Advertising by Professionals

professionals. The paper begins with a discussion of legal issues as expressed by the courts, including protection provided by the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. A review of court decisions from 1976 through 1990 includes key holdings, a discussion of ethical considerations indicates the essential role of regulatory agencies as well as attitudes regarding advertising by professionals, and a contemporary analysis addresses future trends.

Professionals engage in many activities for the purpose of cultivating clientele. A broad range of activities could be classified as advertising, such as joining country clubs, running for political office, sending holiday greeting cards, throwing office parties, sponsoring the arts, and engaging in community service. For purposes of this paper, the word advertising refers to the use of newspapers, magazines, television, radio, flyers, letters, pamphlets, billboards, and the like, specifically directed to the purpose of gaining or retaining clients. The terminology adopted by the courts to define advertising by professionals is commercial speech.

Prior to 1970 little to no legal challenge had been asserted in terms of advertising by professionals. Ethical standards prohibited such practices and those standards were accepted by the professional community. However, by the late 1970s, attitudinal change occurred as a result of increa

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e to advertising by professionals in part. The court asserted that the government may ban forms of communication more likely to deceive the public than to inform the public.16 The court established a four-part analysis for courts to use to determine whether the First Amendment protects a particular commercial expression. If the court determines the speech commercial then the court analyzes the speech under the following factors: (1) speech must concern nonmisleading unlawful activity; (2) government interest must be substantial; (3) regulation must directly advance the substantial government interest; (4) the regulation should be no more extensive than necessary to advance substantial government interest. This test came to provide guidance to agencies which regulated licensed professionals as well as facilitated court decisions. In Re R.M.J., 455 U.S. 191 (1982). Appellant published advertisements regarding his law practice, which deviated from the precise language used in Missouri Law. Missouri Law permits lawyer advertising but restricts it to certain categories of information and certain specified language. Appellant alleged the restrictions surrounding advertising were unconstitutional under the First and Fourteenth
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Supreme Court, Ethical Consideration, Fourteenth Amendments, Trade Commission, Zauderer Zauderer, Amendments Constitution, Issues Professionals, Model Rule, Pharmacy Board, Disciplinary Counsel, commercial speech, supreme court, advertising professionals, pecuniary gain, fourteenth amendments, 350 1977, puerto rico, deceptive practices, 447 557 1980, 557 1980, 433 350, 433 350 1977, 435 447 1978, arizona 433 350, 436 412 1978,
Approximate Word count = 3884
Approximate Pages = 16 (250 words per page)

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