Lawyers take advantage of marketing

However, attorney advertising was strongly frowned upon until the 1970s.

Lawyers, governed by state bar associations, didn’t advertise in any fashion except business cards until June 1977 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of two Arizona attorneys that placed an ad in The Arizona Republic newspaper.

The lawyers, John R. Bates and Van O'Steen, operated a legal clinic for low-income people in the Phoenix area. They decided to advertise "legal services at very reasonable fees," and list their fees.

The Arizona State Bar’s president viewed the ad as unethical and damaging to the professional image of lawyers in his state. He filed a complaint against the attorneys, 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, which the Supreme Court decided exerts too much pressure on consumers.

Springfield attorney Wesley Sanders uses direct-mail advertising to develop name recognition and get more clients. 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, 215 E. Sunshine.

“As long as (lawyers) comply with (ethical standards), they can be as creative and advertise any way that they want,” said Wesley Sanders, who services around 300 traffic tickets every month.

For more about attorneys’ advertising methods, see the Sept. 5 issue of SBJ.