Opinion ID: 1299203
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Respondents' Distribution of Written Materials.

Text: Respondents do not seriously contest the determination that a technical violation of the disciplinary rules prohibiting advertising did occur. Their contention rather is that the disciplinary rules in force at the time of the distribution of the letter and brochure were an unconstitutional restriction on respondents' first amendment right to free speech. A challenge to the constitutionality of state restrictions on lawyer advertising has been addressed by the United States Supreme Court. In Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350, 97 S.Ct. 2691, 53 L.Ed.2d 810 (1977), two attorneys who were operating a legal clinic prepared and had published an advertisement designed to attract clients to the clinic. The advertisement stated that the attorneys would provide legal services at very reasonable rates. The services for which fees were listed were routine and did not contemplate contested or prolonged proceedings. The Arizona State Bar contended that such advertising violated Disciplinary Rule 2-101(B) of the ABA's Code of Professional Responsibility, which had been adopted by the State of Arizona. [4] The attorneys contended that the disciplinary rule was violative of the Sherman Act and the first amendment. [5] In finding that the disciplinary rule as applied was an unconstitutional restriction on first amendment rights, the Court emphasized that the public's interest in the free flow of commercial information is significant. The opinion states in part: The listener's interest is substantial: the consumer's concern for the free flow of commercial speech often may be far keener than his concern for urgent political dialogue. Moreover, significant societal interests are served by such speech. Advertising, though entirely commercial, may often carry information of import to significant issues of the day. And commercial speech serves to inform the public of the availability, nature and prices of products and services and thus performs an indispensable role in the allocation of resources in a free enterprise system. In short, such speech serves individual and societal interests in assuring informed and reliable decisionmaking. 433 U.S. at 364, 97 S.Ct. at 2699 (citations omitted). The Court then determined that any restriction on the public's right to such information was violative of the first amendment absent compelling governmental justifications for such restriction. The Bates Court separately addressed each of the state bar's justifications for prohibiting advertising and determined that there is no connection between advertising and the erosion of professionalism; that lawyer advertising is not inherently misleading; that advertising would not adversely affect the administration of justice; that advertising would not have undesirable economic effects; that advertising would not adversely affect the quality of legal services; and that advertising would not be difficult to supervise. Id. at 368-76, 378-79, 97 S.Ct. at 2701-2705, 2706. In addition, the Supreme Court reaffirmed in Bates its earlier holding in Virginia Board of Pharmacy v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, 425 U.S. 748, 96 S.Ct. 1817, 48 L.Ed.2d 346 (1976), that advertising by professionals could still be subject to time, place, or manner regulation and that false, deceptive, or misleading information was not protected speech. The Bates decision was a narrow one in that the Court only addressed the question of whether price advertising for routine legal services was protected under the first amendment. The written materials distributed by respondents in this case did not deal with price advertising but rather with cases that could be handled on a contingent fee basis. Similarly, the business sought by respondents involved complex and specialized products liability litigation, not routine legal services. The question before this court is whether, in light of these distinctions, first amendment protection should be extended to respondents' distribution of the letter and brochure. Our application to this case of the Bates analysis that considers the state interests being served by the disciplinary rules prohibiting advertising and the combined interests of respondents' right to free speech and the public's right to receive commercial information requires that we conclude respondents' conduct in distributing the written materials was constitutionally protected. The Board has not suggested any justifications for restricting respondents' distribution of the written materials. It must be assumed that the state interests that motivated the adoption of the disciplinary rules involved are similar to those addressed and specifically rejected by the Bates Court. More specific government interests are suggested by the facts, however. It could be argued, for example, that advertising directed towards attracting complex litigation cases such as involved here has a greater potential for abuse by lawyers not qualified to pursue such litigation. A careful consideration of this justification reveals that it is not sufficient to tip the balance of interests in the Board's favor. Even if it can be assumed that there is a greater potential for abuse when complex cases are solicited, there are alternative forms of regulation that can be imposed that would be less restrictive of the attorney's right to advertise and the public's right to receive commercial information. That alternative is to require lawyers who advertise for cases requiring some specialization to be certified in that particular area of specialization. The ABA has already drafted disciplinary rules that contemplate a certification process. [6] Additionally, there is an existing and enforceable