Lawyer Biographical Data Form required for all attorneys
Effective September 1, 2007, RPC 14 mandates the following:
"Each lawyer or law firm shall have available in written form to be provided upon request of the State Bar or a client or prospective client a factual statement detailing the background, training and experience of each lawyer or law firm."
The following information must be included:
1. Full name and business address of the lawyer.
2. Date and jurisdiction of initial admission to practice.
3. Date and jurisdiction of each subsequent admission to practice.
4. Name of law school and year of graduation.
5. The areas of specialization in which the lawyer is entitled to hold himself or herself out as a specialist under the provisions of Rule 7.4.
6. Names and dates of any legal articles or treatises published by the lawyer, and the name of the publication in which they were published.
7. A good faith estimate of the number of jury trials tried to a verdict by the lawyer to the present date, identifying the court or courts.
8. A good faith estimate of the number of court (bench) trials tried to a judgment by the lawyer to the present date, identifying the court or courts.
9. A good faith estimate of the number of administrative hearings tried to a conclusion by the lawyer, identifying the administrative agency or agencies.
10. A good faith estimate of the number of appellate cases argued to a court of appeals or a supreme court, in which the lawyer was responsible for writing the brief or orally arguing the case, identifying the court or courts.
11. The professional activities of the lawyer consisting of teaching or lecturing.
12. The names of any volunteer or charitable organizations to which the lawyer belongs, which the lawyer desires to publish.
13. A description of bar activities such as elective or assigned committee positions in a recognized bar organization.
Additional details are set forth at the jump
Written solicitation short form
RPC 1.4(c)(3) provides A lawyer or law firm that advertises or promotes services by written communication not involving solicitation as prohibited by Rule 7.3 shall enclose with each such written communication the information described in items 1-5 above.
Record retention
A copy of all information provided pursuant to this Rule shall be retained by the lawyer or law firm for a period of 3 years after last regular use of the information.
Data Form required for all lawyers, even those who do not advertise.
Do not file with form with the State Bar unless requested to do so.
The Data Form was previously only required of advertising lawyers (former SCR 196.5), but is now required of all lawyers practicing in Nevada. A lawyer must be able to provide the Data Form within a reasonable period of time upon request of the State Bar, a client, or prospective client. RPC 1.4, RPC 1.18.
The Rules of Professional Conduct are rules of reason. RPC 1.0A(a). As such, the rules require that a lawyer make a good faith effort to provide the information required in a Data Form upon request to the extent possible (education, number of trials/arbitrations, etc). Whether a lawyer advertises, the type of law the lawyer practices, and the amount of information an individual lawyer chooses to provide in Data Forms will all likely factor into the reasonableness of the Data Form.
Discipline review will be based on two major points related to the Data Form: (1) a flat-out refusal to provide a Data Form, or, (2) knowingly communicating false or misleading content. For example, a lawyer’s good faith estimate of “60 trials litigated” when the real number is 50 is probably not a concern. If the real number is less than 10, discipline review is more likely.
More information is available from the State Bar.