Where is the line between ‘celebrities’ and ‘clients’ when it comes to lawyer advertising?
If the name “Chandler Parsons” doesn’t ring a bell, don’t worry.
The Standing Committee on Advertising (SCA) determined last month that the former NBA player could offer a testimonial for personal injury firm Morgan & Morgan in TV ads, despite Bar Rule 4-7.15(c), which prohibits “celebrity voices and images.”
The Board Review Committee (BRC) on Professional Ethics is expected to review the decision, which overturned a staff opinion, at a May 19 meeting. The BRC could make a recommendation to the Board of Governors the following day.
Parsons is no household name, but some UF fans might remember watching him sink a 75-footer, with no time on the clock, to beat North Carolina State by a single point in January 2010.
NBA fans had ample opportunity to glimpse Parsons during an 11-year pro career in which he played for the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, and Atlanta Hawks.
In its decision, the SCA determined that Parsons was not a “celebrity” because he was not immediately recognizable by voice or image.
But the question involves more than Parsons’ celebrity.
Parsons is also a former Morgan & Morgan client, and in his TV testimonials, he describes how the firm successfully represented him after he suffered career-ending injuries in an automobile accident two years ago.
“Having my career cut short by a drunk driver was the worst part of my life, and I never thought I’d retire at 31 years old,” Parsons says in one ad. “Morgan & Morgan has definitely really helped me, in the toughest, darkest moments of my life, those guys were there for me, and I’ll never forget that.”
The original Bar staff opinion notes that Rule 4-7.15(c) prohibits the use of a celebrity voice or image, and it quotes from the comment to the rule.
“A celebrity is defined as an individual who is known to the target audience and whose voice or image is recognizable to the intended audience,” the comment states. “A person can be a celebrity on a regional or local level, not just a national level.”
In a brief he filed for Morgan & Morgan, attorney Timothy Chinaris noted that non-misleading testimonials have been permissible in lawyer advertising since 2012, and neither Rule 4-7.15(c) nor the comment offers guidance on “how recognizable a person has to be to cross the threshold into celebrity status.”
Celebrity endorsements are banned because they risk “unduly manipulating” the public, Chinaris wrote, adding that “a truthful and otherwise permissible testimonial by a former client is not rendered misleading because the former client is someone The Florida Bar considers to be a ‘celebrity.’”
Bar staff noted another complication, also involving a sports figure.
In 2015, the Standing Committee on Advertising ruled that former baseball player Jody Reed could appear in a lawyer advertisement, but only if references to his former status as a major leaguer were removed.
“The primary distinction between the two decisions is that Chandler Parsons offers a testimonial as a former client, while Jody Reed is a family member of the lawyers operating the law firm,” according to the analysis.
The Board Review Committee and the Board of Governors must decide whether to let the SCA decision stand, or whether to reverse the decision and find that Parsons is a celebrity. If Parsons is found to be a celebrity, the Board will then need to decide whether Rule 4-7.15(c) applies to the truthful testimonial of a celebrity who is also a former client and whether the rules should be amended to address similar scenarios in the future.
