Last week, I wrote about the problem of injury lawyers sending solicitation letters to car accident victims and new requirements designed to curb this practice. If you receive an attorney letter, solicitation or legal advertisement after being hurt in a car accident, and it does not meet these new requirements, you should report it immediately. The new requirements for ethical lawyer solicitation letters are here.
As to attorney solicitation, my own preference would be to see the “no contact time” increased to 90 days from the current 30 day ban.
But letters from lawyers and doctors is only the tip of the iceberg. We have to stop the direct phone calls now. Anyone who reads this link from a woman who was in a car accident and after received weekly calls, most likely from an attorney, should be extremely troubled.
These so-called “accident services” who cold-call people out of the blue after car accidents need to be stopped now. I don’t know who makes up these various accident services companies, although I know there are many chiropractors who are now cold-calling accident victims at home or in hospitals immediately. We — injury lawyers, doctors and chiropractors — need to stop phone calls and other forms of solicitation to accident victims. It is up to the professional associations to police their own, to protect the public and stop abuse.
Solicitation phone calls and letters need to be stopped now.
Have you received a phone call or solicitation letter within the first 30 days following a crash from an injury lawyer? Contact the Attorney Grievance Commission of Michigan and tell them about it. This is the only way to stop this unethical behavior.
The contact information for the Attorney Grievance Commission of Michigan is:
Attorney Grievance Commission
Marquette Building
243 W. Congress, Ste. 256
Detroit, MI 48226
(313) 961-6585 general
(313) 961-5819 fax
Injury lawyers who solicit car accident victims lower the image of our profession. And let’s face it, most of these lawyers sending these letters are terrible lawyers (which is why they are doing this to get business to begin with). Because these are terrible lawyers, the legal service and results they provided were also poor, and accident victims were actually harmed rather than helped.
I’m hoping the new rule will now put some long-needed safeguards on attorney solicitation and legal advertising. Most important of all, I hope it will raise the care injury victims receive.
- Steve Gursten is one of the nation’s top injury lawyers. He is head of Michigan Auto Law and has received the highest verdict in the state for a car accident or truck accident victim in 2008, 2009 and 2010, according to Michigan Lawyers Weekly.
Related information:
Stop predatory solicitation of auto accident victims by auto insurance companies, too
Recent car accident FAQs
Do I have a car accident case in Michigan?
Michigan Auto Law is the largest law firm exclusively handling car accident, truck accident and motorcycle accident cases throughout the entire state. We have offices in Farmington Hills, Detroit, Ann Arbor, Grand Rapids and Sterling Heights to better serve you. Call (800) 777-0028 for a free consultation with one of our personal injury lawyers.
