sumers in any of these States are misled if they do not inform themselves of the precise standards under which claims of certification are allowed.

Nor can we agree with the Illinois Supreme Court's somewhat contradictory fears that juxtaposition of the references to being "certified" as a "specialist" with the identification of the three States in which petitioner is "licensed" conveys, on the one hand, the impression that NBTA had the authority to grant those licenses and, on the other, that the NBTA certification was the product of official state action. The separate character of the two references is plain from their texts: one statement begins with the verb "[c]ertified" and identifies the source as the "National Board of Trial Advocacy," while the second statement begins with the verb "[l]icensed" and identifies States as the source of licensure. The refer

ences are further distinguished by the fact that one is indented below petitioner's name while the other uses the same margin as his name. See supra, at 96. There has been no finding that any person has associated certification with governmental action-state or federal-and there is no basis for belief that petitioner's representation generally would be so construed.

We are satisfied that the consuming public understands that licenses -to drive cars, to operate radio stations, to sell liquor-are issued by governmental authorities and that a host of certificates -to commend job performance, to convey an educational degree, to commemorate a solo flight or a hole in one-are issued by private organizations. The dictionary definition of "certificate," from which the Illinois and evaluations. American Board of Medical Specialties, Board Evaluation Procedures: Developing a Research Agenda, Conference Proceedings 7-11 (1981). The average member of the public does not know or necessarily understand these requirements, but board certification nevertheless has "come to be regarded as evidence of the skill and proficiency of those to whom they [have] been issued." American Board of Medical Specialties, Evaluating the Skills of Medical Specialists 1 (J. Lloyd and D. Langsley eds. 1983).

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Supreme Court quoted only excerpts, comports with this common understanding:

"[A] document issued by a school, a state agency, or a professional organization certifying that one has satisfactorily completed a course of studies, has passed a qualifying examination, or has attained professional standing in a given field and may officially practice or hold a position in that field." Webster's Third New International Dictionary 367 (1986 ed.) (emphasis added to portions omitted from 126 Ill. 2d, at 405, 534 N. E. 2d, at 984).

The court relied on a similarly cramped definition of “specialist," turning from Webster's-which contains no suggestion of state approval of "specialists"-to the American Bar Association's Comment to Model Rule 7.4, which prohibits a lawyer from stating or implying that he is a "specialist" except for designations of patent, admiralty, or statedesignated specialties. The Comment to the Rule concludes that the terms "specialist" and "specialty" "have acquired a secondary meaning implying formal recognition as a specialist and, therefore, use of these terms is misleading" in States that have no formal certification procedures. ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 7.4 and Comment (1989). We appreciate the difficulties that evolving standards for attorney certification present to national organizations like the ABA.12 However, it seems unlikely that petitioner's state

12 Prior to its revision in 1989, the Comment to ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 7.4 also prohibited any statement that a lawyer's practice "is limited to," or "concentrated in," an area under the same explanation that these terms had "a secondary meaning implying formal recognition as a specialist." Model Rule 7.4 Comment (1983). When Rule 7.4 was originally proposed in 1983, proponents of unsuccessful amendments to drop all prohibition of terms argued that "the public does not attach the narrow meaning to the word 'specialist' that the legal profession generally does. The public would perceive no distinction between a lawyer's claim that he practices only probate law and a claim that he concentrates his practice in probate law." ABA, The Legislative History of the

ment about his certification as a "specialist" by an identified national organization necessarily would be confused with formal state recognition. The Federal Trade Commission, which has a long history of reviewing claims of deceptive advertising, fortifies this conclusion with its observation that "one can readily think of numerous other claims of specialty — from ‘air conditioning specialist' in the realm of home repairs to 'foreign car specialist' in the realm of automotive repairs-that cast doubt on the notion that the public would automatically mistake a claim of specialization for a claim of formal recognition by the State." Brief for Federal Trade Commission as Amicus Curiae 24.

We reject the paternalistic assumption that the recipients of petitioner's letterhead are no more discriminating than the audience for children's television. Cf. Bolger v. Youngs Drug Products Corp., 463 U. S. 60, 74 (1983). 13 The two

Model Rules of Professional Conduct 189 (1987). The amendments' opponents argued that allowing lawyers to designate themselves as specialists would undermine the States' ability to set up and control specialization programs. Ibid. This position essentially conceded that these terms did not yet have "a secondary meaning implying formal recognition," but only that they could develop such a secondary meaning if state programs came into being.

