Law.com’s “Legal Blog Watch” has a terrific posting about SueEasy.com. It’s a matching Web site service for clients and lawyers that allows potential litigants to post grievances and wait for responses from attorneys with offers to represent them. It also allows users to find class actions to join in with others.
On the surface, it seems like a great marketing service for lawyers. For the consumer, it potentially represents a “one-stop” shopping location for legal services. However, from what I gather from online comments, the site got a reputation and an “on-line ambulance chasing” operation. I particularly like this comment that was posted about SueEasy.com at Techcrunch.com
The name of this website alone will cause problems in some states. According to the code of ethics in many states, lawyers have to follow strict standards when joining referral services. Names like “Sue Easy” will probably prove to be offensive to many authorities governing attorneys. I would not be surprised if there is some court activity surrounding lawyers using this as a referral service.
The PR laugh for me is that while lawyers today market their services more than even, some opportunities cross the line. Legal services should be marketed effectively. However, it is a respected profession and this type of website service hurts the legal marketing industry.
As a board member of the Legal Marketing Association’s Chicago Chapter, I would be hard pressed to consider this a service to mention to my associates.
