Archive for the ‘Instructional’ Category

I believe in the First Amendment and in the right of lawyers to advertise. But some commercials just go over the line in the category of bad taste! Some lawyers don’t understand that just because you own a video camera doesn’t mean you should film your own commercial.  Take a look at this commercial done by a lawyer who wants to handle your divorce case….Bad Lawyer Commercial.

In 1908 it was illegal for attorneys to advertise. The American Bar Association thought that only “tricksters” used legal advertising and they felt it was not appropriate for the legal profession.

Then in 1977 the United States Supreme Court changed everything and said that attorney advertising was protected by the First Amendment. Since then we have all seen a lot of attorney ads, some good and some pretty bad. Do you have any favorites?

Here is another zinger! Lawyer Commercial

What do you think of lawyer commercials?

Here is the actual lawsuit.

On September 15, 2010 Katherine Jackson, the mother of Michael Jackson, filed a “Complaint for Damages” against AEG LIVE LLC and others claiming they contributed to her son’s death. The complaint contains some very interesting allegations. Here is the actual lawsuit: JACKSON vs. AEG

The complaint was filed by Los Angeles lawyer Brian Panish, known as one of the all time greatest trial lawyers. He is the same lawyer that won a jury verdict in the amount of $4.9 Billion dollars against GM for a defective fuel system that caused a Chevy Malibu to burst into flames when it was rear-ended. This guy is really a great lawyer!

The Michael Jackson case has a lot of interesting allegations in it that you won’t find in the superficial media coverage. Here are just a few of the interesting ones:

• If Michael failed to perform the shows, AEG could seize his Sony song catalog, including the songs by the Beatles,

• When Michael showed up for rehearsal on June 23rd, he was so messed up and freezing cold that his assistants had to give him several shirts to wear under his long heavy coat, even though it was warm in the Staples Center,

• There was a “Riot Act” meeting that was said to be “tough love” for Michael to get him to go to the rehearsals.

For those interested, take a look at the lawsuit yourself. You always find a lot more accurate information when you go to the document itself. I hope you find this interesting.

Good for the State Bar of California!

I just read the notice placed on the California State Bar web site telling sleazy lawyers to stay away from the victims of the tragedy in San Bruno. The State Bar also notifies the victims that they should beware of  the illegal “runners” and “cappers” who may try to approach them to sign them up with a lawyer. State Bar Notice.  The State Bar of California recommends that anyone from this disaster who feels they need to consult with a lawyer should consider contacting a certified lawyer referral service. The notice goes on to state:

“If an injured person or family member believes that they have been improperly solicited by or on behalf of an attorney, they should immediately report the matter to the State Bar at (800) 843-9053″.

In this day and age of ambulance chasers, which unfortunately gives all good and reputable lawyers a bad name, I applaud the State Bar for coming out with this notice to the public.

When you look at this picture do you see two faces or do you see a white vase?

Life is full of illusions. Did you know that Lawyer Referral Services (LRS) are not always “lawyer referral services”.  That doesn’t make a lot of sense does it?  It didn’t to me.  If a service refers you to a lawyer, don’t they have to be a “referral” service? Apparently not.

The State Bar of California has a special certification for companies that engage in the business of “referring” people to lawyers.  These certified referral services have to comply with all sorts of rules and regulations that have been established by the Supreme Court to protect people that are looking for a lawyer. The point is to make sure that people who hire lawyers are protected. That makes sense to me.

There are however companies that will find a lawyer for you (which is apparently different that referring you to a lawyer) and they are not licensed or regulated by the California State Bar.  I was looking around on the Internet and I came across the company called Lawyers.com. It’s a BIG company. You have probably seen some of their commercials on television. I have always thought they were a lawyer referral service. Wrong!

At the top of their web site it says: “FIND A LAWYER”. But then at the bottom of their web site it says that Lawyers.com is a “source for identifying” lawyers (what does that mean?) …and it says that “Lawyers.com is not a lawyer referral service..”  That doesn’t make sense to me. So they will help people “identify lawyers” but they don’t have enough faith in the lawyers to ”refer you to” them?  I asked myself, are they “identifying” both good and bad lawyers! Who is going to tell us which are the good ones and which are the bad ones!  The whole thing smells if you ask me. Sounds like an illusion.

I checked the California State Bar web site and found out that indeed Lawyers.com is NOT a certified referral service and it does not have to comply with all the rules and regulations that have been established by the California Supreme Court for the protection of people looking for a referral to a lawyer. Sounds like a bad deal to me. Sounds like an illusion to me.

Bottom line. Before you hire a lawyer, do your research and know who you are really dealing with. It’s your best bet for success.