Lawyer sues referral firm over ads

Trial Notebook

By Steven P. Garmisa

Hoey & Farina

Posted October 12, 2021 11:03 AM

Jim Adler, a personal injury attorney who has 300 employees and offices in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, spends lots of money marketing himself as “The Texas Hammer” and “El Martillo Tejano.” But the Hammer initially struck out when he sued Lauren Von McNeil and her client-referral companies for allegedly creating consumer confusion and violating the Lanham Act by (1) purchasing Google “keyword ads” based on his trademarks, (2) placing “click-to-call” advertisements for something called the “Accident Injury Legal Center …

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