There's no better marketing tactic for litigators than a big courtroom victory. But as a recent opinion by the American Bar Association's standing committee on ethics and professional responsibility makes clear, there are limits to using a win for one client in order to attract others.

Rita Glavin of Seward & Kissel knows that success can beget success. Glavin represented former Dewey & LeBoeuf executive director Stephen DiCarmine, winning his acquittal last year on charges that included securities fraud and conspiracy.

“When you win big, you have to be out there,” said Glavin, whose successful defense of DiCarmine prompted dozens of stories in the legal and the mainstream press. “Your name becomes much more well-known,” she said. “When clients are considering you, they know what your work has been.”

With existing clients, Glavin added, winning an acquittal like that “reinforces your credibility and skills.”

Lawyers should seize such victories as marketing opportunities, said Gina Rubel, CEO of Furia Rubel Communications. But they should follow some basic ground rules that have gotten more specific with the recent ABA opinion.

“If a lawyer comes to me and says we won this big case, and how should we capitalize on it, the very first thing if they are going to do any publicity they need is to have written consent from the client,” Rubel said.

The ABA ethics committee's March 6 opinion states that a client must give express or implied consent to disclose any information at all about a client matter or representation, even if the information is already part of the public record.

The opinion outlines how a lawyer's “public commentary” implicates three ethics rules: Rules 1.6 (confidentiality), 3.5 (impartiality/decorum of tribunal), and 3.6 (trial publicity). The ethics committee took a broad view on what should be considered public commentary, and included online publications, web postings, tweets, webinars, podcasts, and in printed magazines, white papers and law review articles.

Once lawyers have their clients' consent, however, they should talk or write publicly about the assignment—especially if it led to dropped charges or to an exoneration. By doing so, they are acting in the client's best interests, as well as marketing their own talents, Rubel said.

“Get the positive news out there as much as possible. They are helping clean up a digital footprint for their client,” she said.

White-collar criminal defense victories have particular potential for client development.

“Winning this case has definitely gotten me calls I wouldn't have gotten before,” said David Siegal, a New York partner at Haynes and Boone who successfully beat back civil and criminal fraud claims against Wall Street financier Benjamin Wey last year, and then won a related victory for Wey's sister this month.

“We beat not just the SEC but the Southern District prosecutors,” Siegal said.

Soon after the Justice Department dropped its case against Wey last August, Siegal's phone began ringing with prospective clients, he said. “I probably received six or seven calls, and I have added at least one significant client in the financial services business that probably is a seven-figure representation,” Siegal said.

Siegal said he's also been invited to speak frequently at events, including nationally. “It's not as if business has exploded, but there are intangible ways in which this win helps. People's confidence in referring matters has grown,” he said.