Inc. Florida Bar v. Went For It

In 1990 the Florida bar adopted a rule limiting the scope of direct-mail solicitation of business by attorneys. In cases of "personal injury," "wrongful death," "accident," or "disaster," lawyers were prohibited from sending targeted advertisements to victims or their relatives for a 30 day period following the occurrence of such events. The rule was created after the bar conducted a two-year study of the effect of lawyer advertising on public opinion, which concluded in 1989. According to the study, the public found such advertising highly offensive, and the rule was enacted in an attempt to improve the reputation of lawyers among the general public.

Went For It, Inc. was a lawyer referral service owned by G. Stewart McHenry. McHenry filed suit in U.S. District Court, claiming the 30-day prohibition on targeted direct-mail solicitation was an unconstitutional limit on speech. He claimed that he routinely sent such targeted solicitations in order to refer interested parties to lawyers who participated in his referral service and that he wanted to continue to do so.

Both Went for It and the Florida bar moved for summary judgment, and the district court referred the matter to a magistrate judge. The judge recommended the rule be upheld as constitutional, as a narrowly drawn rule that promoted a substantial government interest in protecting the privacy and tranquility of those who might receive and be offended by such advertisements. The district court, however, granted summary judgment to Went For It, in deference to the decision in Bates v. State Bar of Arizona (1977), which had struck down the prohibition of advertising the prices charged for certain legal services. The defendants appealed, and the higher court affirmed the judgment, again relying on Bates and Shapero, although it noted that it was "disturbed that Bates and its progeny require the decision." The Court granted certiorari in order to decide if the 30-day rule was a constitutionally permissible regulation of speech.