Case Name: STATE of Florida ex rel. THE FLORIDA BAR, Complainant, v. Perry NICHOLS, Respondent
Court: Florida Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1963-02-27
Citations: 151 So. 2d 257
Docket Number: No. 31717
Parties: STATE of Florida ex rel. THE FLORIDA BAR, Complainant, v. Perry NICHOLS, Respondent.
Judges: ROBERTS, C. J., and THOMAS and DREW, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 151
Pages: 257–272

Head Matter:
STATE of Florida ex rel. THE FLORIDA BAR, Complainant, v. Perry NICHOLS, Respondent.
No. 31717.
Supreme Court of Florida.
Feb. 27, 1963.
On Rehearing April 3, 1963.
T. H. Johnson, Rivera, and Maxwell W. Wells, Orlando, for complainant The Florida Bar.
Chester Bedell, Jacksonville, for respondent.
Charles S. Ausley, Tallahassee, amicus curiae.

Opinion:
TERRELL, Justice.
In this proceeding respondent, a member of The Florida Bar, is charged with violating Canon 27 of the Canons of Professional Ethics, 31 F.S.A. He was found guilty by the Grievance Committee who recommended that he suffer a private reprimand. On review by the Board of Governors, they recommended that respondent suffer a public reprimand. That judgment is before us for review.
Canon 27 of the Canons of Professional Ethics has to do with advertising, direct and indirect, by attorneys and is as follows:
"It is unprofessional to solicit professional employment by circulars, adver tisements, through touters or by personal communications or interviews not warranted by personal relations. Indirect advertisements for professional employment such as furnishing or inspiring newspaper comments, or procuring his photograph to he published in connection with causes in which the lawyer has been or is engaged or concerning the manner of their condiict, the magnitude of the interest involved, the importance of the lawyer's position, and all other like self-laudation, offend the traditions and lower the tone of our profession and are reprehensible; but the customary use of simple professional cards is not improper.
"Publication in reputable law lists in a manner consistent with the standards of conduct imposed by these canons of brief biographical and informative data is permissible. Such data must not be misleading and may include only a statement of the lawyer's name and the names of his professional associates; addresses, telephone numbers, cable addresses; branches of the profession practiced; date and place of birth and admission to the bar; schools attended; with dates of graduation, degrees and other educational distinctions; public or quasi-public offices; posts of honor; legal authorships; legal teaching positions ; memberships and offices in bar associations and committees thereof, in legal and scientific societies and legal fraternities; the fact of listings in other reputable law lists; the names and addresses of references; and, with their written consent, the names of clients regularly represented. A certificate of compliance with the Rules and Standards issued by the Special Committee on Law Lists may be treated as evidence that such list is reputable.
"It is not improper for a lawyer who is admitted to practice as a proctor in admiralty to use that designation on his letterhead or shingle or for a lawyer who has .complied with the statutory requirements of admission to practice before the patent office, to so use the designation 'patent attorney' or 'patent lawyer' or 'trademark attorney' or 'trademark lawyer' or any combination of those terms." (Emphasis supplied)
We have not been previously called on to construe Canon 27 and we are cited to no case in which it has been construed by other courts of last resort. The first sentence of paragraph one, Canon 27, condemns direct advertisement for professional employment by the use of circulars, advertisements through touters or by personal communications or interviews not warranted by personal relations. All such advertisement is "unprofessional."
The second sentence of paragraph one, Canon 27, also condemns "indirect advertisements" for professional employment such as furnishing or inspiring newspaper comments or procuring his photograph to be published in connection with causes in which the lawyer has been engaged, or concerning the manner in which he handles cases or their magnitude, all of which is "self-laudation." These "offend the traditions and lower the tone of our profession and are reprehensible."
The second and third paragraphs of Canon 27 advise a lawyer in plain language where and how he may announce to the world that he is a lawyer, what he may put in his announcement and that he is prepared to accept professional calls. In this he is permitted to include brief biographical and informative data, his educational qualifications, schools attended, books or periodicals he has authored, positions of trust he has held and any specialized practice he intends to follow besides other items listed in the canon, but he is not expected to put on a haughty air and "brag" about these things so as to offend the profession.
In this proceeding respondent is charged with "indirect advertisement" as condemned by the second sentence of paragraph one of Canon 27 as quoted and em phasized above. The pertinent part of the complaint so charging him is as follows:
"That respondent did furnish information to reporters of the Miami News for an article which appeared in said newspaper on page 3B, dated December 13, 19S9, as will more fully appear by the newspaper article attached hereto and made a part hereof; that the aforementioned information furnished by respondent, and which appeared in said newspaper article is selflaudation, (sic)"
"Self-laudation" is a very flexible concept; Canon 27 does not define it, so what course of conduct would be said to constitute it under a given state of facts would no doubt vary as the opinions of men vary. As a famous English judge said, it would vary as the length of the chancellor's foot. It must be in words and tone that will "offend the traditions and lower the tone of our profession." When it does this, it is "reprehensible." This seems to be the test by which "self-laudation" is measured. It must be wrapped in a Pharisaical slight or some species of reproach to "offend the traditions and lower the tone of our profession."
