Alaska Employment Law

The Board of Governors of the Alaska Bar Association, on May 5, 2009, adopted two opinions of its Ethics Committee.

In Ethics Opinion No. 2009-1, 2009 WL 1570207, the Board held that it is always misleading to describe a fee or retainer in any way as “non-refundable,” because RPC 1.5(a) requires that any fee be reasonable.  The Board didn’t prohibit a fee reflecting the attorney’s decision to remove him or herself from the market, but cautioned that

any “retainer” fee solely for purposes of ensuring availability must be clearly and fully explained to the client both orally and in the written fee agreement.  Even then, the fee must not be excessive under the standards of Professional Conduct Rule 1.5(a).

In Ethics Opinion No. 2009-2, 2009 WL 1570208, the Board addressed attorney advertisements of rankings given by Martindale-Hubbell, Chambers, SuperLawyers, Best Lawyers, etc., and held:

Lawyers and law firms may refer to a listing in SUPER LAWYERS, BEST LAWYERS, or another commerical professsional ranking so long as the reference includes the publication name, date, and the practice area, if one was specified, in which the lawyer was ranked or selected.

The attorney may not pay for the ranking, and the advertising must (with narrow exceptions) not state that the attorney is a specialist or certified.