Next time you’re stuck in a middle seat flying across the country, do you think you’ll turn to the audio channel that features lawyers talking about their law practices?

Thought not.

But that hasn’t stopped the producers of Sky Radio Network’s Forbes Channel. Their business model doesn’t require an audience — just attorneys with an itch for self-promotion.

In a reversal of standard legal industry practice, the person writing the checks isn’t a client. The show producers tell an attorney that they are a national leader in their practice area. Perhaps a little flattered, the lawyer pays up to $5,900 to appear in a four minute segment on the show.

That’s $88,500 per hour … somewhat above even big-city billing rates.

A watchdog organization complained to the FTC that it was “misleading to listeners who believe they are hearing the country’s top lawyers, when in fact it is only those who agree to pay.”

True — if there are any listeners. We’d rather look at the in-flight magazine for the tenth time.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 6th, 2005 at 1:06 pm by A Senior Administration Official and is filed under Funny ... to us. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.