it is held and their contact numbers without displaying their firm name.
Interviews with the press, radio and television:
- Rule 15(1): An advocate and solicitor may, at the request of the press, radio, television
or other media, consent to be interviewed, but –
- (a) the interview shall not be in relation to any matter or be given with such
frequency; or
- (b) at the interview nothing must be said or done by him,
as will reasonably give rise to an inference that he is attempting to publicise his
practice or the practice of his firm in a manner inconsistent with the Rules.

- Rule 15(2): Where an advocate and solicitor is interviewed by the press, radio,
television or other media, he shall not allow any information pertaining to himself or
his firm, except approved information, to be publicised.
Greeting cards:
- Rule 17(1): An advocate and solicitor may on any special occasion send greeting cards
to –
- (a) any person who is his or his firm’s client; or
- (b) any person with whom he has professional dealings.
- Rule 17(2): The greeting card may contain approved information.
- Rule 17(3): No advocate and solicitor shall send greetings to anyone for any occasion
by publishing the greetings in any form in any newspaper, journal or other publication.
Publicity through electronic media:
- Rule 21(1): Any publicity placed in, stored in or transmitted through the electronic
media must be done in such manner as determined by the Bar Council.
- Rule 21(2): The publicity shall not contain any information pertaining to the advocate
and solicitor or his firm, except approved information.
Free legal advice:
- Rule 22(1): An advocate and solicitor may give free legal advice to a person at a legal
aid clinic, whether set up by the Bar Council or otherwise, with a view to providing
legal assistance to members of the public, but the advocate and solicitor shall not –
- (a) disclose the name of his firm;
- (b) distribute any of his business cards or any brochure, leaflet, pamphlet,
journal, magazine or newsletter relating to his practice or the practice of his
firm; or
- (c) act for a person to whom he has given such free legal advice.

- Rule 22(2): An advocate and solicitor may give free legal advice to the public or any
section of the public by contributing an article or letter for publication in any
newspaper, journal or other publication, but he shall not permit any information
pertaining to himself or his firm, except his name and the fact that he is an advocate
and solicitor, to be stated in the article or letter, or to be published in the newspaper,
journal or other publication in which the article or letter is published.
Publicity outside Malaysia:
- Rule 23(1): An advocate and solicitor may publicise his practice or the practice of his
firm in any country outside Malaysia but the publicity shall not –
- (a) be conducted in a manner that is contrary to the laws of that country;
- (b) be conducted in a manner that would diminish the confidence of the public
in that country as regards the legal profession of Malaysia, or to otherwise
bring the legal profession of Malaysia into disrepute;
- (c) be published in any newspaper, journal or other publication in circulation
in that country, which is also widely circulated in Malaysia; or
- (d) be published in any edition of any newspaper, journal or other publication
originating from that country, which is published specifically for circulation to
the public in Malaysia.