Tennessee Injury Law Center
I was in a car wreck last week. I was hurt pretty bad. I got home from the hospital last night and a lawyer called me and said that he wanted to represent me in my case. I have no idea who this guy is or how he got my name and telephone number. Nobody in my family has ever heard of him. Can he call me like this? Should I hire him? He said he could get me a lot of money.
This lawyer is a scumbag – not only should you not hire him but you should report him to the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility. Rule 7.3(a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct says this about soliciting a potential client by telephone: "(a) If a significant motive for the solicitation is the lawyer’s pecuniary gain, a lawyer shall not solicit professional employment by in-person, live telephone, or real-time electronic contact from a prospective client who has not initiated the contact with the lawyer and with whom the lawyer has no family or prior professional relationship." The Comment to the rule explains why is exists:
[1] There is a potential for abuse inherent in direct in-person or live telephone contact by a lawyer with a prospective client known to need legal services. These forms of contact between a lawyer and a specifically targeted recipient subject the layperson to the private importuning of the trained advocate in a direct interpersonal encounter. The prospective client, who may already feel overwhelmed by the circumstances giving rise to the need for legal services, may find it difficult fully to evaluate all available alternatives with reasoned judgment and appropriate self-interest in the face of the lawyer’s presence and insistence upon being retained immediately. The situation is fraught with the possibility of undue influence, intimidation, and overreaching.