Lawyers parading like beauty queens competing for awards as if performing on the Ariston stage in Sanremo. This is the curious phenomenon of awards for law firms, a phenomenon that leads those who wear the robe and have embarked on a profession to which the legislator has reserved special protections, enshrining it even in our Constitution, to advertise themselves by displaying plaques and trophies. But is all this compatible with the strict ethical provisions? This question was raised precisely by three lawyers, also considering the proliferation of “awards,” as they are now called.
The lawyers Andrea Lisi, Diego Fulco, and Enrico Pelino, from three different bar associations, on behalf of Anorc (National Association of Operators and Managers of Digital Content Custody), Anorc Professioni, and Anf (National Forensic Association), have presented their doubts on the matter to the National Forensic Council. This happened in January, we are now on the doorstep of summer, but still no response from the Cnf. Meanwhile, however, calls and emails notifying lawyers that they have been selected for this or that award continue to arrive…
THE SOCIAL EXASPERATION OF LAWYERS WHO DO NOT WANT AWARDS
As evidenced by the outbursts that can be found on social media, starting with LinkedIn. “A colleague from our firm,” writes a lawyer, “is contacted by a VERY WELL-KNOWN organization that hands out ‘awards’ (which are then flaunted by recipients as if they were something serious) and is told he has been identified as deserving of such an ‘award.’ The colleague, who is obviously a serious person, asks to know on what basis the selection was made… at the other end of the phone silence mixed with some ‘I don’t know,’ ‘still to be defined.’ Then the colleague asks how the comparison among the various possible candidates for this recognition was made… more prolonged silence mixed with ‘… it’s all to be built.’ In the face of such shame,” continues the post, “there was, however, a clear indication of how much must be paid to participate in the dinner during which these ‘awards’ will be presented: EURO 11,000.00!! Then, however, there was also a cheaper option: Euro 6,000… but to sit at a peripheral table in the room… perhaps eating leftovers from other tables. Now, beyond the ridiculousness that shrouds this affair, I wonder with what face various colleagues then boast of having received such awards.”
SOME ARE MOVING TO SEEK CLARIFICATIONS FROM THE CNF
Start Magazine therefore contacted lawyer Andrea Lisi, one of the promoters of the letter that the three associations sent to the Cnf (available to view by clicking) in the hope of obtaining an opinion on the compatibility of these awards with the ethical code. A matter that currently seems to agitate lawyers more than the responsible bodies.
“To summarize the phenomenon,” explains the lawyer and director of the DigitaLaw department at the International University Center for Research and Innovation Integral Intelligence, “prestigious publishing houses and organizations, which I imagine do only this, inundate us almost daily with unsolicited communications, without it being possible to know from which databases they fish to get our contacts. We receive emails or calls informing us that we have been selected by a jury and are now in the final stages of the competition.”
“However, when contacting the organization,” Lisi continues, “it is usually discovered that to attend the final evening you must pay: the amounts are generally between 5,000 and 10,000 euros: as far as we understand, these should serve the organizers to cover the event and the awardees to have the right to receive the award and to use the award logo on their social media, on the firm’s websites, and, as I have seen some colleagues do, even on letterhead.”
AWARDS THAT RISK BEING TAKEN FOR TITLES
Paying to receive an award is already strange in itself (there are even those who on their law firm’s website call them “fake awards”), but there is another aspect on which lawyers want clarification: “These awards are often associated with specialized fields, such as copyright, new technologies, or business law, and when colleagues proudly display the award, the client may be misled, confusing the recognition from a private company with a professional title identifying lawyers specialized in certain areas,” the lawyer’s argument.
The title, however, reminds lawyer Lisi, “is obtained only from the designated commissions through a standardized process and rigorous selection, in the manner expressed by the National Forensic Council.” On the contrary, Lisi continues, “the selection to win one of these awards is opaque: they don’t show you documents, rankings, they don’t tell you on what criteria the selection was made, you don’t even know who the jurors are because, the organization replies, there is a risk they could be contacted and influenced.”
THE DOUBTS OF IL DUBBIO
The same observations were also raised by the newspaper Il Dubbio, published by Edizioni Diritti e Ragione owned by the National Forensic Council: “Since these awards are given by private companies, there are no standardized rules or procedures: everyone regulates themselves as they see fit, creating new categories of awardees from time to time: best law firm, best emerging professional, best tax lawyer, etc. The ‘rules,’ obviously, do not take into account actual professional output. But it could not be otherwise,” the newspaper recalled, “since legal activity is by nature reserved and covered by confidentiality. In other words, it is not possible to make, for example, a ‘comparison’ between briefs submitted or the quality of oral argument in court. The same applies,” emphasized Il Dubbio, “to those who then make up the juries awarding the prizes, which are very varied, and often include clients of the law firms receiving the award. The classic short circuit where the client, certainly not impartial, rewards their lawyer.”
RISK OF MISLEADING ADVERTISING?
The possible confusion between an award granted in this way and an official title certifying a certain specialization alarms lawyers because, warns lawyer Andrea Lisi, “not only could the client be misled by confusing awards with certificates, but colleagues who act in this way, boasting of alleged titles, could also incur the elements of unfair competition and misleading advertising. For this reason,” he concludes, “we are also considering appealing to the AGCM.”
This specific point was the subject of a 2021 resolution by the Palermo Bar Association in which colleagues are urged “to refrain from directly or indirectly disseminating recognition that is not the result of an evaluation of professional ability carried out by institutionally authorized bodies.” The resolution was also forwarded to the Competition and Market Authority “so that it can assess the situation and take any appropriate measures, including on unfair competition and misleading advertising.” But naturally, it applies only to members of that Bar.
THE ORDERS ARE MOVING, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE CNF?
In recent years, browsing the Web (it is Andrea Lisi himself who provides us with extensive documentation), it is noted that territorial Orders, albeit sporadically, have moved by repeatedly submitting requests for opinions to the Cnf. What seems to be missing, for the moment, are responses (at least publicly). Therefore, emails and phone calls about winning this or that award continue to chase the heads of law firms.
