New Site Enters Lawyer-Client Matchmaker Field
Screen shot of WhoCanISue.com.
Updated: The image of a businessman dressed in a dark suit, slipping on a banana peel and about to fall flat on his rear may give Web users an idea of the types of lawyers they might find starting in September on WhoCanISue.com.
The new website, founded by Florida lawyer Curtis A. Wolfe, aims to connect attorneys with potential clients.
“The new site, backed by individuals from the legal and online marketing communities, is designed to fill the gap in the market with a model that gives consumers greater control, safety, and efficiency, and creates more qualified inquiries for participating attorneys,” a news release states.
“We built our service around what people find everywhere else on the Web today: The ability to get an immediate answer without revealing confidential details or giving out their name and phone number,” Wolfe says in the release.
Time.com reports that lawyers will be asked to pay $1,000 annually to appear on the site. Today’s release, however, notes that the initial network fees will be waived for the first 500 attorneys who sign up before the year’s end.
Wolfe’s site is similar to other lawyer-client matchmakers, including, as Time points out, SueEasy.com and LegalMatch.com.
Wolfe tells Time that his service differs because it’s free to consumers and provides real-time access to counsel.
One Miami lawyer was skeptical of dotcom lawyer-client matchmaker services. “As if there aren’t enough lawyers out there inventing lawsuits, now we’re going to invite the public to do so,” Richard Sharpstein is quoted saying. “I think this is nothing more than a referral service. It encourages, if not creates lawsuits. Our country’s courts are clogged with unnecessary and frivolous lawsuits which delay, if not obstruct, the access to courts of people that really need to get there, that have serious legal grievances.”
Wolfe, however, counters that WhoCanISue.com could just as easily help consumers realize they don’t have a case to bring.
Wolfe is signing up lawyers at the ABA Expo during the ABA Annual Meeting this week in New York City.
Additional coverage:
Miami Herald: “Lawsuits made simple? Website makes the claim”
Updated at 1:50 p.m., central time, to include Miami Herald coverage.