In this case it appears that respondent was approached by representatives of the Miami News, a very reputable newspaper published in Miami, Florida, to secure information to prepare a news story about respondent, his law practice and his office building recently constructed. The said office building and appointments are unique and both building and proprietor are admitted to be newsworthy. It is common practice now for lawyers, doctors, farmers, business men and others to build nice homes, office buildings, business and professional buildings, give a grand opening, invite the public and get the whole affair written up in the paper with pictures of every detail of it. When a lawyer does this and permits the affair to be described and published as news in a single issue of the paper, we see no basis to charge him with violating Canon 27. We can see nothing in such venture "to offend the traditions or lower the tone of our profession." There is a distinct difference in a venture like this published once as news for the information of friends and public and an article or card published daily to entice patronage or business.
Now let us look at the article prepared by representatives of the Miami News from the answers to the questions they propounded to respondent in their engagement with him. It is admitted that the article consists solely of deductions of said representatives of the Miami News from the answers of respondent to their questions. Respondent did not compose or criticize the answers.
If read in isolation, some of these answers might be construed as "self-laudation," but not so if read in context. The following are some examples; "But the enormous damages which he has collected for his clients represent only a fraction of the wealth he has redistributed." "He's the biggest showman since Barnum and Bailey," declared one judge. "He doesn't have such great talent as a lawyer, but he's a tremendous organizer." "When he describes an accident, he recreates the event so the jury can live every moment of it. No one can do it better."
These are samples of what others said of respondent that we say might be construed as "self-laudation" if read in isolation. The article from which these examples were taken covered one page of the Miami News (Sunday, December 13, 1959). Its primary purpose was a "news story"; it was sought after and composed by newsmen and was not thought of as being used for any other purpose by the newsmen or respondent.
The article is entitled "He Started With $10 And A Bride." It is divided into seven parts; parts six and seven may be classed as biographical; then there are spots all through it that are biographical. In fact, if one were writing a biography of respondent, every line of the article could be used with good taste. Many Florida lawyers have no doubt read Louis Nizer's "My Life in Court," Irving Stone's "For the Defense," "Final Verdict" by Adela Rogers St. Johns, "Hoke Smith and the Politics of the New South," by Dewey W. Grantham, "Country Lawyer," "City Lawyer," and others of this type. They are biographical, but no one has yet charged that they violate the Canons of Ethics.
Then there is the great body of posthumous law literature like Beveridge's "Life of Marshall," and the scores of books written by and about other lawyers, many of which might be said to translate a thread of self-laudation but no one ever charged that they violated Canon 27. In fact, if a lawyer by labor and experience has developed a rule or principle that aids in the administration of justice, or in some other manner benefits the' public or his profession, Canon 27 was never designed to prevent him from writing a book, a dissertation or making a speech about.it. Giving back to one's profession an idea or something of value is the pride of every lawyer worthy the name. Such a book or dissertation is in a very different class from releases or compositions designed to attract business and are not banned by Canon 27, or any other rule of ethics. Failure to distinguish- that difference may have been responsible for the error in bringing this'proceeding, but this is in no sense a criticism of the bar for bringing it; it was navigating an uncharted sea without compass to guide it and as we shall hereafter point out, where the line should be drawn to protect the canon is often difficult to indicate. We would prefer to commend them for their diligence in adhering to the canons.
The standing committee on professional ethics,- American Bar Association, was recently confronted with a-question somewhat akin to this, the question being as follows: Does a lawyer's release of news items of his activities to a newspaper for publication, unsolicited by the newspaper, constitute unethical conduct?
October 24, 1961, the committee gave the following answer:
"Canon 27 condemns indirect as well as direct forms of advertising, and soliciting.
"In Opinion 244, this Committee said:
" 'The evil at which Canon 27 is aimed primarily is the employment by those engaged in the profession of law of commerical methods of obtaining business.'
"The question propounded assumes that the newspaper does not solicit the proposed news releases, but that the lawyer solicits the newspaper to accept for publication the proposed news material directly portraying the' activities of the lawyer, designed to accomplish the ulterior purpose of extolling his good name and virtues to the general public. Such conduct of necessity would constitute a form of public self-laudation designed indirectly to further the professional interests of the lawyer."
