The Problem With ‘Second Opinions’ on Injury Cases

Does Morgan & Morgan have a TV ad encouraging clients of other lawyers with an offer above $500,000 to call Morgan & Morgan for a second opinion?

I haven’t seen an ad like that but two separate lawyers have told me they’ve seen it. I’ve also heard radio ads in Atlanta from at least one other law firm encouraging existing clients of other lawyers to call the advertising lawyer.

Here’s the problem with second opinions: You can’t give an accurate assessment of a case without thoroughly evaluating all the facts of the case.

Just like a doctor can’t give a second opinion without reviewing the patient’s entire medical history and doing a thorough exam, a lawyer can’t give a second opinion without knowing everything. You can’t just get some basic facts and tell the client what their case is worth or what the other lawyer should have done differently. Somebody at Morgan & Morgan, or any other law firm, is not going to know more than the lawyer who has been handling the case for months or years and may have done significant work on the case.

Here’s another problem: What is the lawyer going to do when they get asked to give a second opinion? The existing lawyer handling the case may have done everything right but may be getting lowballed and is working the case up for trial. Indeed, Morgan & Morgan frequently advertises how it got a great verdict after getting a low pre-trial offer. Is the second opinion lawyer going to tell the client that can be normal and to trust their existing lawyer? Is the second opinion lawyer going to critique everything the existing lawyer did?

Here’s what I think is really going to happen: The second opinion law firm is going to try to get the client to switch to them. The second opinion process isn’t going to be a genuine, objective analysis. It’s going to be a sales pitch.

In short, I despise ads that encourage people to call the advertising law firm for a second opinion. I think they are unprofessional and are really just an attempt to poach clients from other lawyers.

We need to do better as professionals to hold ourselves to a high standard so our industry as a whole, and the advertising in particular, doesn’t become a race to the bottom.

What do you think? Join the conversation with me on LinkedIn.