Legal Question in Personal Injury in Texas

Re: Auto Accident victims soliciting

There are both lawful and unlawful ways for lawyers to solicit auto accident victims. For example, television ads are a legal way for lawyers to appeal to accident victims. If you believe you have been subjected to an illegal solicitation, you may want to contact a lawyer to discuss your options. Also, you can contact the State Bar of Texas to report unethical conduct.

Re: Auto Accident victims soliciting

Absolutely! This is called "barratry" and it is a FELONY offense. It is illegal for an attorney to solicit business from anyone who is not either a family member or a former client of that attorney. It is also a felony for an attorney to pay anyone anything of value for a case, and it is a felony to accept payment for a case. "Runners" who work for attorneys are committing this offense every time they solicit business for the attorney, and the attorney, runner, and client could all be found guilty of barratry. It is also illegal for any attorney to contact any accident victim within the first 30 days after the accident, so lawyers who go to the police station and go through accident reports and call accident victims are breaking this law. Unfortunately, Texas is FULL of dishonest and unethical lawyers ("ambulance chasers") who violate these laws every single day (and get filthy rich doing so). The ONLY way we will ever clean out these corrupt shysters is for citizens who have been contacted to call the Bar Association and report the offending lawyer. (The reason all of this illegal solicitation continues is because members of the public don't care enough to file complaints and follow through with them.) Any lawyer committing barratry should be disbarred--period.