Friends,
You know who doesn’t like lawsuit abuse committed by personal injury lawyers? Other personal injury lawyers. This week, I’m giving our fantastic comms team a break by letting trial lawyers tell you exactly what’s wrong with some of their colleagues in the plaintiffs’ bar.
Last week, a pair of personal injury lawyers stood out as they publicly took a stand against obnoxious advertising and “unethical practices” by lawyers who partner with certain doctors to increase medical billing fraud within injury cases. I have been at TLR since January, and I have seen plenty of commentary from the billboard lawyer class claiming there is no lawsuit abuse and fraud – if there is any – is a criminal matter, not a problem in civil courts.
However, despite these protests, a growing number of trial lawyers see patterns of abuse and tacky trends in advertising, both of which are degrading the profession. They are worried about one thing: a new wave of lawsuit reform sweeping the nation.
There is a legal saying that “bad facts make bad law,” meaning the cases with the most extreme facts become the cases where appellate courts craft new rules, procedures, or legal interpretations that may fit the extreme example, but have third-order consequences in the routine cases. This is the concern voiced by a small but growing group of personal injury trial lawyers trying to represent their clients ethically. Bad actors in any profession can give everyone else a bad name, and over time those bad actors increase the cost and complexity for everyone. Anyone reading this email can think of some new regulation or rule that made your job more difficult because some competitor couldn’t handle their business properly.
Just like the “DEXIT” movement — the “Texas business phenomenon” that led to major employers reincorporating from Delaware or elsewhere to Texas — it’s likely too late to stop the new wave of lawsuit reform. Florida is the pinnacle for affordability after a study found that the lawsuit reforms passed by lawmakers saved ratepayers $3 billion in home and auto insurance costs in 2025. That headline follows a steady uptick in reforms passed in Georgia, New York, New Mexico (excuse me, New America/Reclaimed Texas), North Carolina, and California.
The formula is simple: Prioritize lawsuit reform. Lawsuit abuses stop. Costs go down for insurance, groceries, health care, transportation, and on and on … The more lawmakers talk about affordability, the more lawsuit reform becomes a meaningful solution. It’s worked before in Texas. It’s working in Florida, Georgia, and elsewhere. The new wave is coming.
For the future of Texas,
Ryan Patrick
CEO | TLR
Seeing Red Podcast: A Deep Dive into Lawsuit Reform and the Ongoing Saga in Texas Politics
This week, the Seeing Red: A Texas Political Podcast gave me the chance to share the history, the politics, and the living legacy of Texans for Lawsuit Reform. The hour-long podcast delves into how TLR got its start, the ongoing problems with lawsuit abuse, and how Texas is setting the stage for the next 30 years. Here are links to a few key parts of the conversation …
Thank you to host Garrett Fulce for a fun conversation and a chance to share more about the mission at Texans for Lawsuit Reform. Click here to watch the full episode.
Podcast Highlights Growing Battle Between Trial Lawyers Over Sensationalized Advertising Practices
On a recent episode of the 99% Invisible podcast, they highlight individuals in Tennessee, Florida, and elsewhere who are pushing for stricter standards in advertising legal services. One trial lawyer in particular is not shy about pointing out that these billboard lawyers and their TV cohorts project that they are “out for easy money.”
Later the interviewer asks personal injury attorney Matt Harden, a vocal proponent for advertising reform in Tennessee, whether he thinks that style of advertising is classy. “I believe some people are actually turned off by that type of advertising,” Harden admits. However, it’s not just the opponents to the advertising speaking up. One attorney — dubbed Lel “The Hammer” Stanley — admits his ads are “tasteless” because they appeal to a certain demographic. The ads look and sound the same because they clearly work.
“I would never call me. … The ads do not appeal to me,” the Hammer states in a recorded interview. “They are over the top, and some might even consider them tasteless … They’re designed to appeal to people who watch shows like Jerry Springer or things like that …”
Note: Texas gets kudos during the podcast for having “strict” advertising rules; and then the podcast features an ad from Houston-based billboard lawyer Jim Adler, aka The Texas Hammer.
By the way, does every state have a “hammer”? I assume so.
California Lawyer Threatens to Sue Billboard Lawyers, Doctors for Unethical Behavior in Lawsuits
“Tort reform is coming … it’s coming at civil justice.” That is the warning from a personal injury lawyer in California who announced earlier this week that he would begin filing lawsuits against lawyers and doctors who are being unethical in the way they approach lawsuits. Trial lawyer Nick Rowley is warning his colleagues that their actions are “unethical” and said he and other attorneys should begin to police their colleagues to head off a new wave of tort reform.
In the article, Rowley admits that:
Unethical doctors and lawyers are giving insurers and companies ammunition to seek caps on damages and attorneys’ fees
A minority of health care providers “build medical expenses based on the amount of insurance available rather than a client’s medical needs”
Called out attorneys for “capping,” the process of paying a tow-truck driver, hospital employees, or others for client referrals
Judges should start reporting lawyers.
Rowley also said he wants more trial lawyers giving to political candidates to stop pro-tort reform efforts in California. That’s a message that has clearly been received in Texas, where trial lawyers are funding Democrats, per usual, and have started to fund Republican candidates, especially in the primaries, to kill lawsuit reform in the Texas legislature. Read more about the unethical actions by trial lawyers in California — and see them as a warning sign of what is also happening in Texas.
