Undesirable Practice: A Cultural History of Lawyers and Advertising
Taylor, Ronald Earl
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/77268
Description
Title
Undesirable Practice: A Cultural History of Lawyers and Advertising
Author(s)
Taylor, Ronald Earl
Issue Date
1983
Department of Study
Speech Communication
Discipline
Speech Communication
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Mass Communications
Language
eng
Abstract
A study of bar associations' policies regarding advertising from 1887 to 1982 lends historical perspective to current discussions about lawyer advertising. Data examined include reports of the American Bar Association and of state bar associations, ethics committees' opinions, law journal articles, speeches and essays by lawyers, recent survey research findings, and relevant court cases during the period.
This study shows that, contrary to much contemporary interpretation, the issue of lawyer advertising is rooted in changes occurring in the practice of law in the late 1800s and in conflict between segments of the legal profession. Advertising restrictions were not approved by a majority of lawyers at the time of their adoption, and it is only because of the roles played by bar associations, courts, and law schools that advertising restrictions became a part of the culture of the legal profession. The study suggests that the reasons for the advertising restrictions, which became more severe as the century unfolded, were primarily economic and social, not ethical, and that the advertising restrictions were an inappropriate solution to the problem some citizens faced in gaining access to a system of justice. The symbolic value of the advertising restrictions, which served to legitimate the legal profession's claim to be a profession, were more important than the profession's concern for the public's receiving information about legal services or for developing new systems to deliver legal services.
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