This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

Ds are charged with false and misleading advertising in violation of DR 2-101(A) and DR 1-102(A)(4). This charge is based on four print and nine video advertisements that appeared in Phoenix-area newspapers and on Phoenix-area television stations during 1982 and 1983. All four print advertisements contained the bold-faced caption 'Law is Civilized Warfare!' above a picture of Zang and Whitmer and to the left of the following language: We're the [or 'a'] personal injury law firm: with the medical experience to understand complicated injuries with investigators to find witnesses and hidden evidence with computers for speed, accuracy, and research Free Consultation No recovery -- no attorneys' fee Each print advertisement also contained a photograph and a statement emphasizing some aspect of Ds' practice. The photographs featured either a judge in a courtroom, a computer circuit board leaning against several books about accident cases and medicine, a large reproduction of a fingerprint, or a woman sitting in a witness box. Beneath one of these photographs, each advertisement featured one of the following statements: If you're in an accident . . . You need a lawyer with facts and know-how, not just words. Detailed Preparation is part of Zang & Whitmer, Chtd. because: the better your case is prepared for trial, the more likely your case will settle out of court without delay or hassles. If you're in an accident . . . You need more than a lawyers' [sic] words! Medicine and Law are combined at Zang & Whitmer, Chtd. because: to prove serious injury and future suffering, your lawyer must have the knowledge to make complicated medical facts clear for the jury. (emphasis added). If you're hurt in an accident . . . You need more than a lawyer's words! Licensed Investigators are part of Zang & Whitmer, Chtd. because: an investigator searches out witnesses, examines evidence at the accident scene, and discovers the facts essential for victory in the courtroom. If you're hurt in an accident . . . You need a lawyer with facts and know-how, not just words. Evidence is part of Zang & Whitmer, Chtd. because: the defense will use words and opinions to minimize their fault and your injuries. Only proof of facts will stop them. Ds' television advertisements emphasized the advantages of investigators and medical knowledge. The advertisements were very dramatic. They featured an authoritative-sounding narrator and either frenetic or peaceful music as a backdrop for pictures of an automobile accident, a worried couple in a hospital waiting room, or a father kissing his daughter goodbye, apparently for the last time. Each of the television advertisements ended with a climactic scene showing Mr. Zang (D) arguing before a jury in a courtroom, with the viewer visually located behind the jury box. P concluded that Ds were portrayed as willing and able to take, and as actually taking, personal injury cases to trial. Ds 'scrupulously avoided' taking cases to trial. Zang (D) had a medical degree and experience as a medical-trial consultant but had never tried a personal injury case. Of the one case they did try, it was dismissed after the first witness. Whitmer (D) had criminal-trial experience but only a few personal-injury trials over 10 years earlier. Ds filed complaints in just five percent of its cases and referred those that progressed to trial to outside trial attorneys. Twenty of 1500 or so cases were referred to outside trial counsel, and only about 9 of those actually proceeded to trial. P affirmed five of six ethical violations found by a special state bar committee (Committee). Ds appealed.

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