Rule 7.4's exception for designations of "Patent Attorney" and "Proctor in Admiralty" ignores the asserted interest in avoiding confusion from any secondary meaning of these terms. The Comment to Rule 7.4 actually imbues these terms with a historical, virtually formal, recognition, despite the lack of any prerequisites for their use: "Recognition of specialization in patent matters is a matter of long-established policy of the Patent and Trademark Office. Designation of admiralty practice has a long historical tradition associated with maritime commerce and the federal courts." ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 7.4 Comment (1989).

13 JUSTICE O'CONNOR's legal conclusion about the deceptive potential of petitioner's letterhead, like that of the Illinois Supreme Court, rests on a flexible appraisal of the character of the consuming public. For example, her opinion emphasizes the "public's comparative lack of knowledge" about the legal profession and its lack of "sophistication concerning legal services," post, at 120, 124, but simultaneously reasons that the public will believe that all certifications are state sanctioned because of their "common

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state courts that have evaluated lawyers' advertisements of their certifications as civil trial specialists by NBTA have concluded that the statements were not misleading or deceptive on their face, and that, under our recent decisions, they were protected by the First Amendment. Ex parte Howell, 487 So. 2d 848 (Ala. 1986); In re Johnson, 341 N. W. 2d 282 (Minn. 1983). Given the complete absence of any evidence of deception in the present case, we must reject the contention that petitioner's letterhead is actually misleading.

IV

Even if petitioner's letterhead is not actually misleading, the Commission defends Illinois' categorical prohibition against lawyers' claims of being "certified" or a "specialist" on the assertion that these statements are potentially misleading. In the Commission's view, the State's interest in avoiding any possibility of misleading some consumers with such communications is so substantial that it outweighs the cost of providing other consumers with relevant information about lawyers who are certified as specialists. See Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Comm'n of New York, 447 U. S. 557, 566 (1980).

We may assume that statements of "certification" as a "specialist," even though truthful, may not be understood fully by some readers. However, such statements pose no greater potential of misleading consumers than advertising

knowledge that States police the ethical standards of the profession" and their specific knowledge that States like California are now certifying legal specialists, post, at 124. These consumers also can distinguish "Registered Patent Attorney" from "Certified Patent Attorney," interpreting the former as an acceptable "reporting of professional experience," but the latter as a deceptive "claim of quality." Post, at 126.

We prefer to assume that the average consumer, with or without knowledge of the legal profession, can understand a statement that certification by a national organization is not certification by the State, and can decide what, if any, value to accord this information.

91

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admission to "Practice before: The United States Supreme Court," In re R. M. J., 455 U. S. 191 (1982),1 of exploiting the audience of a targeted letter, Shapero v. Kentucky Bar Assn., 486 U. S. 466 (1988), or of confusing a reader with an accurate illustration, Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel of Supreme Court of Ohio, 471 U. S. 626 (1985). this case, as in those, we conclude that the particular state rule restricting lawyers' advertising is "broader than reasonably necessary to prevent the' perceived evil." Shapero, 486 U.S., at 472, (quoting In re R. M. J., 455 U. S., at 203). Cf. Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Assn., 436 U. S. 447 (1978) (restricting in-person solicitation). 15 The need for a complete prophylactic against any claim of specialty is undermined by the fact that use of titles such as "Registered Patent Attorney" and "Proctor in Admiralty," which are permitted under Rule 2-105(a)'s exceptions, produces the same risk of deception.

14 The attempt in JUSTICE O'CONNOR's dissent to distinguish In re R. M. J. by reasoning that a consumer can contact the Supreme Court to see if a lawyer is really a member of the Court's Bar, post, at 122, misses the point. Both admission to the Bar of this Court and certification by NBTA are facts, whether or not consumers verify them. The legal question is whether a statement of either fact is nonetheless so misleading that it falls beyond the First Amendment's protections. We found that the advertisement of admission to the Bar of this Court could not be banned, despite recognition that "this relatively uninformative fact is at least bad taste" and "could be misleading to the general public unfamiliar with the requirements of admission to the Bar of this Court." In re R. M. J., 455 U. S., at 205–206.

15 It is noteworthy that JUSTICE WHITE's reference to the overbreadth doctrine, see post, at 118-119, is potentially misleading. That doctrine allows a party whose own conduct is not protected by the First Amendment to challenge a regulation as overbroad because of its impact on parties not before the Court. In this case we hold that Illinois Disciplinary Rule 2-105 is invalid as applied to petitioner Peel. Accordingly, the overbreadth doctrine to which JUSTICE WHITE refers has no relevance to our analysis.