Edward F. Maracich, et al., Petitioners v. Michael Eugene Spears et al.

Decided June 17, 2013. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 12-25 · 570 U.S. 48 (2013) · Cited 295 times

Holding

An attorney's solicitation of clients is not a permissible purpose covered by the (b)(4) litigation exception.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 5–4.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Reno v. Condon · 528 U.S. 141 (2000)
• New York State Conference of Blue Cross & Blue Shield Plans v. Travelers Insurance · 514 U.S. 645 (1995)
• Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Assn. · 436 U.S. 447 (1978)
• Crandon v. United States · 494 U.S. 152 (1990)
• Arthur Andersen LLP v. United States · 544 U.S. 696 (2005)
• United States v. Thompson/Center Arms Co. · 504 U.S. 505 (1992)
• Jarecki v. G. D. Searle & Co. · 367 U.S. 303 (1961)
• Younger v. Harris · 401 U.S. 37 (1971)
• Morales v. Trans World Airlines, Inc. · 504 U.S. 374 (1992)
• United States v. Williams · 553 U.S. 285 (2008)
• Leocal v. Ashcroft · 543 U.S. 1 (2004)
• United States National Bank v. Independent Insurance Agents of America, Inc. · 508 U.S. 439 (1993)
• Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the Supreme Court of Ohio · 471 U.S. 626 (1985)
• Spevack v. Klein · 385 U.S. 511 (1967)
• California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement v. Dillingham Construction, N. A. · 519 U.S. 316 (1997)
• Callanan v. United States · 364 U.S. 587 (1961)
• McBoyle v. United States · 283 U.S. 25 (1931)
• District of Columbia v. Greater Washington Board of Trade · 506 U.S. 125 (1992)
• Scheidler v. National Organization for Women, Inc. · 537 U.S. 393 (2003)
• Kasten v. Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Corp. · 563 U.S. 1 (2011)
• Levin v. Commerce Energy, Inc. · 560 U.S. 413 (2010)
• Cohen v. Hurley · 366 U.S. 117 (1961)
• Commissioner v. Clark · 489 U.S. 726 (1989)
• Bates v. State Bar of Arizona · 433 U.S. 350 (1977)
• Radlax Gateway Hotel, LLC v. Amalgamated Bank · 566 U.S. 639 (2012)
• United States v. Heirs of Boisdoré · 49 U.S. 113 (1849)
• Barber v. Thomas · 560 U.S. 474 (2010)
• United States v. Jicarilla Apache Nation · 564 U.S. 162 (2011)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Mellouli v. Lynch · 575 U.S. 798 (2015)
• Chadbourne & Parke LLP v. Troice · 571 U.S. 377 (2014)
• Culbertson v. Berryhill · 586 U.S. 53 (2019)
• Encino Motorcars, LLC v. Navarro · 584 U.S. 79 (2018)
• Mont v. United States · 587 U.S. 514 (2019)
• United States v. Woods · 571 U.S. 31 (2013)
• Fed. Energy Regulatory Comm'n v. Elec. Power Supply Ass'n · 577 U.S. 260 (2016)
• Star Athletica, L. L. C. v. Varsity Brands, Inc. · 580 U.S. 405 (2017)
• BP p.l.c. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore · 593 U.S. 230 (2021)
• Dubin v. United States · 599 U.S. 110 (2023)
• Garland v. Gonzalez · 596 U.S. 543 (2022)
• Pugin v. Garland · 599 U.S. 600 (2023)
• Gallardo v. Marstiller · 596 U.S. 420 (2022)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2013). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).