Georgia Bar Continues to Ignore Illegal Runner Tactics
Last week I resigned as a Chair and Member of the Georgia Bar’s Committee on Attorney-Client Solicitation.
We have a major problem in Georgia, and unless major, systemic changes occur with the State Bar’s processes and resources, Georgia residents will continue to be easy prey for criminal lawyers and criminal runners.
I get incredibly angry every time I hear about lawyers using runners and illegally soliciting clients.
Why is this such a big deal?
Because these lawyers prey on accident victims at one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives.
They show up in hospitals or at crash scenes, or call people shortly after a wreck, and lie about who they are.
They pretend they work with the hospital, a police department, or BuyCrash (among other stories I have heard), when in reality they’re just trying to sign cases for a lawyer who’s too lazy or unethical to build their practice the right way.
It’s the legal equivalent of skipping to the front of the line and thumbing your nose at every lawyer who’s spent years earning their reputation through hard work, integrity, and results.
These tactics don’t just hurt victim. They taint the entire profession. Every time a runner hands out a lawyer’s card in a hospital room, the public loses a little more trust in all of us who fight to do things the right way.
If you can’t build a practice without cheating, lying, or exploiting the injured, then maybe you shouldn’t be practicing law at all.
What do you think? Join the conversation with me on LinkedIn here.