Federal Trade Commission v. Superior Court Trial Lawyers Association et al.

Decided January 22, 1990. John Paul Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 88-1198 · 493 U.S. 411 (1990) · Cited 244 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 6–3.

“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.

• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Claiborne Hardware Co. · 458 U.S. 886 (1982)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• National Society of Professional Engineers v. United States · 435 U.S. 679 (1978)
• Arizona v. Maricopa County Medical Society · 457 U.S. 332 (1982)
• Eastern Railroad Presidents Conference v. Noerr Motor Freight, Inc. · 365 U.S. 127 (1961)
• Mallard v. United States Dist. Court for Southern Dist. of Iowa · 490 U.S. 296 (1989)
• Jefferson Parish Hospital District No. 2 v. Hyde · 466 U.S. 2 (1984)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Indiana Federation of Dentists · 476 U.S. 447 (1986)
• Allied Tube & Conduit Corp. v. Indian Head, Inc. · 486 U.S. 492 (1988)
• Ward v. Rock Against Racism · 491 U.S. 781 (1989)
• United States v. Socony-Vacuum Oil Co. · 310 U.S. 150 (1940)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Northern Pacific Railway Co. v. United States · 356 U.S. 1 (1958)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Frisby v. Schultz · 487 U.S. 474 (1988)
• United States v. Trans-Missouri Freight Assn. · 166 U.S. 290 (1897)
• National Collegiate Athletic Ass'n v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma · 468 U.S. 85 (1984)
• United States v. Albertini · 472 U.S. 675 (1985)
• Florida Star v. B. J. F. · 491 U.S. 524 (1989)
• Georgia v. Evans · 316 U.S. 159 (1942)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Retail Store Employees Union, Local 1001 · 447 U.S. 607 (1980)
• Powell v. Alabama · 287 U.S. 45 (1932)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• Haguer v. Committee for Industrial Organization · 307 U.S. 496 (1939)
• Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence · 468 U.S. 288 (1984)
• Cohen v. California · 403 U.S. 15 (1971)
• Texas v. Johnson · 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
• Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. · 452 U.S. 640 (1981)
• Continental T. v. Inc. v. GTE Sylvania Inc. · 433 U.S. 36 (1977)

Cited by

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

• National Collegiate Athletic Assn. v. Alston · 594 U.S. 69 (2021)
• Professional Real Estate Investors, Inc. v. Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. · 508 U.S. 49 (1993)
• R. A. v. v. City of St. Paul · 505 U.S. 377 (1992)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 512 U.S. 622 (1994)
• Barnes v. Glen Theatre, Inc. · 501 U.S. 560 (1991)
• Atlantic Richfield Co. v. USA Petroleum Co. · 495 U.S. 328 (1990)
• Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 520 U.S. 180 (1997)
• Summit Health, Ltd. v. Pinhas · 500 U.S. 322 (1991)
• Federal Trade Commission v. Ticor Title Insurance · 504 U.S. 621 (1992)

Official text

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

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). 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).