Report confirms there are a lot of lawyer ads in Las Vegas

Trial lawyers spent more than $44.8 million in Las Vegas last year advertising their legal services or recruiting clients for class action lawsuits, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Tort Reform Association.

In 2024, Las Vegas ranked 10th in media markets with the highest spending on legal services advertising and 8th in media markets with the highest quantity of these ads. The $44.8 million spent in Las Vegas bought 547,953 ads across television, radio and digital spaces, according to ATRA.

No other U.S. city saw more money spent last year on digital advertising for legal services than Las Vegas. ATRA’s analysis looked at internet search, mobile app, web video, and web display ads. It did not include social media.

Las Vegas ranked 7th in the number of television ads that aired, but it did not break into the top 10 for dollars spent on tv ads.

ATRA found that nationally more than $2.5 billion was spent advertising legal services across all platforms in 2024. That’s a 39% increase in spending compared to 2020, though the number of ads decreased 4%. The report attributes this dynamic to increased costs of digital advertisements.

ATRA notes that pizza restaurants last year spent $1.1 billion on advertising.

Las Vegans may recognize many of the biggest spenders of legal services ads nationally. They include Morgan & Morgan, Legalzoom.com, Sweet James Attorneys, and Lerner & Rowe Attorneys.

ARTA, which has described itself as “especially concerned with the costs that excessive civil litigation imposes on society,” argues that “over-the-top advertisements from personal injury attorneys with catchy jingles and toll-free numbers pose a serious danger” by undermining physicians and health care providers. They also point to a study showing that a majority of jurors believe there must be truth to claims that a product injures people if there are lawsuits against it.

“Tort reform,” as it is often referred to, has long been  a priority of corporations and Republicans. 

ARTA last year intervened in a legal challenge by the Nevada Justice Association and Uber Sexual Assault Survivors for Legal Accountability against the Nevadans for Fair Recovery Act, a ballot measure bankrolled exclusively by the rideshare giant Uber that would cap attorney fees in civil cases. ATRA sided with Uber.

The Nevada Supreme Court in January ruled the ballot measure legally deficient, blocking its direct path for consideration by the Legislature or voters.

Following that decision, Nevadans for Fair Recovery launched a statewide ad campaign “to urge state lawmakers to take action and stop frivolous lawsuit abuse.” But the political action committee has no registered lobbyists for the current legislative session.