Lawyer Referral Ads have gotten out of control. This is sensational, racist and reprehensible.

There is a bill in the Florida legislature designed to try and clean up lawyer and medical referral ads. Over the past decade, the Florida Bar has stepped in and punished lawyers, many of which are the BIGGEST advertisers in the state, but who also support lawyer referral services. It has done some good... until the recent batch. No longer is Roz of 1-800-Ask-Gary not paying attention to the road while driving because she is telling you how to put money in your pocket. No longer is 411-Pain playing sensational, cheesy commercials on television or forcing even more stereotypes down our throats. Or so I thought. This latest series is beyond offensive. I hope the NAACP and Florida Bar has something to say about this. It is racist, offensive and is an attempt to mislead people into what the actual law is.

Rep. Rick Kriseman's proposal to put new restrictions on advertising by legal and medical referral services won unanimous approval on its first committee stop this morning. "I don't like any of that stuff," Gary Kompothecras, the millionaire Sarasota chiropractor behind those ubiquitous "Ask Gary" television commercials, told the Buzz, who interviewed him. "I like the First Amendment; I think you use it a lot?" Yes, but there are rules and the standards of medical and legal services should be high. There is so much at stake. It is not a game.

The bill put forth by Kriseman would require that ads by a referral service disclose that it receives fees from the attorneys to whom it refers clients. Medical referral services would have to disclose to customers their financial relationships with lawyers and health care providers. In addition, ads by lawyer referral services would need approval of the Florida Bar, just as ads by lawyers already do. It is only fair. The bar can punish the lawyers involved and has, but there simply is no place in society for this. It's not a joke. People are injured and these ads further victimize, many of these clinics misrepresent who and how treatment is being "referred," and attorneys are paying premiums to get referrals and be on lists. It's making a mockery of the legal profession I love.

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News & Politics

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• referral
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