Thanks to the Obiter column in this week's Gazette for pointing out this wonderful TV advertisement by a US divorce lawyer (it may take a while to load). As the advertisement points out, Steve Miller of DivorceEZ.com offers a fixed-fee divorce service for $249 (without children). What is so special about the advert though is the language he uses. "If you and your spouse hate each other like poison and want to get out of the hell-hole you call a marriage, you've come to the right place", he says. He then advises against (amongst other things) giving "thousands of dollars to some piece of crap three piece suit downtown", by which I assume he means other divorce lawyers, and instead recommends using his service, when you will be "on your way to getting rid of that vermin you call a spouse". Brilliant stuff.

The web site calls the advert 'a satirical look at divorce lawyers, paralegals and clerks', but the Florida Bar Association didn't see the funny side - according to Obiter they banned the advert "for including language that promises a particular result, which is not allowed in legal services advertising". Something tells me it may have been banned over here as well.