Nature of the Case
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Facts
In 1985, P applied to the Kentucky Attorneys Advertising Commission for approval of a letter that he proposed to send 'to potential clients who have had a foreclosure suit filed against them.' It reads: 'It has come to my attention that your home is being foreclosed on. If this is true, you may be about to lose your home. Federal law may allow you to keep your home by ORDERING your creditor [sic] to STOP and give you more time to pay them.
'You may call my office anytime from 8:30 a. m. to 5:00 p. m. for FREE information on how you can keep your home.
'Call NOW, don't wait. It may surprise you what I may be able to do for you. Just call and tell me that you got this letter. Remember it is FREE, there is NO charge for calling.'
The Commission did not find the letter false or misleading. A then-existing Kentucky Supreme Court Rule prohibited the mailing or delivery of written advertisements 'precipitated by a specific event or occurrence involving or relating to the addressee or addressees as distinct from the general public.' The Commission recommended that the Kentucky Supreme Court amend its Rules so as not to violate Zauderer. The Kentucky Supreme Court replaced its rule with the ABA's Rule 7.3, which provides in its entirety: ''A lawyer may not solicit professional employment from a prospective client with whom the lawyer has no family or prior professional relationship, by mail, in person or otherwise, when a significant motive for the lawyer's doing so is the lawyer's pecuniary gain. The term 'solicit' includes contact in person, by telephone or telegraph, by letter or other writing, or by other communication directed to a specific recipient, but does not include letters addressed or advertising circulars distributed generally to persons not known to need legal services of the kind provided by the lawyer in a particular matter, but who are so situated that they might in general find such services useful.'' Rule 7.3 also prohibits targeted, direct-mail solicitation by lawyers for pecuniary gain, without a particularized finding that the solicitation is false or misleading. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.
Holding and Decision
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Legal Analysis
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