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Protecting American Consumers Together (PACT) has issued a statement criticizing Texas personal injury attorneys for making medical recommendations to clients, emphasizing that such decisions should be left to medical professionals.
According to the Lone Star Standard, during a Texas Senate hearing, consumers shared experiences with "billboard law firms" that prioritize aggressive marketing and profit over client welfare. These firms reportedly steer clients toward unnecessary and costly medical treatments. PACT noted that clients have complained about being referred to "fake doctors to steal more money," illustrating how advertising-driven practices can compromise care. Testimonies also revealed that some firms inflate medical damages, contributing to "social inflation" and increasing legal costs for all Texans.
The memo from PACT exposes a national "billboard attorney playbook" that includes tactics like funding dark-money groups, spreading misinformation, and threatening reform advocates. These strategies are designed to thwart consumer-friendly lawsuit reforms. In Texas, as in other states, these methods help billboard attorneys maintain a "broken legal system" that benefits their financial interests at the expense of consumers. These insights highlight how advertising-driven legal strategies can undermine policy changes intended to curb abuse.
Aggressive attorney advertising through billboards, TV, radio, and online platforms has been identified as a significant contributor to systemic legal abuse. This practice inflates public expectations of payouts and encourages frivolous litigation. According to Munich Re, such marketing tactics—combined with mechanisms like phantom damages (billing for amounts never paid) and third-party litigation financing—cost consumers over $6,600 per family each year, with $2.5 billion spent on legal advertising alone. These tactics demonstrate how billboard attorneys not only attract clients but also increase societal costs.
PACT is a national 501(c)(4) advocacy and educational group dedicated to exposing predatory legal practices and advocating for reforms aimed at fairness and transparency in personal injury law. The organization actively conducts surveys, publishes research, and runs campaigns to highlight how billboard attorneys exploit the legal system at the expense of consumers.