So much for expecting lawyers to be truthful and regulate their own.

The Oregon State Bar’s General Counsel has decided that its member lawyers are not engaged in unethical conduct when they assert to clients that their selection as “Lawyers of Distinction” by a Florida-based business is reliable evidence of their legal skills and achievements, despite the fact that “Lawyers of Distinction” is nothing more than a pay-for-play outfit with just a virtual office.

Apply, pay the annual membership fee and you’re in. It’s like a diploma mill, an outfit that claims to be a higher education institution, but only provides illegitimate academic degrees and diplomas for a fee.

The OSB’s decision to allow its members to mislead clients is an egregious display of malfeasance. It’s straightforward dishonesty, deceit and misrepresentation, prohibited in the Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct (as amended effective January 1, 2024) for Oregon attorneys.

On Oct. 9, 2023, I filed a complaint with the OSB asserting that a number of Oregon lawyers are misrepresenting their credentials by asserting that their selection as “Lawyers of Distinction” is evidence of their legal skills and achievements. On Feb. 17, 2024, I filed a second, more detailed complaint and followed up with an email asking whether the association intended to respond.

On May 20, 2024, Linn Davis, Assistant General Counsel and CAO Attorney, sent a response saying he found no reason to pursue any charges of professional misconduct by Oregon lawyers.

 “You expressed concerns that Oregon lawyers are improperly using membership in “Lawyers of Distinction” to advertise their services,” he wrote in an email. “Lawyers of Distinction” appears to be a marketing firm that uses some criteria to determine what lawyers are eligible for promotion. Listings on the “Lawyers of Distinction” site include a statement regarding the criteria for promotion and a link to apply for consideration. I lack any sufficient basis for believing the statements there to be false regarding the organization or the significance of membership. I also lack evidence that any particular lawyer in Oregon has utilized this marketing tool in a misleading manner. I conclude that there is no sufficient basis to warrant a referral of your concerns to Disciplinary Counsel. Because I find no sufficient evidence of professional misconduct, I will take no further action on this matter.”

WHAT?

Davis couldn’t find any information that challenges the legitimacy of Lawyers of Distinction? 

And OSB’s General Counsel, agrees with Davis, as Nik Chourey, Deputy General Counsel, said in an email to me: “ In this instance, I do not find sufficient evidence of ethical misconduct to warrant further investigation by disciplinary counsel.  Further, I agree with the reasoning set forth in the Client Assistance Office’s letter dismissing this complaint.” 

Give me a break! Where did these folks go to law school?

The Lawyers of Distinction website says :

“…Members have been selected based upon a review and vetting process by our Selection Committee utilizing U.S. Provisional Patent # 62/743,254. The platform qenerates a numerical score of 1 to 5 for each of the 12 enumerated factors which are meant to recognize the applicant’s achievements and peer recognition. Members are then subject to a final review for ethical violations within the past ten years before confirmation of Membership. Nomination does not guarantee membership and attorneys may not pay a fee to be nominated. Attorneys may nominate their peers whom they feel warrant consideration. The determination of whether an attorney qualifies for Membership is based upon the aforementioned proprietary analysis discussed above.”

Phew! Sounds complex and rigorous. 

Don’t believe it.

It’s a scam.

Want evidence?

Some lawyers at the Davis Law Group in Seattle nominated Lucy, the office’s 5-pound teacup poodle, and paid the membership fee. Lucy didn’t go to law school, but she passed her state ‘bark exam” the law firm said, had been recognized by the legal community as a ‘top dog’ and was a member of the King County Bark Association.

Lucy, recipient of a “Juris Dogtor”, was accepted. Lawyers of Distinction even sent Lucy a plaque naming her one of the top 10 percent of attorneys in the country and congratulated her on Twitter. Suffice it to say, Lucy was thrilled. 

As for OSB’s assertion that it lacked evidence that any particular lawyer in Oregon has utilized this marketing tool in a misleading manner, are they blind? Do they not know how to search websites? 

 All OSB needed to do was check out the Lawyers of Distinction’s website and the websites of Oregon lawyers who are members.

For example:  Casey Baxter, the founder of Baxter Law, LLC in Bend, lists “Lawyers of Distinction Award” under HONORS & AWARDS on his website; Portland DUI lawyer Andy Green features the Lawyers of Distinction logo on his website; Tammi Caress, the Principal Owner of Caress Law, PC in Portland, has the logo on her firm’s website, too. .

The Oregon Rules of Professional Conduct (as amended effective January 1, 2024) for Oregon attorneys is explicit about how attorneys must communicate about themselves:

Rule 7.1 A lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services. A communication is false or misleading if it contains a material representation of fact or law, or omits a fact necessary to make a statement considered as a whole not materially misleading. 

Rule 8.4 It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to…engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s fitness to practice law. 

An Oregon attorney claiming he or she is a exceptional because of membership in “Lawyers of Distinction” is clearly making “a false or misleading communication” and engaging in “professional misconduct” involving “dishonesty” “deceit” and “misrepresentation”.

According to the Florida Division of Corporations, “Lawyers of Distinction Inc.” is a private for-profit company with a principal address of 4700 Millenia Boulevard, Suite 175, Orlando, FL 32839. Securing such an office requires a payment for  a “Platinum Plan” of $69 a month and for a “Platinum Plan with live receptionist” of $194 a month. 

Robert B. Baker, at the same address, is listed as the Owner in the company’s 2023 Annual Report. 

But don’t go visit the office address expecting to be ushered into a space with a clean, modern aesthetic that communicates success. The address is only a virtual office you can buy on a “Platinum Plan” for $69 a month or on a “Platinum Plan with live receptionist” for $194 a month. 

Robert “Robbie” Brian Baker, a member of the Florida Bar (Bar #992460), is also the founder and owner of Baker Legal Team at 2255 Glades Rd., Ste 330-W, Boca Raton, FL 33431. According to the Baker Legal Team website, he has a degree from Boston University School of Law in 1989 and a B.A. from Ithaca College.  He began his career, the website says, as a prosecutor working as an Assistant District Attorney in Kings County, New York. 

As an aside, the firm’s website has the chutzpah to highlight that it’s a member of Lawyers of Distinction. 

If the OSB is honestly committed to accountability, excellence, fairness, and leadership in the legal profession as it claims, it needs to stop trying to dodge its obligations. It needs to insist that its members halt falsely advertising themselves as Lawyers of Distinction or holders of other unearned accolades.