All the law allows

But, it’s hard to stand out when the SBC Yellow Pages has 57 color-coded pages devoted to just attorneys.

That’s why Sanders mails letters and gold plastic discount cards to drivers with traffic tickets. He finds their names in public court records and offers his services as a method of advertising.

“As long as (lawyers) comply with (ethical standards), they can be as creative and advertise any way that they want,” said Sanders, who handles about 300 traffic tickets every month. He practices with his wife, Rita Sanders, as part of The Law Offices of Rita K. Sanders and one of its sub-offices, The Ticket Center.

Sanders said sending out letters to potential clients isn’t that unusual – or even unique – among attorneys.

“If you get arrested, you’re going to get 15 or 20 letters from attorneys,” he said.

Judge J. Miles Sweeney, presiding judge of Greene County Circuit Court, thinks the practice is acceptable, though he doesn’t deal with attorney advertising directly.

“I think it is within ethical boundaries to make direct solicitations under certain circumstances,” Sweeney said. “Although, it didn’t used to be.”

Lawyers couldn’t advertise in any fashion, except business cards, until June 1977 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of two Arizona attorneys who placed an ad in The Arizona Republic newspaper.

The president of the State Bar of Arizona filed a complaint against the advertising lawyers, and the case eventually made it to the Supreme Court. In Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, the Supreme Court decided by a 5-4 vote that it was not unethical for attorneys to market themselves.

Since then, numerous other decisions have reinforced the allowance of every form of attorney advertising except in-person solicitation.

The Supreme Court approved direct-mail solicitation in 1988 in Shapero v. Kentucky Bar Association.

Springfield drivers have given Sanders plenty of work. Drivers are on pace to accrue 29,786 moving violations alone in 2005, an increase from 2004’s total of 28,283.

Sanders said his marketing efforts have paid dividends in gaining a good portion of that business.

However, Sanders said, advertising is just part of his success.

“It’s hard work,” he said. “It’s relationships that are built. It’s understanding the individual case and then doing what lawyers are paid to do – to get the best outcome for their client.”