Morgan & Morgan was spending about $300,000 a day on advertising, according to The Wall Street Journal.
WASHINGTON – In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, tens of thousands of businesses – including thousands of law firms – across the country were given Paycheck Protection Program loans by the federal government.
The PPP loans were meant to be used primarily by small businesses for job retention and support. Law firms used the funds to cover payroll expenses, and the loans were fully forgiven if used for payroll (at least 60% of the loan had to be dedicated to worker pay), rent, mortgage interest and utilities.
While personal injury law firms are known for aggressive television advertising, attorneys for some personal injury firms – both large and small – have been flaunting their wealth in extravagant ways. And by doing so, they are raising ethical questions about receiving government assistance designed to help small businesses stay afloat during the pandemic.
Morgan & Morgan, for example, is the country’s largest personal injury law firm. It has offices and attorneys in all 50 states, and it spends more than $350 million a year in advertising. Most people across the country likely have seen a billboard featuring firm founder John Morgan.
Dozens of top law firms received millions in PPP loans, and some firms – including Morgan & Morgan, which received up to $30 million in PPP loans – immediately increase advertising. From March 2020 through December 2020, the firm aired about 70,000 ads at a cost of $10.5 million. The Journal said the firm’s advertising spending increased from $50,000 to $300,000 per day.
During the pandemic and just after it, legal advertising spending surged across the country from roughly $1.89 billion in 2020 to over $2.35 billion by 2022. That’s a 24.3% increase in television ads, billboards and digital promotions.
These law firms benefited from plummeting billboard prices during the pandemic, and “law firms were able to pick up vacant billboards … for a deep discount.”
And following COVID, Morgan & Morgan also increased its campaign donations.
In the 2020 election cycle, according to OpenSecrets.org, the firm was responsible for $2,632,578 in campaign donations primarily to Democratic candidates. That was up from $651,179 in 2018 and up from $1,595,742 in the 2016 presidential cycle.
South Carolina-based Motley Rice, which received more than $10 million in PPP loans, had similar figures.
In the 2020 election cycle, Motley Rice was responsible for $1,018,420 in campaign donations primarily to Democratic candidates. That was up from $757,206 in 2018 and up from $561,490 in the 2016 presidential cycle.
“Sadly, this is par for the course when it comes to the trial bar,” said Bailey Aragon, director of public affairs for the American Tort Reform Association. “Time and again, plaintiff’s lawyers take advantage of the system for their own personal gain — whether it’s jackpot verdicts in courtrooms, flooding the airwaves with misleading ads, or now, tapping into taxpayer-funded programs intended to help small businesses survive a crisis.
“It’s just another example of the trial lawyer playbook at work: exploit loopholes, squeeze the system, and walk away richer, while everyday Americans are left footing the bill. This underscores why broader reforms and greater accountability for lawsuit abuse are so urgently needed.”
Even smaller firms increased campaign donations.
Morris Bart LLC, which is based in New Orleans, was responsible for donations of $303,342 in 2024 to Democratic candidates. It made donations of $2,000 in the 2022 cycle and $6,641 in 2020.
Gordon McKernan Injury Attorneys, also based in Louisiana, was behind donations of $181,831 to both Democratic and Republican candidates. It made donations of $25,100 in 2022, $35,859 in 2020 and $9,145 in 2018.
In Texas, the state’s largest personal injury law firm – Thomas J. Henry Law – said in 2022 the firm “continued to not only function at full capacity with no cuts to staff, compensation, or benefits, but, in fact, expanded the law firm’s overall size and scope” during the pandemic.
The year before, the firm had $5,822,986 in PPP loans forgiven.
Thomas J. Henry has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic groups, including to more than 20 state Democratic parties. In 2024, Henry spent about $3 million on private jets to fly friends and staff to the Super Bowl. The same year, he paid about $5 million for a birthday party for himself at an Austin nightclub that featured performances by rapper Jack Harlow and DJ Steve Aoki.
Los Angeles attorney Brian Panish, who worked with Michael Avenatti, has donated more than $100,000 to Democratic candidates over the years and hosted a fundraiser for polarizing Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) during his 2024 senatorial campaign. His firm had its $2 million PPP loan forgiven in 2021 just months after his firm secured a $23.7 million award despite COVID restrictions. In 2023, Panish purchased Hollywood couple Judd Apatow and Leslie Mann’s Brentwood home for $27 million a year after also purchasing a Nevada mansion for $6 million.
Las Vegas attorney Steven Dimopoulos donated more than $10,000 to former Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak, a Democrat who called President Trump’s decision to hold a rally in the state “reckless and selfish.”
The Dimopoulos Law firm had its nearly $400,000 PPP loan forgiven in 2021. The next year, Dimopoulos posted a photo of two settlement checks for clients on social media totaling $1.75 million. In 2023, he posted a video on Instagram of him eating caviar and drinking from a bottle of Louis XIII Cognac, which retails for more than $5,000 a bottle, with the caption “another day, another 900k.”
Dimopoulos was later interviewed by a TikTok personality showing off his $6 million car collection and last year posted a video of his law firm flying on a private jet.
