Question

The fewer restrictions there are on the advertising of legal services, the more lawyers there are who advertise their services, and the lawyers who advertise a specific service usually charge less for that service than lawyers who do not advertise. Therefore, if the state removes any of its current restrictions, such as the one against advertisements that do not specify fee arrangements, overall consumer legal costs will be lower than if the state retains its current restrictions.

Which of the following, if true, would most seriously weaken the argument concerning overall consumer legal costs?

• A. The state is unlikely to remove all of the restrictions that apply solely to the advertising of legal services.
• B. Lawyers who do not advertise generally provide legal services of the same quality as those provided by lawyers who do advertise.
• C. Most lawyers who now specify fee arrangements in their advertisements would continue to do so even if the specification were not required.
• D. Most lawyers who advertise specific services do not lower their fees for those services when they begin to advertise.

Hint:

The argument depends on advertising actually lowering prices; look for the option that denies exactly that link.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Step 1: Understanding the Concept.
The argument's chain relies on a specific link: lawyers who advertise charge less, so more advertising lawyers should mean lower overall consumer costs. Weakening this means attacking that specific link.

Step 2: Check option A.
Whether the state removes all or just some restrictions does not challenge the underlying logic connecting advertising to lower prices, so this does not seriously weaken the argument.

Step 3: Check option B.
Service quality being similar across advertisers and non-advertisers does not address the cost argument at all, so it does not weaken this particular conclusion.

Step 4: Check option C.
Whether lawyers would keep specifying fee arrangements voluntarily does not undercut the claim that advertising itself is linked to lower prices, so this does not seriously weaken the argument.

Step 5: Check option D.
If most lawyers who advertise specific services actually do not lower their fees when they start advertising, then the key assumed link, that advertising leads to lower prices, breaks down directly, undermining the whole basis for expecting lower overall consumer costs.

Step 6: Final Answer.
Option D most seriously weakens the argument.