Advertising Law Blog

As many readers of this blog know, “keyword advertising” is an online marketing tool whereby advertisers purchase a keyword or phrase from internet search engine providers, especially Google. When a consumer searches for a term that has been purchased, the search returns sponsored links, typically marked as “Ad,” “Sponsored” or “Promoted,” as the top results, above even those results generated by the search engine’s algorithm.

On May 22, 2025, the Supreme Court of New Jersey issued an opinion considering the question of whether it is permissible under the Rules of Professional Conduct (“RPC”) for an attorney or law firm to purchase a more respected or better-known attorney’s or law firm’s name as a keyword. For example, could an attorney wishing to break into the field of advertising law purchase the term “Olshan” even though that attorney has no affiliation with Olshan?

In 2019, New Jersey’s Advisory Committee on Professional Ethics concluded that such conduct does not violate the local RPCs. Six years later, New Jersey’s Supreme Court agreed, holding that the practice of purchasing a competing attorney or law firm’s name as a keyword does not, in itself, constitute a violation of New Jersey’s RPCs.

There are two significant caveats, however. First, the ruling requires that attorneys engaging in such keyword advertising must include a disclaimer on the landing page of their website that is sufficiently clear and conspicuous such that it is likely to be seen by consumers who clicked on the advertisement.

Second, the ruling lets stand a 2019 ruling that an attorney cannot embed a hyperlink in the competitor attorney’s name such that a click on the competitor’s name redirects the user to the purchasing attorney’s website.

Finally, the New Jersey ruling is not universal to other states. While the Supreme Court noted that three states (Texas, South Carolina, and Florida) generally allow an attorney to purchase another attorney’s or law firm’s name as a key word, it also noted that North Carolina and Maryland have taken a dimmer view of the practice, finding that such keyword use is deceptive and violates local rules of attorney ethics.

Takeaway: If you are an attorney considering using another law firm’s name in keyword advertising, you should consult your state’s Rules of Professional Conduct to see if this practice is permitted in your jurisdiction.