Ethics/Professional Responsibility
Sep. 16, 2026
'Well, there you go again'
"Billboard lawyers" is just the latest insult aimed at the plaintiffs' bar, following decades of others -- from "tasseled loafers" to "trial lawyer" itself -- and it won't be the last unless the profession starts calling out its own bad actors.
Brian S. Kabateck
Founding and Managing Partner
Kabateck LLP
Consumer rights
633 W. Fifth Street Suite 3200
Los Angeles , CA 90071
Phone: (213) 217-5000
Email: bsk@kbklawyers.com
Brian represents plaintiffs in personal injury, mass torts litigation, class actions, insurance bad faith, insurance litigation and commercial contingency litigation. He is a former president of Consumer Attorneys of California.
Today, the phrase being bantered around to attack the plaintiffs' bar is "billboard lawyers." For those not practicing 20 or more years ago, you may not remember past attacks on the plaintiffs' bar. Here is a quick refresher. George H.W. Bush used "tasseled loafers" as a political insult aimed at trial lawyers. In his speech at the 1992 Republican National Convention speech, he claimed that Bill Clinton's campaign was backed by "practically every trial ...
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