Jim "The Hammer" Shapiro is an American
attorney
Attorney may refer to:
* Lawyer
** Attorney at law, in some jurisdictions
* Attorney, one who has power of attorney
* ''The Attorney'', a 2013 South Korean film
See also
* Attorney general, the principal legal officer of (or advisor to) a gov ...
and author who was known in the
Rochester, New York area and
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
(as well as some parts of Canada near Rochester station) for his aggressive
television commercials
A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...
, as well as for a letter of solicitation he sent to a
coma
A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...
tose accident victim. Shapiro was suspended in 2004 from practicing law for one year in New York and from practicing law for one year in Florida in 2005. In 2007, his advertisements were cited as partial inspiration for a new set of New York State rules limiting attorneys' advertisements. Shapiro sold all three of his law firms and now writes books. He is the author of ''Victims''
ic''Rights to Maximum Cash'', ''Sue the Bastards'', ''Million Dollar Lungs'', ''Injury Victims''
ic''Rights to Maximum Cash'', ''Instant Credit Repair'' and ''Get Back All Your Lost Investments!''.
Career
Shapiro graduated from
Boston University School of Law
The Boston University School of Law (BU Law) is the law school of Boston University, a private research university in Boston. Established in 1872, it is the third-oldest law school in New England, after Harvard Law School and Yale Law School. Ap ...
. He is a member of the Plaintiff's Securities Lawyers Group. He resigned his registration with the New York State Office of Court Administration, meaning he is no longer duly admitted to the New York Bar. He founded three law firms and had offices in
Broward County, Florida
Broward County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Florida, United States, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the List of the most ...
;
Rochester,
Syracuse
Syracuse most commonly refers to:
* Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse
* Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area
Syracuse may also refer to:
Places
* Syracuse railway station (disambiguation)
Italy
* Provi ...
, and
Buffalo
Buffalo most commonly refers to:
* True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo
* Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo
* Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...
, New York.
[http://www.yourlegalfortune.com/about.html Jim "The Hammer" Shapiro's website, accessed August 1, 2006. Link inactive October 14, 2008.]
In the 1990s, Shapiro became controversial for his self-promotional television commercials in which he promised to obtain large financial settlements for accident victims, referred to himself as "the meanest, nastiest
S.O.B. in town"
[Case, Dick, "Annoyed viewers find they can’t nail ads by ‘The Hammer’," ''Syracuse Herald-Journal'', 16 December 1996] and claimed to have "aggressive courtroom prowess".
[Craig, Gary]
"'Hammer' Shapiro on other end of lawsuit"
''Democrat and Chronicle'' published December 20, 2004 and accessed July 30, 2006 His ads' visuals frequently included vehicle crashes, falling bodies,
Satan
Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...
, threats of physical violence against defendants, images from the video game
Doom
Doom is another name for damnation.
Doom may also refer to:
People
* Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed
* Daniel Doom (1934–2020), Belgian cyclist
* Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitche ...
, animals and people being hit by trains, and explosions.
[Zeigler, Michael]
"Lawyers are asked to tone down ads"
, ''Democrat and Chronicle'' published and accessed February 1, 2007 He also began selling not-for-profit
t-shirt
A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt, or tee for short) is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a '' crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shir ...
s which featured "a vicious beast with blood dripping from its fangs" and the words "Protected by Vicious S.O.B., Jim The Hammer Shapiro."
[
Shapiro sold all three law firms and now writes books. He is the author of ''Victims'' ic''Rights to Maximum Cash'', ''Sue the Bastards'', ''Million Dollar Lungs'', ''Injury Victims'' ic''Rights to Maximum Cash'', ''Instant Credit Repair'' and ''Get Back All Your Lost Investments!''.][
In 2007, Shapiro's advertisements were cited by the Rochester '']Democrat and Chronicle
The ''Democrat and Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper serving the greater Rochester, New York, area. Headquartered at 245 East Main Street in downtown Rochester, the ''Democrat and Chronicle'' operates under the ownership of Gannett. The paper's ...
