Stop the insanity! Don't be fooled by shiny badges and pop up "chat" agents on law firm websites
- Peter Schneider
- Jun 28
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 22
Anyone watching television late at night in the 1990's will remember Susan Powter's "stop the insanity" infomercials. Ostensibly a weight loss program, Susan in fact provided an entire self-help program for those who called that number and ordered her books. Recently I've been inundated with emails and phone calls from various "organizations" that feel I'm just the best thing to happen to law since sliced bread and want to give me an "award" because of it.
I've noticed more and more law firms using these digital "badges" and "awards" on their websites. But what do they mean? Well, as I've come to learn, really nothing. You see, these badges are easy to get. Just like Susan's stop the insanity program, you pay someone money, and they give you something. They do no due diligence to determine if you are in fact a "super" lawyer or a "verified expert" in the areas you practice.
Muammar Gaddafi had a ton of medals and badges and history has shown he was a Tyrant.
When selecting the right attorney for you, ignore the shiny digital badges and focus on more important things:
Do you get to speak with an actual attorney? Far too often potential clients are shuffled off to support staff that don't know the law and may give prospective clients the answers they want to hear, instead of sound legal advice. This will end up costing you money in the long run. Better to speak with an attorney that will give you good advice (even if it isn't what you want to hear) instead of support staff that probably makes commissions on clients retained.
Online reviews: Online reviews are a bit of a double edged sword. On one hand they can be incredibly helpful to see how past clients felt about the service they received. On the other hand, often unhappy clients are the ones most apt to post a review, and often the case outcome, rather than the services provided by the attorney, are what causes the negative reviews. One important thing is to be somewhat skeptical of reviews on a website that are controlled by the firm. Our client review bar is sourced and verified by a third party, so you know the reviews are genuine and not simply the fan fiction of very creative support staff (they have to do something when they're not giving out suspect legal advice to prospective clients).
Pop up chat agents: We designed our website to be simple to understand and invite potential clients to call in (so they can speak with an actual attorney). Far too often I see websites that inundate potential clients with information and pop up "agents" asking for information. That picture of the main attorney that pops up in the corner at 12:31 am asking if you'd like to chat with him now is not really the attorney.
It's 10 pm, do you know where your attorney is? Not chatting with you on the website, that's for sure. That's a call center, most likely in India or the Philippines. These folks are well intentioned, but you'll probably get frustrated when the majority of their "chat" with you is just repeating the questions you've asked while they frantically search for the best response from their canned directory of pre-drafted responses. Also, remember what I mentioned about support staff giving out bad advice. Well multiply that by a factor of four when speaking with these overseas representatives. Be prepared to be let down when it turns out all the promises these people made don't come to fruition.
Choosing an attorney can be a difficult process. Most attorneys don't utilize a sensible flat fee program like us and can be very expensive. The best way to determine if an attorney is going to work for you is to talk to them. If a law firm's attorneys don't have the time to speak with a potential client about their case, without charging them, then that's a pretty good indication that's not the right attorney for you. Also be wary of marketing tricks like digital badges and "chat" agents. At the end of the day, you'll probably have to repeat all the information you provide to them again at some point, and that's not fair to you.
Note: The opinions in this blog are mine (Peter Schneider) and do not count as legal advice. If you need assistance with bankruptcy, debt, FDCPA or TCPA related problems give me a call. I'd be happy to speak with you.
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