Attorney Advertising on the Internet: From Arizona to Texas--Regulating Speech on the Cyber Frontier

This Article will review the contentious history of attorney advertising-from the 1977 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Bates v. State Bar of Arizona that eliminated the ban on attorney advertising-to the recent adoption of the State Bar of Texas rules regulating attorney advertising and solicitation on the Internet. As indicated in the title, "From Arizona to Texas-Regulating Speech on the Cyber-Frontier," the Article will follow the trail of attorney advertising from traditional communication media to the new interactive technology available on the Internet. Along the way, the Article will (1) define the constitutional framework in which attorney advertising and solicitation can be regulated, (2) present communication models to help define traditional versus multi-dimensional communication, (3) review attorney opportunities for using the Internet, (4) evaluate application of the new Texas attorney advertising rules to cyberspace, (5) discuss the influence of international law on cyberspace, and (6) propose a set of Model Rules for Attorney Advertising and Solicitation on the Internet.