Internet is a unique and wholly new medium of worldwide human communication.
Unfortunately, the rules regulating lawyer advertising have not kept pace with the Internet or the profession. Some states have fashioned their rules along the lines of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, while others, including New York, have based them on the Model Code of Professional Responsibility. Regardless of their foundation, existing rules were crafted to address more traditional forms of advertising, such as print materials, newspaper advertisements, yellow pages, radio spots and even local television ads. By contrast, lawyer Internet advertising necessarily crosses state, even national, boundaries. Web pages can be viewed from anywhere by anyone, no matter where the actual page is housed.