Group says court ruling on ads for lawyers is wrong

The Associated Press

06.21.99

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LITTLE ROCK — A group of about 15 lawyers plans to challenge parts of a state Supreme Court decision that prohibits the use of dramatizations and testimonials in advertisements by lawyers.

The Supreme Court said on May 6 that advertisements using testimonials and dramatizations could be misleading because such devices could create "unjustified expectations" about the damages a person could expect to recover or the kind of trial record a lawyer might have.

"That is the Arkansas Supreme Court making a false statement," said Brad Lowber Hendricks, chairman of the Arkansas Attorneys for Consumer Protection. He said the group will try to have the ruling amended or clarified.

"First of all, we don't know what dramatizations are, what that means," said lawyer Peter Miller, vice chairman of the group. "One dictionary we looked it up in defined it as 'Shakespearean or historical acting.'

"We don't know if sirens are dramatizations, if showing a lawyer working in his home is a dramatization, if a lawyer talking to a client is a dramatization. How can we comply with a law if we're not sure what the law is?"

Referring to Americans' right to free speech, Hendricks said, "These are First Amendment issues, and many of us believe our First Amendment rights have been trampled on."

Hendricks said some of his clients ask whether they can provide testimonials for him after their cases are resolved, although sometimes he asks them.

"If they want to say 'Brad Hendricks was my lawyer and this is what he did for me,' why should they not be able to do this?" he said. "What is false or misleading about this?"

Gary Green, a member of the coalition, said he would not join the rest of the group in asking that the restrictions be changed. Green's office is in Little Rock but he also is licensed in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas and says Arkansas' rules are not as strict as rules in other states.

"I think that to outright ban them is a bit harsh," he said. "But I'm not going to join in the response simply because I think that it could be a lot worse."

Besides restricting advertising techniques, the ruling also prohibits lawyers from contacting the families of people who have died as the result of an accident for 30 days after the accident.

"I support that moratorium," Hendricks said. "People should not be besieged by legal correspondence before the funeral is over. They need time to adjust after something tragic happens."