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Public Citizen sues the Florida Bar

Pardon Florida’s lawyers if they have a hard time following the Florida Bar’s rules on advertising. It seems the Florida Bar can’t even keep its own rules straight. Public Citizen sued Monday in federal court, arguing the rules go too far by preventing lawyers from providing the public with factual, important information about their services.

Take the case of Jacksonville attorney William Harrell who was told in 2002 that the phrase, “Don’t settle for less than you deserve,” was fine for his ads only to be told in September that he was now in violation after having used the phrase for five years.

The Public Citizen suit says the Florida Bar’s advertising rules for lawyers are not only arbitrary and unfair, they’re unconstitutional.

You can find the case documents online at the Public Citizen site.

[Update: Jim Shoettler in the Florida Times-Union has an interview with Harrell in his story “Harrell sues to protect his ads.” ]