This is not your father's firm; suit pits dad against son over right to use first and last name
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A personal injury law firm in South Carolina founded by George Sink Sr. contends in a federal lawsuit that Sink’s son, George Sink Jr., has no right to use the George Sink name for his own legal practice.
The April 25 lawsuit by the elder lawyer’s law firm, George Sink, P.A. Injury Lawyers, alleges trademark infringement and dilution, unfair competition, cybersquatting, and deceptive trade practices. Myrtle Beach Online has coverage.
“My father is suing me to take away the name he gave me,” George Sink Jr. told Myrtle Beach Online. “He seems to value his brand over his son. It’s devastating.”
The lawsuit says the younger George Sink was a marketing employee in his father’s Charleston-based law firm before he went to law school and joined the bar in 2016. The younger lawyer began handling client matters in his father’s law firm in March 2018, but his employment was terminated less than a year later, the suit says.
George Sink Jr. is a defendant in the suit, along with three of his limited liability corporations, including the George Sink II Law Firm, the George Sink Law Firm and the Southern Legal Association.
The suit says George Sink Jr. used the George Sink name even though he has preferred the use of his middle name throughout his life and goes by “Ted” or “Teddy.”
The younger lawyer already has created online business listings for his George Sink legal practice that caused Google to temporarily suspend the older lawyer’s business listings, the suit says. In addition, the suit says, the younger lawyer is apparently readying a TV advertising campaign based on the George Sink name.
The suit asks a judge to bar the son’s use of the George Sink corporate name and cancel his George Sink domain name. Damages are also sought.
