To Pull Or Not To Pull
I received an email a while back from a lawyer who was the subject of a post here. I’d called him out for making accusations against another lawyer in a forum comprised of nearly every DUI lawyer in the state. His wasn’t a terribly friendly email, but that was hardly a surprise. What was a surprise was exactly what upset him. He was mad that I had written something negative about him on the internet. That was his biggest sticking point. He disagreed with what I wrote, obviously, and he thought I had no business writing about him in the first place. Even more important to him than correcting things he believed I had wrong, however, was making sure I understood what he perceived to be … Read entire article »
Filed under: Marketing
Concealed Weapons In Arizona – Apparently Way Too Confusing For Lawyers
An out of state lawyer called me earlier today with questions about Arizona’s concealed carry law. As we spoke, I Googled “misconduct involving weapons az” to pull up the statute. The law was the first result, as it should be. I also noticed law firm websites, some belonging to lawyers I know, made up the majority of the remaining results on the first page. After the call, I clicked through to the lawyers’ websites out of curiosity. The first said “The following are punishable by up to 6 months in jail…carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.” It also included this: “Call us right away, anytime for an evaluation of your case and some expert advice.” The second said “Class 1 Misdemeanor Misconduct Involving Weapons … Read entire article »
Filed under: Arizona Statutes, Marketing
Have Desperate And Ethically Questionable But Possibly Jewish Lawyers Fight For Your Case Now!
I often brag to my tech-savvy friends, “I have a Twitter.” I’m actually not kidding. It’s the place to find out what I have for dinner once or twice a year or to click through to my new blog posts if you don’t already know the URL or are unfamiliar with the antiquated concept of RSS. Anyway, someone or something called @BernieSez followed me a little while back, and the notification included this description: “Take a picture of your traffic ticket and receive bids from lawyers to handle your case.” Curious in a train-wreck-watching sort of way, I clicked through and saw it was like a number of other ethically-questionable, lawyer-demeaning sites where the desperate among us spend money to bid on table scraps. It’s sad, but … Read entire article »
Filed under: Marketing
A Persuasive Offer To Contribute
Last Monday afternoon, an intriguing email from a charming fellow named Ryan appeared in my inbox: Respected Sir, I would like to inform you that i am interested in contributing “Law” related blog content on your blog. Kindly let me know how should i proceed ahead for contribution. Waiting for your response. Ryan, who identified himself as a publisher as well as a writer, must be a faithful reader too. How else could he know my blog features “Law” related content? He is also quite proactive. After i neglected to respond to him for over a day, he emailed me again during the wee hours of the morning last Wednesday: Hello Sir, Hope you are doing well. I guess you must be busy. Just wanted to know if you got a chance to go … Read entire article »
Filed under: Marketing
Gee Whiz, Referrals!
An email arrived last Monday from Lawyer.com with the title “Potential Client – Action Requested by Tuesday 9.00 AM.” Adrian forwarded the one he got to me shortly afterwards with a message saying “blog fodder?” I really didn’t want to write about it, but I now feel compelled. Apparently, the “Lawyer.com Listing” I didn’t know I had “generated a Potential Criminal Client.” Clicking through took me to a page where information about the “client” was posted. It was someone with questions about something old on his criminal record, and he wanted a consultation. I would’ve ignored it had I not gotten another one. The second one was from a family member of another potential “client” and provided the guy’s full name and jail location as well as … Read entire article »
Filed under: Marketing
You Don’t Pay For Real Awards
I win stuff all the time. Just this week, I won the UK lottery even though I didn’t play. Most weeks, I’m selected to receive a sizable portion of various Nigerian millionaires’ estates. I don’t even know anyone in Nigeria. I also regularly win lawyer awards from people and organizations with writing styles eerily similar to the people who write me about my UK lottery winnings and Nigerian inheritances. I always learn about it by email, though. You can imagine my surprise when this letter arrived the other day: At first glance, I thought it was from the NACDL. I can only assume that’s the intended effect. Every criminal defense attorney knows about the NACDL, and I wouldn’t be surprised if most are … Read entire article »
Filed under: Marketing
I May Be Amazingly Brilliant and Tall And Good-Looking But I Am Still A Nuts-And-Bolts Criminal Defense Lawyer Available To YOU 24/7
Over at a public defender, Gideon wrote yesterday about a fascinating overturned conviction: Michael Skakel has just had his convictions reversed and a new trial ordered by former Appellate Court judge Thomas Bishop, who was designated to preside over and adjudicate Skakel’s petition for writ of habeas corpus. The allegations revolve mostly around Skakel’s representation by famed celebrity lawyer Mickey Sherman, in that Skakel alleges that Sherman did a terrible job representing him. That “famed celebrity lawyer” was actually the subject of a post at Simple Justice in 2010 after he pled guilty to two counts of willful failure to pay federal income taxes. The post was about how being a celebrity comes at a price and noted how Mickey Sherman was alleged to have converted for personal use money intended to … Read entire article »
More Sleazy Lawyer Marketing
This time, I checked Simple Justice thoroughly before posting something about an email I got from Total Attorneys yesterday. The company seemed familiar, and sure enough, it turned out that Scott Greenfield wrote about its sketchy lawyer marketing practices in 2009 and then again in 2010, when the Connecticut State Bar officially decided its founder wasn’t quite driving the legal profession into the shitter in a specific manner that would have offended their sensibilities too terribly. Either way, they’re still at it, and I’m posting because what I received serves as a great lesson about how these marketing people work. Here’s the email I got from an “Alicia Stevenson” in its entirety, which I’ll break down part by part: Matthew, I figured an email may be the best bet if … Read entire article »
Filed under: Marketing
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