Cite as: 507 U. S. 761 (1993)
O'Connor, J., dissenting
But even if I agreed that the States may target only professional speech that directly harms the listener, I still would dissent in this case. Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Assn., 436 U. S. 447 (1978), held that an attorney could be sanctioned for the in-person solicitation of two particularly vulnerable potential clients, because of the inherent risk under such circumstances that the attorney's speech would be directly harmful, and because a simple prohibition on fraud or over-reaching would be difficult to enforce in the context of in-person solicitation. See id., at 464-468. The result reached by the majority today cannot be squared with Ohralik.
Although Ohralik preceded Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Comm'n of N. Y., 447 U. S. 557 (1980), this Court has understood Ohralik to mean that a rule prohibiting in-person solicitation by attorneys would satisfy the Central Hudson test. See Shapero, supra, at 472. Such a rule would "directly advanc[e] the governmental interest [and would not be] more extensive than is necessary to serve that interest." Central Hudson, supra, at 566. A substantial fraction of in-person solicitations are inherently conducive to overreaching or otherwise harmful speech, and these potentially harmful solicitations cannot be singled out in advance (or so a reasonable legislator could believe).
I see no constitutional difference between a rule prohibiting in-person solicitation by attorneys, and a rule prohibiting in-person solicitation by certified public accountants (CPA's). The attorney's rhetorical power derives not only from his specific training in the art of persuasion, see ante, at 774-775, but more generally from his professional expertise. His certified status as an expert in a complex subject matter— the law—empowers the attorney to overawe inexpert clients. CPA's have an analogous power. The drafters of Fla. Admin. Code § 21A-24.002(2)(c) (1992) reasonably could
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