Opinion ID: 1100734
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: The Inside of the Advertisement

Text: The Court disapproves the referee's order granting summary relief to Gold on the rule 4-7.2(b)(1)(B), 4-7.4(b)(1)(E), and 4-7.2(b)(3) claims and concludes the referee utilized the wrong standard of review with regard to these claims. With regard to the inside of the advertisement at issue here, the referee found that the articles themselves were not misleading, which triggered the referee's use of a heightened constitutional standard of review for restrictions on the dissemination of truthful information. The referee found that the Bar failed to prove that it sought to suppress the dissemination of the independently written newspaper articles in order to advance a substantial government interest in a way no more extensive than necessary. However, it is unclear whether the referee was analyzing the articles as independently written newspaper articles or as the content of a lawyer's advertisement being used years after the articles were published. This Court has previously concluded there is no broad constitutional prohibition against the regulation of lawyer advertising. See, e.g., Fla. Bar v. Pape, 918 So.2d 240 (Fla.2005), cert. denied, ___ U.S. ___, 126 S.Ct. 1632, 164 L.Ed.2d 335 (2006). Further, in 2000, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reaffirmed the well-established principle that a state may ban false, deceptive, or misleading commercial speech without infringing on First Amendment rights. Mason v. Fla. Bar, 208 F.3d 952, 955 (11th Cir.2000). In addition, a state may restrict commercial speech that is not false, deceptive, or misleading if the restriction directly and materially advances a substantial state interest in a manner no more extensive than necessary to serve that interest. Id. In Mason, the Eleventh Circuit further held The Florida Bar has a substantial interest in ensuring that attorney advertisements are not misleading and in ensuring and encouraging the flow of helpful, relevant information about attorneys. Id. at 956. All of the rules involved in this case fall within that category of regulation. Rules 4-7.2(b)(1)(B) and 4-7.2(b)(3) define or describe statements referring to past successes or results obtained, statements likely to create an unjustified expectation about the results the lawyer can achieve, and statements describing or characterizing the quality of the lawyer's services as inherently false, misleading, deceptive, or unfair. Because the referee concluded that the contents of the brochures were constitutionally protected, the referee's order does not address whether the statements contained in Gold's advertisement refer to past successes or results obtained, are likely to create an unjustified expectation about the results the lawyer can achieve, or describe or characterize the quality of Gold's services. We conclude that these are factual issues which must be resolved and which preclude the grant of summary resolution. It is true that this Court has previously held that the initial publication of independently authored news articles does not violate the rules. See State ex rel. Fla. Bar v. Nichols, 151 So.2d 257, 259 (Fla. 1963). We do not disturb that holding here. However, we have never held that republication or circulation of news articles in direct mail solicitations completely insulates a lawyer from prosecution for ethical misconduct under the Bar's advertising rules. In this instance, for example, it is apparent that by taking the articles and including them in a direct mail solicitation for legal representation, Gold adopted the articles' contents and made them into advertising copy. [4] In this way, the articles' contents became subject to the strictures of the Bar's advertising rules. This result is made more compelling in this case by the fact that at least two of the articles at issue were published seventeen years before Gold used them in his advertisement and, yet, were undated, such that the recipients of the advertisements would be unable to properly assess their value when choosing legal representation. These circumstances also raise an issue as to whether the dated information provided in these articles, even if otherwise proper, would be helpful or relevant. For example, it raises the issue as to whether the information contained in them, which may have been true at the time the articles were first published as news stories, is still true after all these years. All of these facts and circumstances should be taken into consideration by the referee in determining whether the contents of the advertisement violated rules 4-7.2(b)(1)(B), 4-7.2(b)(3), and 4-7.4(b)(1)(E). We do not offer an opinion concerning these issues or any remaining factual issues. Rather, we direct the referee to take a fresh look at this case in light of this opinion. If necessary, it is also permissible for the Bar to be allowed to amend its complaint prior to the formal hearing before the referee to more particularly identify the factual circumstances alleged by the Bar to give rise to the alleged rule violations. See Fla. Bar v. Batista, 846 So.2d 479 (Fla.2003) (holding attorneys must be given reasonable notice of the charges they face before the referee's hearing on those charges).