Under Rule 7.1, which statement best describes truthful communication about lawyer services?

• A. The lawyer may make false or misleading statements.
• B. The lawyer may misrepresent facts if it benefits the client.
• C. The lawyer shall not make false or misleading communications or omit facts necessary to make statements not misleading.
• D. The lawyer may omit facts if the truth is harmful.

Answer: (C)

Rule 7.1 requires that communications about a lawyer’s services be truthful and not misleading. This means a lawyer may not make statements that are false or likely to mislead a reasonable reader, and the lawyer must not omit facts that are necessary to make the statement not misleading. In other words, both false statements and misleading impressions created by omission are prohibited. Even truthful facts can be misleading if key information is omitted; the overall message must be accurate and not deceptive.

Options that would permit false statements, misrepresentation, or harmful omissions do not align with the rule, while the described principle—no false or misleading communications and no omissions that would render statements misleading—best captures the standard.