Some Texas Lawyer is Poaching

[Spavined_Gelding]

As I think has been mentioned before around here before, I have been a small town, general practice lawyer for more than 35 years. It’s not an outstandingly successful practice but provides my wife and me with a comfortable living and has financed a fair start in life for our children. I like to think that I have a local reputation for competence, fair-dealing and reliability. I get pretty protective and not a little defensive about mine being an honorable profession.

This evening I came home a little early and sat down to watch the local TV news. In the middle of the broadcast up comes a 30-second commercial that tells me that the Bayer Aspirin people have withdrawn a product after some number of deaths. Then the ad tells me that if some friend or family member has died after taking this product, or if I have had kidney failure of dark urine after taking the stuff I should get right on the phone right now, without delay, and call an 800 number that will connect me with some lawyer in, of all places, Houston, Texas! Are you listening, Minty Green, Houston, the home of our President, By God, Texas! There could be, says the announcer with the voice of an over ripe mango, CASH, in green flashing letters, yet, in it for me. I should call this miracle worker, this paragon with the ability to delve into the deep, deep pockets of Bayer Chemical Company, GmbH, right away, while there is still time for my ship to come in, tie up and unload a bountiful cargo. Call now, call now, call now. It’s like an ad for the Mexican National Lottery, for God’s sake.

This aggravates me just a tad. In the days of my youth this sort of stuff was called Championery. It was regarded as a bad thing. Other lawyers would shun you. Your license would be at risk. It was not done. Now some anonymous ambulance chaser from, for the love of all that is sacred and true, Texas is soliciting for plaintiffs in the wilds of Northeast Iowa. The whole thing is unseemly, undignified and in blatant violation of the Iowa rules on lawyer advertising and not just a little bit surreal.

There are days that I almost agree with December and the other “first we kill all the lawyers” types. Good God, man, this is a learned profession, not used car sales.

[schplebordnik]

I think you mean “champtery.”

[brianmelendez]

*Originally posted by schplebordnik *
**I think you mean “champtery.” **

I think that you both mean champerty.

[Jackmannii]

Well, when you’re starting to run low on fen-phen plaintiffs, you gotta move on to the next big thing.

Which appears to be Baycol.

The medical profession has its share of renegades. Some physicians are starting to associate with chiropractors.

[Monty]

Spavined: Is this character the same one who pronounces the word “cash” very loudly and all nasal?

[Lynn_Bodoni]

Spavined Gelding, you and Mrs. Gelding (I’ve been waiting AGES to use that phrase) should come visit the Dallas/Fort Worth area sometime, and watch the local broadcast stations in the wee small hours of the morning. We have some lawyers and law firms advertising that make used car salespeople with ads running in the same time slot look restrained, dignified, and tasteful. You wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

[minty_green]

When I was at Iowa Law, I recall arguing to my Professional Responsibility prof that an ad that was run incessantly in Dallas–a lawyer running over a car in a tank to demonstrate that he is simultaneously tough and smart, when in reality he runs a car wreck lowball settlement mill–was protected free speech, but was still fucking contemptible. I stand by that assessment.

[Mtgman]

[sub]I personally know Brian Loncar(who is semi-infamous around D/FW) and his family. I’ve worked with his wife, who is an actress, in a couple of shows and Brian once worked with the stage crew for a show I ran(he did the sound, pressed play and stop at the right times(mostly)). The woman in the commercials, and the kids if there are any, are probably his wife and kids and the location is probably their house. They’ve got a big place and it’s really nice, so they would use her, their kids and their place for their commercials. He’s a shameless ambulance chaser and he’ll readily admit it.[/sub]

Steven

[minty_green]

Oh, you remember the tank commercial, huh?

[elf6c]

There are days that I almost agree with December and the other “first we kill all the lawyers” types. Good God, man, this is a learned profession, not used car sales.

The funny thing is 90% of the people parroting the line do not really understand it.

Well, there it is. The phrase so frequently used to damn the legal profession, shouted by a butcher in response to an ex-convict and confidence man, who was sent to london to foment anarchy, burn the city, and loot the commonwealth.

and

If there is any doubt about Shakespeare’s sentiments, Shakespeare has Jack Cade show us what his world would be like without lawyers.

Immediately after Dick the Butcher mouths his famous line, a clerk enters. Someone accuses the clerk of being able to write and read. Jack Cade orders, “hang him with his pen and inkhorn about his neck.”

