Turns out that you can't skirt the rules of professional responsibility by advertising in another language. Who knew?Anthony "Tony the Tiger" Lopez Jr. ran a 10-second Spanish advertisement on two radio stations in Las Vegas and one in Reno which stated: "If you have had an auto accident, by law you have the right to receive at least $15,000 for your case."
Yeah, that's NRS 15,000(4)(b)(S), right?
Tony the Tiger argued that the commercial was intended to inform the public of the minimum insurance requirements for automobile drivers. Seriously. That's the best he could come up with. As an attorney.
The State Bar's disciplinary panel got a little creative with Mr. the Tiger's "punishment." The panel decided that since Tony spent $19,500 promoting the misleading ad, he must now spend the same amount on a public service announcement that actually does inform the public of the $15,000 minimum auto insurance limits in Nevada.
While we're proud of the panel for thinking outside the box, we don't really see how the punishment helps remedy the violation, and no suspension was imposed despite Mr. the Tiger having a previous public reprimand on his record from 2003. Maybe the panel was all punished-out after Ms. Winkler's lifetime disbarment.
(LVRJ; Thanks, Tipsters!)
Aw, come on, where's the sense of humor in all this. As Papi used to say, sometimes you have to put a little something unusual in the taco meat. It all tastes like chicken anyway. Or beef.
ReplyDeleteIf I was on the comish, I would have made him wear a chicken suit on third street in front of the courthouse with a sign "Tony the Tiger is a liar." (Uh, maybe not a good idea since that would probably lead to his election as judge.)
I want radio time for all attorneys who have done something naughty. Better yet, TV with that "The More You Know" rainbow that flashes across at the end...
ReplyDeleteMiley could say something like, "I am an angry drunk. I choked a dog, slapped around my wife and did it in front of my kids. My behavior hurts others. [blah blah blah huggy huggy squishy squishy] I hope the community can forgive such reprehensible behavior." (I assume you can't use asshat on TV, because I was going in a different direction at first.)
My favorite PSA of all time.....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKJDAV5GJdM
The erosion of standards of conduct within the Bar leads to an erosion of respect for the legal system (yes - I'm looking at the Heavy Hitter, et al.).
ReplyDeleteThe Bar's reaction to this latest example of unsavory conduct should be disproportionate to the underlying action. If "Tony the Tiger" spend $15,000 diminishing the civil litigation system for his own ends, then Mr. the Tiger should be required to spend twice that amount undoing the damage he caused.
This sends a nice neat message to the public: the Bar ensures wrongdoers are held responsible for their actions (even the negligent actions). I'm sure the plaintiff bar will embrace this simple formula - c'mon you doers of justice and hop aboard the bandwagon.
What he did was a violation, but:
ReplyDelete1. There's probably no way of knowing if it really did any damage; and
2. If it had any effect, the effect included increased business for the plaintiff and defense bars.
Serendipitous stupidity, I'd call it. Way to take one for the team, Tony.
So the state bar's punishment was to force him to put out more ads? Just because these ones aren't lies doesn't mean they're not ads. Maybe he should have been forced to donate that amount of money to the insurance companies that had to defend frivolous lawsuits against plaintiffs who thought they were going to get $15,000 no matter what their actual damages.
ReplyDeleteWas there a written opinion? Could this have been an honest translation error? Or is he just another "notario" (or whatever) out to take advantage of the fresh hispanics.
ReplyDelete@ 11:25 -- Hilarious
ReplyDeleteDonate money to insurance companies that had to defend frivolous actions? And when are the insurance companies going to begin "donating" for maintaining frivolous defenses?
Spoken like a true defense hack who has sold his/her soul to the insurance companies
can we puhleez get a post about eglet taking the first endoscopy case to trial today with judge walsh?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lvrj.com/news/hepatitis-c-case-goes-to-trial-90595734.html
@1:05
ReplyDelete11:05 here. I've done both sides of the table and I have seen ridiculous attorneys on both sides of the table. My thought was only that this particular Plaintiff's punishment for running misleading ads is that he's required to run more ads that are no longer misleading. That does not seem like much of a punishment to me. I thought the donation to insurance companies would be a better punishment. Maybe he should be required to have all of his clients sign for receipt of a letter letting them know he's a liar? Just thinking that this "punishment" is not really a punishment at all.
Speaking of absolutely f*cking crazy attorneys, what was the name of that crazy old coot who used to work in house for Nevada General? I vaguely remember the guy being just the nuttiest guy in the world. I remember seeing him and Richard Sipan almost come to blows in a deposition one time. The guy was an absolute lunatic.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't Tony's first punishment by the state bar. The guy is a walking ethical violation. I have two cases pending with him that also involve a third party--a malpractice attorney for the Plaintiffs. I'm honestly surprised he's still licensed.
ReplyDeleteYou have to be nutty to find yourself in a physical altercation with Sipan. He is one big MoFo.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/apr/12/jury-selection-begins-first-hepatitis-c-case-reach/
ReplyDeleteHere's another story about Hep C case going to trial. It's in front of Mental Midget Walsh, so the plaintiff is going to get a tremendous verdict.
The guy's name was John Riggs and he was as mean and ornery as any defense attorney I've ever seen. Problem was, he was not a very good attorney.
ReplyDelete@5:42 - Ron Pehr?
ReplyDeleteI think that El Tigre should have to fight Tony Liker on his reality show.
ReplyDeletePlaintiff attornies are hurting for business. People are realizing they can deal with insurance companies and end up with as much money or more, then they would get after the attorney fees and costs. The public is not getting dumber, they are gettting smarter. Tony el Tigre' was just appealing to his base clients. Just visit a plaintiff attorney office, they have business cards to pass out from chiroquackers and marginal medical doctors. Oh yeah, the medical practicioner overcharges using wrong medical codes only to have the bill reduced and then hound the plaintiff for the money.
ReplyDelete11:25, I don't know what world you're living in, but Plaintiffs attorneys (from the big ones to the small ones) are doing fine. PI is one of the few areas of law that is actually increasing rather than decreasing.
ReplyDeleteAnd I pity any individual who thinks they got more from an insurance company on their own than they would have gotten with help from an attorney (and I do insurance defense).
You must have not been in insurance defense for very long. People who file their own claims without an attorney routinely get jerked around by insurance companies.
ReplyDelete- Insurance Defense attorney
3:40,
ReplyDelete9:32 here. Actually, I agree. I may have not been clear. I think anyone stupid enough to file a claim without an attorney is likely to lose significantly more money that they could have gotten with an attorney. I know whenever I see a pro per Plaintiff my settlement offers tend to decrease by 50%, if not more.
Aside from this particular matter, I wonder where the State Bar will fall on social media posts. More in response to 12:34's comment, there's a Las Vegas firm on Twitter (@LovaasLehtinen) that posts in many languages. Perhaps their non-English posts are simply retweets of their own English posts, who knows what the posts truly mean? Food for thought.
ReplyDeleteHi, I applaud your blog for informing people, very interesting article, keep up it coming Smile.
ReplyDeleteDUI Attorney