Law Firm Not Liable for Purchasing Competitor’s Name as Keyword to Drive Traffic to Own Website

Once upon a time, when bus benches and the yellow pages offered some of the only ways to promote a personal injury firm effectively, competitors tried to crowd each other out or dominate the space with the biggest ad. It wasn’t unheard-of to put a billboard up right next to…

Jun 9, 2011 3:07 AM CDT

Sending Brochure to Potential Clients re Ex-Partner’s Prosecution Costs PI Lawyer $35K and Reprimand

An acrimonious relationship with a lawyer for whom he formerly worked, decades ago, is costing a Wisconsin personal injury lawyer $35,000 and a public reprimand. Although it dismissed two of three counts of a legal ethics complaint against attorney Michael Hupy, a divided Wisconsin Supreme Court concluded today that a…

May 27, 2011 6:55 PM CDT

Facebook Sues Adult Internet Companies Promoting Their ‘Face Book of Sex’

Facebook has sued several affiliated Internet companies for using the phrase “Face Book of Sex” to promote their adult networking service. The federal suit names as a defendant Various Inc. and three subsidiaries. Filed in the Northern District of California, the complaint says the defendants operate Facebookofsex.com and affiliated websites…

May 23, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Appeals Court Revives Lawyer’s Suit over Online Sexual Enhancement Pills

A lawyer who was dissatisfied with the sexual enhancement pills he bought over the Internet will be able to proceed with his lawsuit because of a favorable ruling by a New Jersey appeals court. Lawyer Harold Hoffman of Englewood will be able to sue in New Jersey, despite an online…

May 16, 2011 12:56 PM CDT

SC Lawyer Rapped for Overselling His Small Firm in Brochure, Phone Book and Online Ads

A South Carolina attorney has been publicly reprimanded by the state supreme court for overselling his small firm’s experience and expertise by exaggerating and making statements that could not be factually verified. For example, Michael Hensley Wells said on his firm’s website and in a brochure that he’d “worked in…

May 9, 2011 7:20 PM CDT

Suit Says Facebook Violates NY Law When Minors ‘Like’ Products Without Parents’ OK

A federal lawsuit filed today in Brooklyn, N.Y., contends Facebook Inc. is violating state advertising law by allowing minors to “like” products on the social networking site without getting parental permission. The action seeks damages under a state civil rights law that bans using an individual’s likeness for advertising purposes…

May 2, 2011 10:45 PM CDT

Solos Make a Splash with Mobile Ads

May 1, 2011 7:20 AM CDT

Mom Sues After Stock Photo of Her Daughter Is Used on Anti-Abortion Billboard

A New Jersey mother says in a lawsuit that she had to explain the facts of life to her 6-year-old daughter after a stock photo of the girl appeared on an anti-abortion billboard aimed at African-Americans. The suit filed by mother Tricia Fraser says the group Life Always and its…

Apr 27, 2011 4:43 PM CDT

Judge Must Decide If Toy Store’s Giant Purple Octopus Mural is Regulated By Sign Ordinance

Suffice it to say that some in Walla Walla, Wash., are not fans of a giant cartoon-like mural featuring a purple octopus that is painted on the facade of a toy store building. But is the depiction a sign or a work of art protected by the First Amendment? That…

Apr 21, 2011 4:45 PM CDT

Law Firm Drops Suit Claiming Taco Bell Beef Isn’t So Meaty; Both Sides Claim Victory

An Alabama law firm has dropped a class action lawsuit claiming Taco Bell ground beef contains fillers and should be labeled as “taco meat filling.” Taco Bell views the decision as vindication, report CNN and the Associated Press. According to a statement by Taco Bell, the suit was dropped without…

Apr 19, 2011 11:39 AM CDT

City of LA Seeking Fines That Could Add Up to Millions for ‘Supergraphic’ Signs That Had No Permits

A company that owns billboards, some of which are large-scale ones known as “supergraphics,” faces a civil enforcement action from the Los Angeles city attorney’s office, which maintains that the large structures are illegal. The signs in question are from Van Wagner Communications. Each sign, now removed, is reported to…

Apr 15, 2011 7:09 PM CDT

Can My Client Say That? Guests Discuss Lawyer Ethics and Testimonials on Rating Sites

Some state attorney discipline agencies are heavily regulating how lawyers use rating sites for business development. But how do those rules jive with the less stringent Communications Decency Act of 1996, which says users of such sites aren't liable for content posted by others? ABA Journal podcast moderator Stephanie Francis Ward talks with guests to discuss, among other ethics issues, whether lawyers can/should face discipline for client-written "testimonials."

Apr 4, 2011 2:02 PM CDT

Law Firm Pulls 9/11 Ad Portraying ‘I Was There’ Firefighter Who Wasn’t There

An ad touting a law firm’s Sept. 11 compensation expertise has been pulled after protests by a firefighter who was embarrassed by its assertion that he was one of the responders. Robert Keiley, who moonlights as a model, didn’t become a fireman until 2004, but the ad suggests he was…

Mar 30, 2011 1:11 PM CDT

Firefighter and Model Considers Suit Against Law Firm for Using His Photo in 9/11 Ad

Updated: A firefighter who moonlights as a model is considering filing a lawsuit against a law firm for using an altered version of his photo in an ad touting its expertise in Sept. 11 lawsuits. Robert Keiley didn’t become a fireman until 2004, but the ad suggests he was on…

Mar 28, 2011 1:44 PM CDT

More than Five Years After Reversed $10.1 Billion Judgment, Illinois Tobacco Case Is Revived

An Illinois appeals court helped revive a dismissed Illinois tobacco class action case that resulted in a $10.1 billion judgment in 2003. More than five years after the state supreme court dismissed Price v. Philip Morris Inc., the case was given another chance in the Fifth District Appellate Court of…

Mar 2, 2011 7:57 PM CST