Page 19 - BOGmanual_2024October

September 26, 2024

Via Email

TO: Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Insurance
Rep. Michael “Gabe” Firment, Chair
Rep. Chad Brown, Vice Chair
Rep. Larry A. Bagley Rep. John R. Illg, Jr.
Rep. Dennis Bamburg, Jr. Rep. Mike Johnson
Rep. Jacob Braud Rep. Edmond Jordan
Rep. Aimee Adatto Freeman Rep. Mandie Landry
Rep. Jack “Jay” William Gallé, Jr. Rep. Shaun Raphael Mena
Rep. Brian Leonard Glorioso Rep. Tammy T. Phelps
Rep. Kyle M. Green, Jr. Rep. Roger William Wilder III
Rep. Troy Jude Hebert Rep. Matthew Willard
Rep. Chance Keith Henry Rep. Phillip DeVillier, Ex Officio

Dear Committee Members:

I am writing with regard to the House Committee on Insurance meeting held on September 6, 2024, to
which an invitation was extended to the Louisiana State Bar Association. From my understanding,
LSBA Communications Director Kelly Ponder received the invitation, extended by Committee Chair
Rep. Michael “Gabe” Firment. The invitation said that the Committee was “interested in the Louisiana
State Bar Association’s role in regulating attorney advertising, and to discuss any laws, rules,
regulations, etc. currently in place that might impact attorney advertising.” We, however, asked Ms.
Ponder to decline your invitation to testify relating to attorney advertising in Louisiana since the LSBA
has neither the authority to adopt nor enforce the Rules of Professional Conduct, which she did by email
to your Rep. Firment dated August 27, 2024, attached hereto. At our request, Ms. Ponder further advised
in her email that the LSBA’s limited role was to provide confidential, non-binding advisory opinions as
to whether submitted advertisements are in compliance with the Louisiana Supreme Court’s Rules of
Professional Conduct, along with a link to those Rules. She also referenced the LSBA’s online database
of filed advertisements and provided a link to access it.

In any event, I had a pre-existing out-of-state engagement on the day of the Committee meeting, and I
was unable to attend. We were sorry to see the video, which stated disparaging remarks against the
LSBA and the state Supreme Court, which were primarily made by Rep. Johnson, who apparently
misconstrued our declination of the invitation as a lack of interest or desire to provide information rather
than taking Ms. Ponder’s communication at its face value. The LSBA is committed to increasing public
understanding of and respect for the law, as is set forth in its mission, and has been proactive with respect
to lawyer advertising and regulation thereof but within the constraints provided by the court, particularly
Public Citizen Inc. v. Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board, 632 F. 3d 212 (2011).