'' as partial inspiration for a new set of rules the New York State Court System has implemented that limit attorneys' advertisements. The new rules prohibit, among other things, nicknames such as "The Hammer".constitutionality
In constitutional law, constitutionality is said to be the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution; "Webster On Line" the status of a law, a procedure, or an act's accordance with the laws or set forth in the applic ...
of the rules was called into question when Judge
A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...
Frederick Scullin
Frederick James Scullin Jr. (born November 5, 1939) is an American lawyer who serves as a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York.
Education and career
Scullin was born in Syr ...
of the permanently enjoined
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable reme ...
some of the provisions in July 2007.
Bar discipline
In 2002, Christopher Wagner, a former client, sued Shapiro for malpractice. Wagner was injured in a 1995 motor vehicle accident and had responded to Shapiro's commercials. Wagner claimed he had incurred $182,000 in medical bills, but Shapiro's firm, Shapiro and Shapiro, encouraged him to accept a settlement of $65,000, promising more money could be obtained in a lawsuit against the state of New York. However, the state had no liability and Shapiro never pursued any further action on Wagner's behalf.[O'Hara, Jim, Jury whacks TV ad lawyer: Jim "The Hammer" Shapiro hit with $1.5M malpractice, false advertising judgment, ''The Post-Standard Syracuse'', 13 June 2002]
In its opinion suspending Shapiro, the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, found that he had "never tried a case to its conclusion n New York
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
and had conducted approximately 10 depositions."[''In re Shapiro'', 7 A.D.3d 120, 124, 780 N.Y.S.2d 680, 684 (N.Y. App. 2004).] Shapiro had lived in Florida since 1995, remotely supervising his New York office.misleading advertising
False advertising is the act of publishing, transmitting, distributing or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false claim, or statement, made intentionally, or recklessly, to promote the sale of property, goods or servi ...
and legal malpractice
In the law of torts, malpractice, also known as professional negligence, is an "instance of negligence or incompetence on the part of a professional".Malpractice definition,
Professionals who may become the subject of malpractice actions inc ...
and awarded a $1.5 million judgment against Shapiro.[
Consequently, in 2004, he was suspended from practicing law for one year in New York. In 2005 he was also suspended from practicing law for one year in Florida. Shapiro said the decision to suspend him from practicing in New York was "unfair and unconstitutional" but claimed the ruling would have little effect because he had sold his Rochester office and was now promoting books.][Mariani, John, "Court rules "The Hammer' can't practice; judges: TV ads false and lawyer tried to get business from a comatose victim", ''The Post Standard/Herald-Journal'', May 1, 2004] In December, 2004, four additional former clients unsuccessfully sued Shapiro for unspecified damages, alleging he had engaged in misleading advertising and legal malpractice.[
]
Philanthropy
Shapiro is known for his philanthropy in Rochester. Since 1996, he has donated $7,500 per year to elementary schools to purchase books. He has indicated that his goal is to put $600,000 worth of books into schools within ten years. In 1996, he donated of land worth $800,000 to the Rochester YMCA
YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...
. He has also donated land in Rochester valued at $120,000 to be used as a park for children.[
]
In popular culture
Dunkin' Donuts
DD IP Holder LLC, doing business as Dunkin', and originally Dunkin' Donuts, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts, in 19 ...
parodied Shapiro in a commercial for its breakfast menu in 2010, with a sound-alike named Bob "The Bulldozer" Phillips. Phillips imitated Shapiro's "every single penny" advertisement almost to the letter.
Publications
*Shapiro, J., ''Sue the Bastards'', Advertising Consultants World Wide Inc., 1997
*Shapiro, J., ''Victims Rights to Maximum Cash'',
*Shapiro, J., ''Million Dollar Lungs''
*Shapiro, J., ''Injury Victims Rights to Maximum Cash'', 1992
*Shapiro, J., ''Get Back All Your Lost Investments!''
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shapiro, Jim
Boston University School of Law alumni
Florida lawyers
Living people
New York (state) lawyers
Lawyers from Rochester, New York
Place of birth missing (living people)
American advertising people
Syracuse University alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Writers from Rochester, New York