I am a guest in Spain. I love my host country and I am loathe to say anything critical about it. However, I was a lawyer for nearly 40 years, and I am compelled to observe one way in which the American legal system is superior to the Spanish system.
Virtually anywhere you go in the United States you will see lawyer advertising on billboards and on TV. This is very handy because it lets people know who to call should they be lucky enough to be catastrophically injured. Spain seems not to appreciate the virtues of lawyer advertising. I have yet to see a lawyer’s name or face on a billboard or on TV. Spanish accident victims have no way of knowing whether a particular lawyer calls himself The Strong Arm, The Bulldog, or The Law Tiger, and therefore lack the fundamental data needed to know whether an advocate is any good.
Instead of lawyer advertising, what you see along Spanish roadways is a lot of bull. Literally, a lot of bull.
Allow me to explain.
Osborne, a Spanish winery, was founded about 250 years ago. In 1956 it initiated a roadside advertising campaign. Rather than elevated rectangular signs, however, Osborne hired an artist to construct the black silhouette of a bull. “Verterano Osborne” (the name of an Osborne brandy) appeared in large block letters on each bull. These advertisements were installed next to roadways all over Spain.
In the 1960’s Spain, concerned about roadside distractions, declared that billboards had to be at least 150 meters (about 500 feet) from a road. Osborne responded by making its bulls larger (about 45 feet high) and moving them to distant hilltops. Then, in the 1994, the government made it illegal to advertise alcoholic beverages along roadways. The bulls had to come down.
The public protested. The bulls had become a symbol of Spanish pride. People loved them. Lawyers got involved. A court fight ensued. In the end, the bulls could stay so long as all text was removed.
There are about 90 Osborne bulls scattered throughout Spain. When I first saw them I thought they were government sponsored works of art. And I thought them pretty cool. Regal. A patriotic symbol conveying both power and pride. I still think those things. I do not think less of the bull because it was originally constructed to advertise Osborne brandy.
Now if Osborne had been a personal injury lawyer . . .