TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Reuters) - A Florida law firm's television advertisement featuring a pit bull, a dog known for its vicious aggression, is misleading and an affront to the legal profession.
Think about it. The Florida Bar Association has suddenly acquired sensitivity – at least when it comes to its own image. When a pair of Fort Lauderdale attorneys ran a series of TV ads showing a Pit Bull terrier with spiked collar and a phone number of 1-800-PIT BULL, the Florida Bar, which to my knowledge doesn’t object visibly to most of the ethical shenanigans common to the profession in our fair state, took them to court.
The glorious views such as still exist in my area are most often blocked by billboards advertising personal injury lawyers and our dramatic tropical sunsets and expanses of field and forest can best be seen by peering around signs advertising the likes of Philip DeBerard whose bloated features stand 30 feet tall along US Rte 1 – at least they did before the last hurricane. One is encouraged to sue someone else mile after mile while driving and a dozen times an hour on television and many of these ads brag about the fierce fight that will be put up on your behalf.
Yet the Florida Bar is concerned about the image of attorneys being portrayed as aggressive and so they aggressively went after the firm. In 2004 a referee/judge had decided that the law firm of Pape & Chandler had a constitutional right to use a logo depicting a pit bull and a 1-800-PIT-BULL telephone line, and accordingly dismissed the Florida Bar's ethics complaint against the firm, but the tenacious pit bulls at the Bar association fought on. Thursday’s ruling by the Florida Supreme Court said the ads violated a prohibition on legal advertising that suggests behavior, conduct or tactics that are contrary to rules of professional conduct. As of this morning, the firm continues to use the pit bull logo on their web site, which also features two very muscular and intimidating young men and a Harley Davidson.
Would that there were a prohibition on all ads based entirely on outright lies, deliberate distortions and false claims, but since usually no attorney is harmed by mendacious marketing techniques, you’ll have to call 1-800-PIT BULL and sue the bastards.
8 comments:
With as much advertizing trial lawyers do in Florida, you'd think it was the state's economic engine.
In this county we have more litigants than trees - and fewer trees evey day.
I'm tempted to think that there are people who make a career out of getting injured, but I won't say that since I'll probably get sued.
I'll say it. I once defended a corporation that was sued by the same guy over b.s. several times (when one case got dismissed, he invented new claims), then the a-hole formed a corporation and brought suit under the company name and, when that didn't work, brought the same lawsuit against my clients' competitors and went after the whole industry. He was like a roach that wouldn't die. His lawyer had no client but him.
You could think of it this way… the pit bull firm admits they are vicious dogs, while other lawyers pretend to be angels of mercy for their clients…
I would hire the pit bull over the angel any day. But it's funny that the firm that gives a true picture of itself gets in trouble.
I don't know how you can stop people from filing suits all day long, but I think that makes the profession look worse than anything else - even though both sides have attorneys.
My legal expertise was all gained from watching Judge Judy and the OJ trial, so you'll have to excuse the cynicism.
i dunno if pit bull image bothers me all that much.
they might be just trying to convey idea that they fight 4 their clients.
I have no problem with their logo. It's the irony of the Bar Association's claim that it demeans lawyers that gets me.
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