Opinion: Often misleading and sometimes dangerous, lawyer ads should be regulated

By Melissa Landry Posted Feb 23, 2017 –

It is impossible to avoid them. Everywhere we look, we are bombarded by aggressive legal advertising. From car wrecks to class actions, solicitations from personal injury law firms dominate our local TV airwaves — not to mention what fills the radio and is plastered on billboards and bus exteriors.

For the small number of folks in Louisiana who may not have noticed, these ads often feature loud-talking lawyers and paid testimonials from their clients about how much money they made off of their lawsuits. In a typical ad that makes our state courts sound more like a lawsuit lottery than a legitimate legal system, one plaintiff boasts, “I called for free and he got me $358,000.” Is it any wonder why Louisiana drivers pay some of the highest auto insurance rates in the country?

But lawyer ads are not just annoying and expensive. Sometimes they can be dangerous.

Even more troubling than traditional “crash cash” commercials is a new trend in legal advertising that could actually be hurting people. Some personal injury lawyers are now using unregulated legal advertisements to make unsubstantiated and unbalanced claims about life-saving pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices for the sole purpose of scaring potential plaintiffs into mass tort litigation.

In fact, if you have watched daytime television lately, you’ve probably seen one of these ads. In these dramatic commercials, personal injury lawyers offer dire warnings about extremely rare and ominous-sounding side effects that may be associated with a wide range of medical treatments. It seems, no drug or medical device is safe from these scare tactics, with a slew of sensational legal ads targeting everything from life-saving defibrillators to cancer-killing chemotherapies to breakthrough medicines for treating diabetes.

The sheer volume of these commercials is shocking. In 2015, lawyers spent almost $900 million on television ads across the country, and market research analysts estimate trial lawyers’ TV advertising grew six times faster than all other advertising over the six-year period ending in 2016.

These seemingly health-related commercials generally do not offer sound medical advice, and most often they do not feature licensed medical professionals. Yet the melodramatic and “official” tone of these legal advertisements serves to invoke fear and emotional paralysis in some patients. Whether intentional or not, the content and proliferation of these ads can even discourage some patients from taking their medications correctly or following a doctor’s recommendations. These are unfortunate and potentially dangerous side effects indeed.

In an effort to better protect the public’s health, the American Medical Association adopted a policy at its annual meeting last year to advocate for a new requirement for attorney commercials to include “appropriate” and “conspicuous” warnings so they do not cause patients to stop using necessary medications.

This is a step in the right direction, but many cannot afford to wait for movement at the federal level. The Louisiana Legislature should consider steps to hold personal injury lawyers accountable now. As is the case with all other advertisers, the lawsuit industry should be required to ensure that the content of their advertising is truthful, accurate and responsible.

Melissa Landry is executive director of the non-partisan, grassroots legal watchdog group Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch. For more information about LLAW’s efforts to restore common sense and fairness to Louisiana’s civil justice system, visit www.LLAW.org.

Letters: State Supreme Court race matters, too

Melissa Landry NOV 3, 2016 – Most Louisianans seem to be focused on two big topics right now: football and politics. With a new coach in the hot seat at LSU and the hotly contested presidential race just a few days away, there’s no shortage of things to discuss around the water cooler. The race for U.S. senate has even sparked some interest. But not all political contests are created equal when it comes to capturing voters’ attention.

Down-ballot races have gotten far less money and media attention, but they are just as critical. One of those is the election for Louisiana Supreme Court.

The race features a contest between 15th Judicial District Court Judge Marilyn Castle against Third Circuit Court of Appeal Judge James “Jimmy” Genovese. Both candidates are sitting judges. Both candidates are technically registered Republicans. But that’s where the similarities end. There are significant differences between the judges’ practical legal experience, their track records while serving on the bench, and the people who are supporting their campaigns.

The eight parish-voting district for the state Supreme Court election includes: Lafayette, Acadia, Vermilion, St. Landry, Avoyelles, Jefferson Davis, Cameron and Calcasieu. If you are a voter in one of these parishes, it is important to get to know the judicial candidates before heading to the polls.

Judges have tremendous influence, and they make decisions that impact our lives every day. They provide justice for those who have been wronged, and they are responsible for protecting the freedoms we hold dear. From same sex marriage, to immigration policy to Obamacare — no matter where you stand on these issues, it is important to note that judges played a key role in deciding them all.

Don’t let someone else speak for you on Election Day. Despite the low-key nature of this judicial contest, the stakes are high. The candidate who garners the most votes on Nov. 8 will win a seat on the Louisiana Supreme Court for at least 10 years.

Good judges matter, and so does your vote.

Melissa Landry Executive Director, Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch Baton Rouge

Letters: Court was right to nix lawsuit

Melissa Landry JUN 6, 2017 – Fake news has been a major topic of discussion lately. While most of this debate has focused on national issues, it is important for informed citizens to differentiate fact from fiction when considering local and state issues as well.

Take, for example, the letter written by environmental activist John Barry regarding the demise of the coastal lawsuit brought by the of the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East (SLFPAE), which included some “alternative facts.”

In his May 25 letter, Barry misleadingly suggests that massive litigation and behind-the-scenes legal settlements are our only means of holding oil companies responsible for any damage their operations could have caused decades ago. That is simply not true. In fact, through the Louisiana Department of Natural Resources there is already a rigorous administrative process in place to ensure that every coastal use permit in the state operates in compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act. Any violations that may have contributed to the erosion of our coast can and should be addressed by the department now.

Barry also writes that industry doesn’t pay anything for coastal restoration, when, in reality, Louisiana oil and natural gas companies have been a strong economic partner and environmental steward of Louisiana’s working coast for more than a century. Today, the oil and natural gas industry is the state’s No. 1 private investor in public projects along the coast, and the royalties and taxes generated from production activities provide the largest stream of consistent funding the state has for restoring on the coast.

Despite these and other claims Barry has made in the past, the overreaching environmental lawsuits that have been brought by private contingency-fee lawyers on behalf of state and local agencies are neither necessary nor warranted.

I applaud the federal court’s decision to dismiss the SLFPAE lawsuit and The Advocate editorial, which correctly pointed out that these misguided lawsuits are not a legitimate solution to saving our coast.

At a time when Louisiana faces so many environmental and economic challenges, state and local leaders should be focused on policies to create jobs, support economic growth and encourage, not hinder, more industry investments in long-term coastal sustainability.

Melissa Landry Executive Director, Louisiana Lawsuit Abuse Watch Baton Rouge