Yes, second thing let’s do, let’s kill anyone who can write or read.

http://www.scu.edu/law/FacWebPage/Peterson/Links/shakespeare/shakespeare.html

There was also a post here about this issue as well.

[SoulFrost]

Hmmmm… we just got the tank commercial here in NE Texas about a year ago. Wonder if that fellow has to move around much?

We also have Kirby Kelly (?), the “Man with the Hat.”

Evidently, those are his credentials-- he wears a hat.
So, one fellow has a tank, and the other a costume… I’m just waiting for one with a cowl and a cape.

-David

[Robb]

delve into the deep, deep pockets of Bayer Chemical Company, GmbH

Well, that would be the deep, deep pockets of Bayer AG. And it’s their pharmaceutical division that got them in so much trouble.

Well, when you’re starting to run low on fen-phen plaintiffs, you gotta move on to the next big thing.

Thankfully, Baycol will never match fen-phen. Baycol was on the market for too short a period of time and was too little prescribed to have injured as many people as Pondimin and Redux have injured.

[Mtgman]

*Originally posted by minty green *
**Oh, you remember the tank commercial, huh? **

Actually, no. I never watched much TV, but I did happen to catch a few of them(hard to avoid really). I took more notice of Brian’s commercials after I met him and his family, but I still didn’t pay much attention. Was the tank commercial one of his? I thought Brian’s call line was “One call, that’s all” and it was Jim Adler who was “the tough, smart lawyer”.(advertising, even when you watch an hour or less of TV a week it’s so damn pervasive that you can’t get rid of useless knowledge like this) Plus I saw Brian’s ads on the SPINE of the freaking phone book. Walking past my bookshelf, there he is. Talk about creepy.

Enjoy,
Steven

[Robb]

Also, I don’t know if this would offend your rules as well, Spavined Gelding, but I’d be willing to bet that the advertising lawyer is hoping to sign up clients, then refer them to another lawyer for a referral fee.

[BottledBlondJeanie]

Hee, the ‘tough, smart’ lawyer and ‘the Texas hammer.’ Are they one and the same? Adler and Loncar maybe. These people infuriate me… The commercials that really piss me off are folks holding ‘checks’ that the big scary Plaintiff lawyers got them. IIRC the folks with the awful commericals usually get the cases in and then refer them to other, slightly more respectable law firms. These boys aren’t really litigators for large cases.

And who from Dallas has seen the shark on top of the Best Hicks offices on central?

[Robb]

IIRC the folks with the awful commericals usually get the cases in and then refer them to other, slightly more respectable law firms.

The web of referrals between plaintiffs’ lawyers in mind-boggling - at least it boggles my mind. I think that these guys keep their car wreck cases where the other guy was at fault and has insurance. I see from their web pages that they advertise for a wide range of cases. I wouldn’t be surprised if they refer many of these cases. One of the things that are taught to plaintiffs’ lawyers is that they can advertise through lawyers with name recognition in an area. It would not surprise me if “branded” lawyers like Loncar and Adler trade on their names in this manner.
I’ve seen Loncar at conventions for mass tort lawyers, but I haven’t seen lawyers from his firm in mass tort lawsuits.

[minty_green]

Actually, I kinda like the big shark. Not sure how they get away with it, though. Don’t the Texas rules prohibit the use of logos in lawyer advertising?

My understanding is that most of the TV-ad lawyers are just settlement mills. They’ll take your car wreck claim to the insurers, see what they can get out of it, and take their 1/3rd cut. Little if any actual litigation occurs, and you can be sure the insurers take into consideration, when formulating their settlement offers, that (a) the lawyer’s not gonna fight it out and (b) the lawyer doesn’t get a penny unless there’s a settlement. On the off chance actual litigation ensues, I’m sure most of them refer it to other firms.

Mtgman, I think it was Loncar with the tank, but that was five or six years ago. Since I hardly ever watch local television these days, it’s more than likely that I’m mixed-up in my details. I think the ads make 'em all limited-purpose public figures, however, so I don’t feel too bad about commenting/speculating.

[Mtgman]

Ok, I did some googling and I’m not posting cites, but I did find out that Jim S. Adler goes by BOTH “The Texas Hammer” AND “The Tough, Smart Lawyer”. Mr. Loncar is pretty shameless and I wouldn’t be at all suprised if it was him in the tank, but I don’t recall him ever claiming the “Tough, Smart Lawyer” title. Brian is quite a character. I’m not sure if my life has been more interesting or simply more embarassing as a result of knowing him.

Enjoy,
Steven