WHEELING – A federal judge has ruled West Virginia can’t enforce a law passed in 2020 restricting lawyer advertising.
On May 8, District Judge John Preston Bailey issued an order granting the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment in a case filed by two attorneys and one of their clients against the state. It relates to the passage of the Prevention of Deceptive Lawsuit Advertising and Solicitation Practices Act, which took effect June 5, 2020.
“Lawyer advertising is protected speech,” Bailey writes in his order. “The act burdens protected speech. The act implicates the First Amendment.” New
With his order, Bailey permanently enjoins and prohibits the state from enforcing the law.