Final answer:
A lawyer may not solicit professional employment by making in-person or live telephone contact with a potential client without prior invitation. Such practices are generally considered unethical and can potentially violate the professional conduct expected of legal practitioners, aiming to protect both the public and the legal profession.
Step-by-step explanation:
A lawyer generally may not solicit professional employment by engaging in in-person or live telephone contact with a prospective client without the client's prior invitation. This type of direct contact is often considered too intrusive and runs the risk of violating ethical standards that aim to protect the public from undue pressure and the legal profession from unseemly forms of solicitation.
Lawyers are expected to adhere to the professional codes and ethical rules that regulate their conduct. While advertising in reputable legal directories or responding to potential clients' inquiries are acceptable forms of marketing, sending unsolicited communications or directly contacting individuals without prior permission are practices that are generally frowned upon or outright prohibited by ethical rules in many jurisdictions. These prohibitions help maintain the integrity of the legal profession and protect potential clients from overreaching solicitation.
Scenarios such as those depicted in Glasser v. United States highlight the importance of ethical conduct and the protection of a client's right to effective legal representation without conflicts of interest. Furthermore, respecting a client's confidentiality, as in the example of the attorney's email being forwarded without permission, is also a critical component of professional legal conduct.