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The Professional Prospectus: A Call For Effective Professional Disclosure, Benjamin P. Edwards

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Without easy access to relevant information, many consumers unwittingly trust serious decisions to professionals with histories of malpractice and negligence-leading to both individual and societal harms. This Article proposes to improve professional services markets with a tool that has already proven effective in the securities markets: a prospectus. A "Professional Prospectus" would reduce information asymmetries and improve the market for professional services through disclosure and consumer choice.

A Professional Prospectus would alter the market for professional services by making professional reputation a more potent force. Economic theory often relies on "reputation effects" to ensure the efficient functioning of the market …