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Court Hears Challenges to Louisiana Lawyer Advertising Rules

By Carolyn Elefant

Yesterday, a federal district court in Louisiana held oral argument on First Amendment challenges to Louisiana's proposed advertising rules filed by a group of attorneys, reports The Associated Press. If the article's summary of oral argument is any indication, the state seems poised to lose this case. Consider this colloquy between U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman and one of the lawyers challenging the rules: Morris Bart's New Orleans-based firm has spent millions of dollars on television ads featuring his trademark "one call, that's all" motto. "'One call, that's all' is arguably prohibited by the rules," Garner [lawyer for Bart] said. "How is that misleading?" Feldman asked. "It's not," Garner replied. Likewise, one of the state's strongest arguments seems to be that the lawsuit is premature, because the rules haven't yet taken effect and thus, the lawyers can't prove harm. Phillip Wittmann, lawyer for the disciplinary board told the court "We don't have a specific, concrete example of what [the petitioners] are complaining about." Public Citizen, one of the groups that succeeded in overturning many of New York's advertising regulations, is also participating in the suit. In a motion for summary judgment, Public Citizen argued that Louisiana's rules mirrored many of...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on July 30, 2009 (boomark / email).