The ABA Journal E-Report notes that lawyers are turning up in each other's sponsored links, raising tempers everywhere: When lawyer Peter L. Ostermiller searched for his name on Google,
Ostermiller discovered that Benjamin Cowgill, a Lexington, Ky., lawyer who also handles attorney discipline matters, was listed as a "sponsored link." Google offers the service for a fee; the links are listed in the right-hand column of searches. . . .
"The fundamental standard on lawyer advertising is that lawyers shall not engage in advertisements or commercials that are false, misleading or deceptive," Cowgill adds. "There’s nothing false or deceptive about [a sponsored link]. It’s exactly what it purports to be." . . .
Most advertising rules for lawyers focus on misrepresentation and record retention, says Will Hornsby, staff counsel in the ABA’s Division for Legal Services. He mentions Rule 7.1 of the ABA’s Model Rules of Professional Conduct, which makes it inappropriate for an attorney to communicate a material misrepresentation in any way. . . .
"As far as I know, this has never come up in case law," says Barrett, who is based in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. "My sense is, as soon as it starts happening, you will see the bar associations get their guns out and start shooting it down."
I haven't done a search on case law yet but I know there have already been Internet rumblings about businesses stealing each other's names for sponsored links. That last paragraph is absolutely true though: No matter how big Internet businesses and users thought the issue was before, it'll really become litigated once lawyers' interests are implicated.