We do not think this answer in any way rules the question with which we are confronted. In this case the newspaper voluntarily solicited the material for the article as a news story only; respondent solicited nothing and the news material he gave did not portray his virtues or good name to the public; the story would not be classed as a commercial method of securing business and for other good reasons stated in this opinion, the most conclusive of which is that respondent was answering the request of his profession to exhibit his method of dispatching legal business.
Other top features of the article have to do with (1) tilts that respondent had with certain insurance companies in his early experience as a-practitioner; (2) the fact that respondent's practice is limited to negligence cases, his large office staff and the fact that three or-four hundred other lawyers take negligence cases to him; the manner in which his office is organized and handles the business brought to it. He has specialists in engineering, traffic, medicine and other fields. These facts give one an idea of the magnitude of the organization and system of control. (3) Comments of judges, lawyers and others about respondent's methods and results accomplished for his clients. (4) Reasons that led respondent to approve the circular design of his five-story office building; distribution of cases among the staff and the manner in which research aids in dispatching them. (S) Promptness with which a team from the firm is organized for work on an important case and how the trophy room and the dummy (Mabel) aid the preparation of cases for trial. The time that respondent spends traveling over the country lecturing to law clinics, bar associations and other law societies about his organization and method of handling cases as pointed out in this paragraph. Since these lectures were requested by the bar, accepted by them without question, at respondent's expense, it would seem that "in good taste" they should not be condemned by Canon 27. In the conduct of cases a lawyer is bound by good faith, the decencies of the profession, courtesy to the court and his brethren, the rules of procedure and the Constitution. It is not shown that these were violated.
In analyzing and discussing the article which is alleged to have violated Canon 27, we may have been verbose, but we deemed it necessary to demonstrate that said article does not offend Canon 27. We know of no more impressive way to do this than to lay the canon beside the article and to show the tenor and purpose of each. We think this discussion shows that the article was a "news story" and was not intended for anything else. If we have shown this, that disposes of the lawsuit. It is not charged that respondent's methods are contrary to prescribed rules of procedure, that they are unorthodox or that they "offend the traditions and lower the tone of our profession."
The record shows conclusively that the gentlemen who interviewed respondent were looking for information for a "news story"; it further shows that respondent understood that he was giving them material for a "news story"; that he well understood the language and purpose of Canon 27, and other canons of behavior, and instructed the representatives of the Miami News to cast their story in such dignified terms as not to violate the canons of behavior. He did not exact the privilege of editing the story before publication which he had a right to do. Respondent did not inspire the story but the newsmen sought respondent to secure information for it. The methods used by respondent are no different from those of any other careful lawyer in handling cases.
In his excellent work "Legal Ethics," Mr. Henry S. Drinker, of the Philadelphia Bar, says that "Just where the line should be drawn beyond which it is incumbent on the lawyer to protect it [the canon] is difficult to say. In its ultimate analysis the question, like many of those involving legal ethics, is one of good faith and good taste." These are determined by the facts of the particular case, judged by those competent to tell when it is in good faith and good taste.
To cite a lawyer to be reprimanded for violating the Canons of Ethics creates a stain on his escutcheon that, like the emblem of ownership impressed on a range cow with a branding iron, never wears away. True, there are extreme cases that merit it, but it should not be imposed except in those cases where showing of violation of the canon is deliberate and conclusive. In Othello, Act iii, scene 1, Shakespeare prompts lago to say, "Who steals my purse steals trash; But he that filches from me my good name, Robs me of that which not enriches him, And makes me poor indeed." A lawyer's integrity and his good name are his most precious assets .and they should not be smutted in a case like this absent a clear showing of lack of good faith and good taste.
From what we have said, we think we have shown (1) that the article which is alleged to have violated Canon 27 was primarily a "news story," was so intended by the Miami News and respondent, that its whole tenor and purpose demonstrate this and being so, it was not subject to condemnation by the terms of Canon 27. (2) The article was biographical in tenor and was designed in the main to demonstrate respondent's methods of building and conducting an extensive law business about which he had lectured many times over the country to law clinics, bar associations and other societies at their invitatipn and at his expense, and (3) in so doing he was returning to his profession something of value that could under no process of reasoning be called commercial advertising as condemned by Canon 27. It would not be good taste or good "gumption" to condemn respondent for what the bar had repeatedly requested of him and for what the canon in terms permits. When we eliminate those parts that are biographical and those parts having to do with lecturing over the country at the invitation of the bar to discuss his methods, we find nothing of substance to support the complaint. Things said about him by other lawyers and judges would not support self-laudation, nor would they "offend the traditions or lower the tone of our profession."
The judgment or recommendation of the Board of Governors is accordingly quashed and the complaint dismissed.
ROBERTS, C. J., and THOMAS and DREW, JJ., concur.
THORNAL, J., concurs specially.
O'CONNELL, J., dissents with opinion.