Can HawkLaw be tamed? Columbia firm with raptor name fights to keep identity

Living up to its name — suggestive of a predatory bird atop the food chain that hunts, strikes and eats its kill — the Columbia-based HawkLaw law firm is fighting back against efforts to rein in its advertising and maybe even its name.

In a lawsuit filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Columbia, HawkLaw and its namesake lawyer, John Hawkins, say attempts by powerful S.C. lawyers’ oversight groups to dial back the firm’s aggressive advertisements are unlawful.

If HawkLaw loses the lawsuit, it might not be able to keep its name or use its trademark eye-and-ear catching television advertisements. Those ads include hawks’ screeches, wild car crashes, a paid actor dancing in a television ad after getting a $3 million settlement (an actual case, according to the firm) and phrases such as “expect more” and “funny money guys in suits,” according to the lawsuit.

HawkLaw has constitutional free speech rights under the First Amendment, the firm’s lawsuit says, and South Carolina lawyer watchdog groups can’t censor it.

Ginny Jones, spokesperson for the S.C. Court Administration, says her agency does not comment on pending litigation. The Court Administration includes the two defendants in HawkLaw’s lawsuit: the S.C. Commission on Lawyer Conduct and the S.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel. Those two groups investigate allegations of lawyer misconduct.

Names of businesses are very important to a business’s identity, and many law firms usually take their names from lawyers in the firm, said Jeffrey Williams, advertising chair at the University of South Carolina’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

“Shortening the name (Hawkins) to HawkLaw is a smart business move,” said Williams, whose comments concerned business branding in general — not the merits of the ongoing legal controversy.

“You wouldn’t want be called Chickadee Law Firm,” Williams said. “The name of a business can be quite significant.”

Up to now the battle between HawkLaw and Hawkins against the lawyers’ watchdog groups has taken place out of public view.

Lately, Hawklaw’s lawsuit asserts, the behind-the-scenes disciplinary efforts have threatened to discipline John Hawkins and even remove him from practicing law.

“Defendants seek to prosecute for failing to comply with the Rules of Professional Conduct (and) could subject John Hawkins to disciplinary action up to disbarment or suspension of his law license,” HawkLaw’s lawsuit says.

“Defendants have and are currently violating Plaintiffs’ (HawkLaw’s) First Amendment rights to free speech in ... using the disciplinary process to chill free speech,” HawkLaw’s lawsuit says.

The watchdog groups are objecting to HawkLaw ads because they find them “distasteful and unlikeable without evidence that they mislead, cause confusion, or otherwise undermine any substantial government interest,” HawkLaw’s lawsuit says.

In any event, HawkLaw’s lawsuit represents a rare publicizing of a dispute between lawyers and the state legal ethics groups.

The lawyers’ watchdog groups don’t have to file their replies to HawkLaw’s lawsuit until Tuesday.

After the reply is filed, Judge Childs could request written briefs from each side on the issues or set a date for a hearing, or both.

HawkLaw’s lawsuit cites some of the watchdogs’ complaints against the firm and Hawkins.

For one thing, the watchdog groups say that Hawkins use of the name “HawkLaw” and his occasional references to himself as “The Hawk” in advertisements is misleading the public and violates lawyer’s ethics, which forbid lawyers using terms that imply “an ability to obtain results in a matter.”

The lawsuit seeks to have:

▪ Judge Michelle Childs declare unconstitutional the sections of South Carolina lawyers’ conduct code that are being used to target HawkLaw’s name and advertising.

▪ Judge Childs halt state bar disciplinary proceedings against HawkLaw and Hawkins until the matter can be fully presented in federal court.

Nolan Schillerstrom of the Audubon Society South Carolina said the numerous species of hawks are definitely raptors and highly regarded by many bird watchers.

“I definitely think hawks are a beloved animal,” Schillerstrom said. “They are fun to watch, easy to see and also just impressive birds in general.”

According to the Wyoming-based Teton Raptor Center:

▪ “Raptors are birds of prey that feed on live captured prey or on carrion. Typically, birds of prey have to kill things to make a living! “

▪ Raptors have strong grasping feet with sharp talons to seize prey, a hook-beak to rip it apart and a diet consisting “entirely of meat.”

▪ “Raptors are predatory animals and are often on top of the food chain in most places where they live.”

Columbia attorney Robert Dodson, who represents HawkLaw, declined comment.

The legal watchdog groups are represented by four lawyers from the non-avian-named law firm of Nexsen Pruet: Sara Svedberg, Susan McWilliams, Angus Macauley Jr. and Brittany Clark.

HawkLaw, with 16 lawyers, has offices in Columbia, Greenville, Spartanburg and Charleston. The firm is a personal injury firm, meaning its lawyers represent people who have been injured on the job, in car or bicycle crashes or other kinds of injuries — even dog bites. It has recovered “millions” for clients, its website says.