As the legal profession in the United States and so many areas of our economy experience change and disruption the likes of which it has not seen for 50 years (if not 100 years), lawyers are a dwindling species and we must sit and watch as many of our peers cannot find jobs, as others take sharp pay cuts, as many lose long-held power and prestige, and as the profession, as a whole, is making a lot less money than it has for many decades. (Previous Minnesota Litigator posts on the subject, which I encourage you to file under “Tell Me Something I DON’T Know,” are here.)
Under the circumstances, it is not surprising, though it is sad, that the legal market market (no, that is not a typo) — that is, the folks who sell things to lawyers who sell legal services to clients (mostly, unsurprisingly, the sale of “marketing” or “leads” to lawyers) — includes (maybe exclusively???) a craven and ignominious lot, folks who shamelessly sell false hope to the hopeless.
Here comes…LegalMatch.com!
I do not have the time nor the stomach to dig deeply into this supposed broker or “middleman” to figure out who’s being exploited. In other words, I do not want to take the time to figure out whether it is those in need of lawyers or lawyers in need of clients. I would bet that the answer is “all of the above and then some.” (The more, the merrier, right?)
But I just got this linked promotion sent to me today. I have highlighted a few of the “red flags” of dubiousness. In sum, a business is supposedly looking for a lawyer, without regard to experience level, to collect on a $36,500,000.00 debt supposedly incurred over a period of nearly 30 years. (I wonder if maybe, just maybe, the business (if it exists) has consulted with any lawyer(s) over the past 20-25 years? (Reminding me of this earlier post.))
This collection action supposedly arises out of a “[f]ed[eral] tax court decision, 9th circuit upheld, judgment entered and writ of execution entered. Note that the judgment and writ issued in Texas jurisdiction but this group of investors were residents of Minnesota.”
Say what?
I am not going to even begin to unpack the puzzles and inconsistencies in there.
Again, the question is whether the suckers here are the potential clients, the lawyers who bite on this stale and unsavory bait, the investors in LegalMatch, the advertisers who pay to have their ads on LegalMatch.com, or me (either for wasting time even thinking about this silliness or, conversely, for failing to understand that LegalMatch and its ilk might be part of the future of how clients will find lawyers in the 21st century and beyond (heaven help us)).