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Case: 09-30925 Document: 00511366200 Page: 1 Date Filed: 01/31/2011

IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT United States Court of Appeals
Fifth Circuit
F I L E D

January 31, 2011
No. 09-30925
Lyle W. Cayce
Clerk
PUBLIC CITIZEN INC.; WILLIAM N. GEE, III; WILLIAM N. GEE, III,
LTD.; MORRIS BART; MORRIS BART, L.L.C.,

Plaintiffs–Appellants,
v.

LOUISIANA ATTORNEY DISCIPLINARY BOARD; BILLY R. PESNELL, in
his official capacity as Chair of the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board;
CHARLES B. PLATTSMIER, in his official capacity as Chief Disciplinary
Counsel for the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board’s Office of Disciplinary
Counsel,

Defendants–Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Eastern District of Louisiana

Before HIGGINBOTHAM, CLEMENT, and OWEN, Circuit Judges.

EDITH BROWN CLEMENT, Circuit Judge:

Before the court is a First Amendment challenge to rules governing

attorney advertising in Louisiana. Various Louisiana attorneys and law firms,
as well as a national nonprofit organization with Louisiana members, filed suit

against the Louisiana Attorney Discipline Board (LADB), a body tasked with

investigating lawyer misconduct and making discipline recommendations to the

Supreme Court of Louisiana, and two LADB officers. The plaintiffs argued that

certain Louisiana Rules of Professional Conduct unconstitutionally infringe on