In my classes on legal research and legal writing at the University of Trier Law School, one of my favorite topics for assigning papers to first-year German law students taking the FFA elective course in Anglo-American law has been attorney advertising and the landmark case in Bates v. State Bar of Arizona, 433 U.S. 350, 97 S.Ct. 2691, 53 L.Ed. 2d 810 (1977).
Not only is the case relevant to student studies and to an understanding of the law, but the logic of its principles is in great measure equally applicable to both the English-speaking legal world as well as to the German law profession.
US Supreme Court Cases Subsequent to Bates
US Supreme Court cases subsequent to Bates relating to legal advertising are found cited here.
Online Publications relating to Attorney Advertising
A 1996 Florida paper by Jordan Rappaport in a Froomkin seminar deals with “Attorney Advertising on the Internet”.
Via the September 25, 2002 New York Lawyer in the article “Attorney Advertising Is Still Controversial” we are directed to the original article by Mark Ballard and The National Law Journal at Law.com entitled “The Little Ad That Changed Everything”, dealing with developments in attorney advertising which have followed the decision in Bates.
LLRX has a January 15, 2003 feature article entitled, “The State of Law Firm Marketing: The Bates Decision and the Internet”, by Debbie Monroe, Vice President and General Manager, FindLaw.
Bar Associations and Attorney Advertising
The Dallas Bar Association has a summary of the law relating to Bates in its Legal Ethics Opinions.
A May 30, 2003 letter by the Public Citizen Litigation Group challenges proposed limiting rules on attorney advertising by the Kentucky Bar Association.