New ad revision filing fee takes effect July 1
New ad revision filing fee takes effect July 1
Senior Editor
Lawyers who file revisions or different versions of their ads submitted to the Bar for review will now generally be charged additional fees under a new policy approved by the Board of Governors.
The board at its March meeting approved the recommendation of the Program Evaluation Committee that law firms that file revisions to already approved ads will be charged $150 for a timely filed ad and $250 for a late filed ad — the same fees that apply to filing an original ad.
The only exception will be for alterations made at the recommendation of Bar staff, which are needed to bring previously filed ads into compliance with Bar rules.
According to the new policy, which is effective July 1, a change which will require paying the additional fee, “includes, but is not limited to, any change to wording, illustrations, photographs, typographical marks, layout, or color scheme.”
Information provided to the board showed that, for the past three years, approximately 1,400 lawyers and law firms have annually submitted between 6,000 to 6,500 ads for review. Between 38 and 39 percent of those submissions were revisions for previously filed ads.
It was not immediately clear how many of those revisions were in response to Bar staff findings and how many were lawyers altering previously approved ads. Bar staff reported that it is not uncommon for lawyers to file multiple revisions to previously approved ads, thus requiring additional staff time to review but not generating any additional income to cover that expense.
Positives for the change include ending staff time for determining whether a filing is a new ad, a different version, or a revision of a previously approved ad. The additional fee makes the ad review program closer to being self-sustaining. Negatives include that lawyers will not want to pay the additional fee.
Under Bar rules, all direct mail ads and any other ads that contain more than limited information listed in Rule 4-7.16 must be filed with the Bar 20 days before the first planned use of the ad.