disciplinary rule in Minnesota that prohibits counsel from accepting employment when he or she is not qualified or competent to handle the matter. DR 6-101(A)(1) (1980). This suggested justification for restricting the type of advertising engaged in by respondents is therefore not sufficiently compelling in light of the first amendment rights of respondents and the public. [7] A further justification may be asserted by the Board as particularly appropriate. At least one court has determined that the distribution of handbills, circulars or other forms of nontraditional media advertising should be restricted because of the insurmountable problems in enforcement. In re Rule of Court, 564 S.W.2d 638 (Tenn. 1978). Because the brochure and letter distributed by respondents both have characteristics similar to a circular, the argument can be made that the difficulty of enforcement is a compelling justification for the prohibition against the distribution of the brochure. The difficulty of enforcement argument was found to be without merit in Kentucky Bar Association v. Stuart, 568 S.W.2d 933 (Ky.1978). In that case, the bar association sought to discipline attorneys who sent letters to real estate agencies advising that the law firm handled all aspects of real estate transactions and noting fees for particular services. In finding that enforceability was not a compelling state interest, the court determined that the enforcement of ethical standards would not be overly difficult if advertising is in the form of a letter and that the public can be assured of protection by the promulgation of a rule that requires screening of written material by the state authority. Such a procedure has been found to be a constitutional manner restriction in Alabama. See Foley v. Alabama State Bar, 481 F.Supp. 1308 (N.D.Ala.1979). It should also be noted that the Court in Bates expressly addressed the enforcement justification as follows: It is at least somewhat incongruous for the opponents of advertising to extol the virtues and altruism of the legal profession at one point, and, at another, to assert that its members will seize the opportunity to mislead and distort. We suspect that, with advertising, most lawyers will behave as they always have: They will abide by their solemn oaths to uphold the integrity and honor of their profession and of the legal system. For every attorney who overreaches through advertising, there will be thousands of others who will be candid and honest and straightforward. And, of course, it will be in the latter's interest, as in other cases of misconduct at the bar, to assist in weeding out those few who abuse their trust. 433 U.S. at 379, 97 S.Ct. at 2706. This analysis is equally applicable here. The fact that respondents' materials referred to a contingent fee arrangement rather than a stated fee such as that present in Bates cannot be viewed as significant. The availability of a contingent fee arrangement is an important consideration for any potential client who may be considering the initiation of a lawsuit. A contingent fee arrangement may be the only method by which a party would be able to finance litigation. The Board has not suggested and we are not otherwise aware of any state interests that would be served by restricting advertising containing contingent fee information. In the absence of a justification for restricting contingent fee information, we must conclude that publishing such information is constitutionally protected. In contrast to the lack of compelling state justifications for restricting advertising, the facts in this case demonstrate that important individual and public interests are present. The information supplied through respondents' distribution of the letter and brochure made several injured parties aware of their legal position and absent access to the letter and brochure, some of those individuals would not have been made aware of their rights. The manufacturer, against whom the solicited litigation was directed, apparently engaged in particularly egregious conduct which resulted in severe and permanent injuries to a substantial number of people. The absence of compelling state interests to justify a restriction on written advertising and the presence of significant public and individual first amendment interests requires that we conclude that prohibiting such conduct, as set forth in the former DR 2-101 (1977) (amended 1980) was unconstitutional. The Board also asserts that the respondents' distribution of the letter and brochure constituted impermissible solicitation of legal business and therefore was not within the purview of the Bates holding. As the discussion above clearly indicates, Bates requires that the state's interests in restricting lawyer advertising must be compelling in light of the individual and societal interests in the free dissemination of commercial information. The Supreme Court's treatment of solicitation by lawyers is similar. In re Primus, 436 U.S. 412, 98 S.Ct. 1893, 56 L.Ed.2d 417 (1978), is a decision that arose from a disciplinary authority's proceeding against an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer. The attorney involved had sent a letter to a woman with whom the attorney had discussed the possibility of seeking redress for an alleged unconstitutional sterilization. The state contended that the letter constituted impermissible solicitation. The Court determined that the ACLU was an organization committed to furthering civil liberties through litigation and that because such litigation was a form of political expression, the activities of the lawyer on behalf of the ACLU were entitled to the first amendment protection reserved for associational freedoms. The Court reasserted its position taken in NAACP v. Button, 371 U.S. 415, 83 S.Ct. 328, 9 L.Ed.2d 405 (1963), that regulation of protected first amendment expression is inherently suspect and that such regulation must be narrowly drawn to avoid unnecessary restriction of one of our most precious freedoms. 