N.Y. campaign ties billboard lawyers to affordability crisis

WASHINGTON – A new television ad campaign is highlighting how staged accidents, insurance fraud and billboard lawyers are driving up costs for New York families.

Protecting American Consumers Together unveiled the first ad in the statewide campaign Thursday. PACT, is a national organization dedicated to standing up for plaintiffs, victims and consumers by ensuring access to a fair and transparent legal system.

PACT says the 30-second ad is part of a seven-figure television and digital campaign to highlight “shady tactics such as staged accidents, unnecessary medical treatments and aggressive advertising designed to inflate settlements and maximize attorney profits.”

Lauren Zelt, PACT’s executive director, says these abuses fuel rising prices across the state, leaving everyday families to shoulder the financial burden.

“Billboard lawyers are making New York unaffordable,” Zelt said. “Staged accidents, unnecessary medical treatments, and lawsuit abuse all lead to a higher cost of living.

“Ending these practices is a critical step toward making New York affordable again.”

Earlier this week, PACT launched a billboard campaign in Albany. And last month, the group wrote an opinion piece for Newsday about Gov. Kathy Hochul’s announcement to crack down on insurance fraud that drives up costs for New York families.

The billboards along I-787 North at Exit 3 near the Empire State Plaza will run throughout February and March. One billboard features a trial lawyer perched atop stacks of cash alongside the message, “Trial Lawyers Get Rich, New Yorkers Pay.” The second illustrates the imbalance in lawsuit settlements, contrasting a luxury yacht labeled “What the lawyer got out of the settlement” with a small rowboat labeled “What the client got.”

Also, the group released a digital ad last week called “The Highway Billboard Tax” detailing how lawyer billboards contribute to higher prices statewide. And last year, PACT released a six-figure television ad campaign spotlighting rising auto insurance costs in the New York as well as a “one-pager” site called “The Truth About New York’s Sky-High Lawsuit Economy” that shows how fraud, staged accidents, frivolous lawsuits and legal exploitation are driving up costs and making New York increasingly unaffordable.