Brief Fact Summary. Petitioner wished to have the right to mail solicitations to “potential clients” drawn from a list of people who had recently had a foreclosure suit filed against them. The Kentucky Bar Association denied this request, and he now appeals.
Synopsis of Rule of Law. A blanket prohibition on lawyer advertising is a direct violation of the First Amendment protections afforded to commercial speech.
Commercial speech that is not false or deceptive and does not concern unlawful activities may be restricted only in the service of a substantial governmental interest, and only through means that directly advance that interest.
View Full Point of LawIssue. Is a blanket prohibition on targeted direct-mail solicitation by lawyers for pecuniary gain acceptable under the First Amendment?
Held. No. States should be able to craft far more narrow bans on certain kinds of potentially-misleading lawyer advertising than the rule being challenged here.
“