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A bill supported by Gov. Jeff Landry seeks to tighten rules on personal injury attorney advertising, aiming to reduce frivolous lawsuits and lower auto insurance costs. Sponsored by Mandeville Rep. Kim Carver, would introduce stricter advertising standards, including a ban on unverified slogans and requiring disclosure of net settlement amounts. Critics, including LSU media law professor Will Mari, argue that the U-S Supreme Court has already weighed in on previous efforts.
11-“So, back in 1977, they said basically Louisiana can only do so much when it came to trying to keep a lid on some of these kinds of ads. Because even commercial speech does have First Amendment protection.”
Mari notes that Louisiana already enforces stricter advertising rules than many states and calls HB430 largely redundant.
12-“It’s already fairly tough in Louisiana to advertise with our existing rules. You may not think so when you see Gordon McKernan signs and Morris Bart signs in Texas on your way to Louisiana 400 miles away.”
In the bill also prohibits the use of slogans and Mari says this is a “Red Herring” and says it would be like restricting restaurants from using catchphrases.
“Everything from Pope’s to your local mom and pop place. You could try to restrict that type of speech but it would be kind of unnecessary and hard to justify.”
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