Peel v. Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of Illinois (1989)
- Docket
- 88-1775
- Decided
- 1989-01-01
Summary
Question: Does listing National Board of Trial Advocacy certifications on an attorney's letterhead have the potential to mislead the public to an extent that warrants a categorical ban of that type of advertising? Conclusion: No. Justice John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion for the 5-4 majority. The Court held that the letterhead was neither actually nor inherently misleading because advertising an NBTA certification did not suggest a greater degree of qualification than could be inferred by evaluating the certification's requirements. Furthermore, the Court held that, whether or not the letterhead was misleading, Illinois' categorical prohibition on providing this type of information was "broader than reasonably necessary to prevent the perceived evil." Additionally, the concern about deception was insufficient to outweigh the "constitutional presumption favoring disclosure over concealment." Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote an opinion concurring in the judgment in which he argued that, because the letterhead may be deceiving, Illinois could enact regulations short of a complete ban to make sure the public is not misled by similar representations. In his dissenting opinion, Justice Byron R. White wrote that the letterhead could be potentially misleading and that the state should have the power to prevent these types of advertisements when they are not accompanied by a disclaimer aimed at avoiding the misconception. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote a separate dissenting opinion in which she argued that the Illinois rule barring this type of misleading speech is valid and that the public's comparative lack of knowledge justifies the state's interest in controlling this type of speech. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and Justice Antonin Scalia joined the dissent.