While criminal defense lawyers have long been the recipients of letters from “innocent” prisoners seeking their help, email in conjunction with the culture of free legal advice has generated a new phenomenon that, while similar in some ways, is far more dangerous and potentially ruinous.  The blind email with full blown explanation of their “crimes”.  I get these almost daily, and it scares me.

In a post yesterday, I referenced a problem with the type of client who cruises twitter in search of a lawyer.  While less accurate for more obscure practice areas, one has to wonder why someone would need to scour social media in search of a lawyer engaged in one of the more common practice areas, contracts or criminal defense, for example.  There are a ton of them out there, and one can barely walk down the block without tripping over a lawyer.  As for finding a good one, a twit is hardly a basis for a recommendation.  Nor is a website, all of which tout their owner as the next best thing to slice bread no matter what the actual competency might be.

One source of the problem as it’s come across my computer is Avvo, which inspires people to ask people they don’t know for free answers, with the assumption that it’s there for the taking.  I get a ton of calls from people who have found me on Avvo, not one of which has ever produced a case that I was interested in taking and almost invariably from people who have no funds to retain counsel in any event.  This comes as no surprise, given the header on Avvo’s website reads “Find a lawyer. Free legal advice. Lawyer ratings. Avvo.”  The suggestion is about as clear as it could be.

But it’s the emails that shock and disturb me.  Emails from people I don’t know, and who don’t know me, disclosing their deepest secrets.  Telling me all about what’s happened to them, and what they’ve done.  Why would anyone send an email to another person they don’t know revealing such things about themselves?  Because I’m a lawyer?  Is that alone sufficient reason to feel comfortable confessing their secrets?

Brian Tannebaum at My Law License, has a little fun with the latest edition of Super Burgers Lawyers, a stroke of marketing genius designed to suck cash from lawyers desperate to have something hard to prove their worthiness.

But in Gainesville, Florida, apparently two Super criminal defense lawyers, are prosecutors.

Yes, Alachua County Assistant State Attorney Jim Colaw is a Super criminal defense lawyer, devoting 100% of his practice to criminal defense. Only problem is that he’s a prosecutor, and always has been I hear.

Not to be out done, Gainesville Federal Prosecutor Francis (Frank) Williams, is also a Super Duper criminal defense lawyer.

Most troubling, is that the way I verified these two were prosecutors, was by checking the Florida Bar website. Super Lawyers, did check this website, I trust? Colaw’s email address is “sao8” as in “State Attorney’s Office 8th Circuit, and Williams email is the well known “usdoj.gov” that is assigned to all federal prosecutors. They, work at the United States Department of Justice.

Does this demonstrate a monumental failing with Superlawyers?  You betcha.  All the protestations by the cashiers at Superlawyers won’t change this flagrant screw up and make them credible, but then the lawyers who use something like this marketing gimmick to sell themselves already know that it’s only purpose is to market.  No one wins a case by telling the jury that they’re a Superlawyer.

On the other hand, what of the poor, desperate fellow who comes across this “accolade” and believes it’s real?  What if he emails his confession to a federal prosecutor?  Even though I will not become involved in these blind email proposals, I would never rat out the sender, despite the fact that there is no attorney/client relationship created.  A prosecutor isn’t likely to share my feelings.  Should he receive an email disclosing an act of violence or harm committed against another, chances are awfully good that he’s going to take that email and put it to good use.  And there’s no reason why he shouldn’t.

I am not a fan of the concept of using the internet to blindly thrash about in search of a lawyer to begin with.  From the clients’ perspective, you are as likely to find the right lawyer this way as you are to find the right stock to purchase by throwing a dart.  Maybe less so. 

From the lawyers’ perspective, the people searching for lawyers online are the ones who can’t find a lawyer through ordinary channels, the predominant reason being that they don’t have the ability to retain counsel and are searching for that one great lawyer who will take him on pro bono.  If you’re searching for pro bono work, one twit to that effect ought to keep you busy for a lifetime.  If you have to work for a living, however, this isn’t going to be the route you want to take.  People who can afford counsel are not usually constrained to search very hard to find a lawyer.

I’ve no delusion that anything I write will stop defendants from seeking out lawyers willing to take on their cause for free.  Indeed, it could happen, as we would all be happy to serve the higher cause in those rarest of rare cases, where an innocent person is imprisoned and we can truly help.  But no, most of us will not go diving into cases (especially in far flung jurisdictions, a point ignored by most emailers who neglect to mention that they are in jail on the other side of the country) blindly, and you emails will not result in lawyers rushing to your rescue.

But whatever you do, please don’t tell your story to anyone you don’t know.  The recipient may very well be a “Superlawyer”, but one who works for the other side.  And believe me, he won’t help you.