Kudos to the state Legislature for its tort reform work over the last several years. It was meant to make West Virginia courts more in line with others across the nation, and it seems to be working.
The Fourth Circuit has found that a West Virginia state law restricting how attorneys can solicit clients in pharmaceutical and medical device cases does not violate the First.
RICHMOND – The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a federal court decision, ruling West Virginia’s law regulating legal advertisements for medications and medical devices is constitutional.
Round One goes to Segal and his platitudinous playmates, now that a federal judge has issued an order prohibiting enforcement of the law, but the fight’s just beginning.
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.