Home > Great American Court Cases > Bates v. State Bar of Arizona

Legal Citation: 433 U.S. 350 (1977)

Appellants
John R. Bates, Van O'Steen

Appellee
State Bar of Arizona

Appellants' Claim
That state rules prohibiting lawyers from advertising violate the Sherman Antitrust Act by restraining trade, and violate the First Amendment by inhibiting free speech.

Chief Lawyer for Appellants
William C. Canby, Jr.

Chief Lawyer for Appellee
John P. Frank

Justices for the Court
Harry A. Blackmun (writing for the Court), William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Jr., John Paul Stevens, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting
Warren E. Burger, Lewis F. Powell, William H. Rehnquist, Potter Stewart

Place
Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision
27 June 1977

Decision
Although the U.S. Supreme Court disregarded the petitioner's antitrust claim,...