In re Primus, 436 U.S. 412 (1978), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that solicitation of prospective litigants by nonprofit organizations that engage in litigation as a form of political expression and political association constitutes expressive and associational conduct entitled to First Amendment protection.
The South Carolina Supreme Court's disciplinary board reprimanded Primus for violating state bar rules against soliciting business.
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned the discipline, ruling that solicitation of prospective litigants by nonprofit organizations that engage in litigation as a form of political expression and political association constitutes expressive and associational conduct entitled to First Amendment protection.
The opinion in In re Primus was released the same day as another First Amendment case relating to attorney solicitation, Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Association, 436 U.S. 447 (1978), which upheld a ban on attorney solicitation of accident victims within 30 days of the incident.
The holdings were distinguished on account of the political expression and association elements present in Primus and absent in Ohralik.