WhoCanISue.com Website a Disgrace to Legal Profession l Seattle Accident Attorney

I was watching the Today Show on NBC this morning and it featured a story about a new legal website called “WhoCanISue.com.”  Apparently the site is a legal directory where any lawyer can sign up to be on the site’s list of attorneys that will be referred out to anyone that asks. 

During the story, it showed some of the site’s TV and print advertising.  The ads were utterly tasteless.  They depicted an injured victim in a hospital setting who kept murmuring, “who can I sue? who can I sue?”  One of the ads also showed a bunch of attorneys chasing after an ambulance, which then screams, “Who can I sue??!!” 

This website is a disgrace to the profession. 

WhoCanISue feeds into the popular notion that the justice system is out of control because of meritless and frivolous lawsuits.  The company’s own advertising even suggests that  anyone can just file a lawsuit and then make a lot of money, as if the justice system is like playing the lottery where just one “hit” (aka, lawsuit) can make you millions.  How pathetic.

I’ve probably represented over a 1000 clients during my 16+ years as a lawyer.  I can only think of one client who I suspected might be exaggerating his symptoms for the purpose of monetary gain.  And I dropped him as a client like a hot potato.

I’ve spent my whole professional career fighting the popular myth that there are thousands of people making millions by feigning injury.  I say myth because I have yet to see such a lawsuit.  Any lawyer worth his or her salt would never accept such a “frivolous” case.  The public doesn’t realize that the insurance industry fights “frivolous” lawsuits tooth and nail.  Insurance companies don’t give out “free money” just because someone files a lawsuit. 

Furthermore, a defense lawyer worth his or her salt is easily capable of getting a frivolous lawsuit dismissed on summary judgment because most judges would never let a meritless case go to trial and then waste everyone’s time and resources.

And then some company called WhoCanISue comes along and basically hurts the legal profession by undermining the credibility of our justice system.  All under the guise of making a profit, I guess. 

I can see the tort reformers smiling wide and clapping hard.  In fact, I’ve thought whether WhoCanISue is really just a stealth tactic by some hard core tort reform group so they can use the company and its ads to further their agenda of supporting laws that hurt accident victims.

My advice to anyone looking for a lawyer: don’t try to find one by using a shady website like WhoCanISue.com.  I would never pay this company to be listed as a lawyer on their site because of how much damage I think the site would do to my reputation and credibility.  

You also have to ask yourself what type of lawyer would use a website like WhoCanISue.com to find clients?  Certainly not one who cares about his or her reputation, or the respectability of the legal profession.  And I would certainly steer clear of those lawyers like the plague.