436 U.S. at 432, 98 S.Ct. at 1905. The Court further determined that the state's interest in protection against undue influence, overreaching, misrepresentation, invasion of privacy, conflict of interest, lay interference and other evils was not served by the prohibition of the kind of activity engaged in by the lawyer against whom the disciplinary proceeding was directed. Id. at 432-39, 98 S.Ct. at 1904-1908. Because the state could not demonstrate a compelling justification for the restriction, the Court found the disciplinary rules unconstitutional as applied to the ACLU attorney. The interests that must be considered when a restriction on solicitation is involved are the individual's first amendment right to associate freely and the state's interests in preventing overreaching, invasion of privacy, undue influence and the like. The Primus Court implicitly recognized that solicitation involved greater potential for abuse than did advertising because solicitation, by its nature, could not be as easily ignored as an advertisement, would not compete with legitimate commercial expression in the public marketplace of ideas, and would not be susceptible to effective enforcement of guidelines issued by the state. The state's justifications are therefore far more compelling when solicitation is involved. [8] The Primus Court did not, however, question whether the letter involved in that case constituted solicitation or advertising. There, the letter involved was a single mailing to a particular individual who was known to have been wronged and suggested very specific litigation. Such a mailing possessed many of the attributes of solicitation, but the Court nevertheless determined that the letter was entitled to first amendment protection. The clear reason for this result was that the government could not demonstrate that restricting such mailings by the ACLU served any significant state interests. The character of the mailing, be it solicitation or advertising, should not be treated as significant. Rather, the potential for abuse and the strength of the state's interest in preventing that abuse must be viewed as determinative. In the case of Koffler v. Joint Bar Association, 51 N.Y.2d 140, 412 N.E.2d 927, 432 N.Y.S.2d 872 (1980), the New York Court of Appeals determined that mass mailings to real estate owners and brokers by two attorneys were constitutionally protected. The court reasoned that the distinction between advertising and solicitation was an artificial one that cannot be used to determine the constitutionality of a restriction on commercial expression. The court adopted the approach taken by the United States Supreme Court in Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission, 447 U.S. 557, 100 S.Ct. 2343, 65 L.Ed.2d 341 (1980). This analysis required a four-part inquiry before a restriction could be determined to be an unconstitutional abridgment of first amendment rights: (1) Is it misleading or related to unlawful activity? (2) Are the government interests sought to be protected substantial? (3) How directly does the regulation advance those interests? (4) Is there a less restrictive alternative? 412 N.E.2d at 931, 432 N.Y.S.2d at 876. The Koffler court applied this analysis and determined that nothing in the letters was misleading or related to unlawful activity. The court recognized the importance of the state's interest in protecting against overcommercialization of the profession, preventing invasions of privacy, and controlling the potential for deception. The court concluded, however, that restricting mailings either did not serve those interests or that such interests could be adequately and less restrictively served by existing or easily implemented bar rules. See also Kentucky Bar Association v. Stuart, 568 S.W.2d 933 (Ky.1978); In re Madsen, 68 Ill.2d 472, 12 Ill.Dec. 576, 370 N.E.2d 199 (1977). We find the Koffler court's approach to this issue persuasive. Respondents' materials did not contain any misleading information, nor were they related to any unlawful activity. The state's interests in protecting the public from deceptive or overbearing tactics employed by attorneys are not served by restricting the distribution of written materials. Recipients of respondents' materials could have as easily discarded them if they were not interested as they could have ignored a billboard or newspaper advertisement. In addition, the written documents also provide a record of what was stated as a protection against abusive conduct. [9] The characterization of respondents' letters and brochures as advertisements or solicitation serves no useful purpose. The analysis to be made in either case is essentially the same. The attorney's right to speak and associate freely and the public's right to receive commercial information must be considered as well as the state's interest in regulating the profession in order to protect the public from abuses by lawyers. The balance is a delicate one and the lines are not easily drawn. In this case, the individual and societal interests are substantial and the state's interests, alone or in combination, are not sufficiently compelling to justify a restriction of those first amendment rights. The state's interests are not compelling in this case because an alternative regulation that requires submission and review of written materials is less restrictive of the first amendment rights involved. We hold therefore that the former disciplinary rules [10] are unconstitutional restrictions of respondents' first amendment rights to the extent they prescribe discipline for distribution of the written materials involved.