Florida court sends mixed message on solicitation ban.In an opinion that could be of national significance, the Florida Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed in part a lower court ruling that Florida statutes The Florida Statutes are the codified, statutory laws of the state of Florida. The laws are approved by the Florida Legislature, and signed into law by the Governor of Florida. prohibiting accountants from soliciting clients were unconstitutional (see Legal Scene, JofA, Mar.90, page 15, on the lower court's ruling). The statutes in question barred accountants from engaging in uninvited un·in·vit·ed adj. Not welcome or wanted: uninvited guests. uninvited Adjective not having been asked: uninvited guests , in-person, direct solicitation solicitation In criminal law, the act of asking, inducing, or directing someone to commit a crime. The person soliciting another becomes an accomplice to the crime. The term also refers to the act of obtaining bribes, as well as to the crime of a prostitute who offers sexual of clients and prohibited competitive bidding Competitive bidding A securities offering process in which securities firms submit competing bids to the issuer for the securities the issuer wishes to sell. competitive bidding 1. by CPAs. Accountant Richard Rampell was charged with violating both provisions after he visited two businesses to offer his accounting services. The solicitation took place after Rampell learned that the businesses' former CPA (Computer Press Association, Landing, NJ) An earlier membership organization founded in 1983 that promoted excellence in computer journalism. Its annual awards honored outstanding examples in print, broadcast and electronic media. The CPA disbanded in 2000. had retired. After the visits, a competing accountant filed a complaint with the Florida Board of Accountancy. The trial court ruled both the solicitation ban and the competitive-bidding ban were unconstitutional violations of First Amendment guarantees of free speech. In reviewing the case, the appellate court A court having jurisdiction to review decisions of a trial-level or other lower court. An unsuccessful party in a lawsuit must file an appeal with an appellate court in order to have the decision reviewed. first addressed the issue of in-person solicitation and reversed the lower court's finding of unconstitutionality. The appellate court held in-person communication is "inherently misleading" since a potential client can be pressured to make a hasty hast·y adj. hast·i·er, hast·i·est 1. Characterized by speed; rapid. See Synonyms at fast1. 2. Done or made too quickly to be accurate or wise; rash: a hasty decision. and uninformed decision. Moreover, due to the intricacies of taxes and financial statements, an unsophisticated lay person may be confused by the accountant during the solicitation. In general, the court concluded in-person solicitation is the form of communication least likely to result in the free flow of information protected by earlier U.S. Supreme Court rulings. However, the appellate court upheld the trial court's ruling that competitive bidding is protected commercial speech, finding the free flow of information on which consumers make choices on how to allocate their economic resources is the foundation of the commercial-speech doctrine. Such information, the court ruled, is misleading only if the CPA does not do what is contractually agreed on for the price quoted. Therefore, the Florida statute restricting competitive bids for accounting services was unconstitutional. |
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