It's unethical

[PhoenixAcres]

In "A Day in the Life of Oliver Wendell Holmes", the entire second half of the episode hinges on the fact that lawyers are prohibited to advertise their practice, with Oliver stating, "it's unethical". What's ironic is when this episode airs on Antenna TV or MeTV about 80% of the commercials are some form of advertisement for legal services

I wonder why that law was eventually changed.

[PhoenixAcres]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

This was usually legal bar ethics rather than actual law. The bar associations took the position that , as professionals, lawyers shouldn't be driven by profit as other businesses are. So, they restricted them from competing through advertising or even publishing rates. They would often have regional rate sheets, and would discipline lawyers who deviated much from the set prices.

These sorts of restrictions existed in all of the professions, and as you might expect they ended up hurting consumers. Inexperienced people wouldn't be able to find a lawyer suitable for them, they'd just be stuck with a lawyer a friend recommended. Lawyers would take anything that came in the door, so didn't specialize and learn how to do things efficiently. There was no pressure to save money by using paralegals for standardized functions.

I'm not sure when exactly the changes started, but court challenges were in full swing by the 1970s, under consumer protection, restraint of trade, and especially free speech laws. The restrictions were mostly swept away in all professions by the end of the decade.

That's interesting. I figured it would be kind of rough on the lawyers if they couldn't put their name out there but I never thought the consumers would be affected as well. I guess it's for the best that things have changed in that regard.