David Kluft

#LegalEThics Tidbit: If the non-lawyer marketing bros in Florida tell me their client referral system is ethically compliant, can I trust them?

An OH lawyer signed up for some “pay as you go” referral companies in FL. The FL companies purchased police reports to identify accident victims, and then non-lawyer marketers directly solicited those victims on the phone. The non-lawyer marketers then ... (cont.)

https://lnkd.in/ega4rHB5
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Jun 16 at 12:45pmWeb
Show threadDavid Kluft5d ago
... sent documents to the victims, including a retainer agreement on the lawyer’s letterhead, and the client signed it before ever speaking with the lawyer and before the lawyer reviewed their case. The documents also included a “non-solicitation” statement in which the clients falsely attested that nobody had solicited them as clients. The lawyer relied on the FL companies’ representations that this was “permissible legal marketing” and ended up paying them over $200,000 in ... (cont.)
Show threadDavid Kluft5d ago
... referral fees for hundreds of clients. Ohio authorities charged the lawyer with violations of Rule 7.2 (paying for recommendation), 7.3 (in-person or live solicitation) and 5.3 (failure to supervise nonlawyer assistants). The lawyer’s initial defense was that he “was naïve in failing to understand that [ethical] rules prohibited” this arrangement, but he later stipulated to the violations. The Ohio Supreme Court imposed a one-year suspension, stayed on ... (cont.)
Show threadDavid Kluft5d ago
... condition of monitored probation focused on law office management. Two dissenting judges would have made the lawyer serve the suspension, arguing that the conduct had nothing to do with mismanagement of his law office, but rather constituted intentional violations of solicitation rules.