Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Wisconsin

Yes, with certain restrictions, lawyers are allowed to advertise by direct mail in WI. Once your case goes to court, all of your information becomes public record on the internet for marketing or any other lawful purpose. Unfortunately, your information also becomes available to potential scammers for illegal purposes such as identity theft. I am not intending to compare attorneys to scammers here--it is just a fact that your info can be taken advantage of once it "goes public," even for targeting you in a bad way. That is why it is far better to hire a lawyer to resolve your collection matters before they go to court, since it prevents all your subsequent business from being done under the public spotlight. Even if you settle this small claims case and it is dismissed, it will leave a permanent footprint on your public record. A recent proposal to remove dismissed cases from the public record did not succeed in WI, so there is no indication that this will end any time soon. If you had filed bankruptcy beforehand, oddly enough, there would have actually likely been less publicity. While bankruptcy records are also public, the federal courts use a secure loggin system which makes access by marketers more cumbersome. Unlike the state, the Feds also require elaborate protections for all of the information that we attorneys enter in their system during a bankruptcy filing, in order to protect your identity (by redacting various information, etc.).

Do not assume that I am your attorney due to this answer, but feel free to call my office in Racine (262-633-3090 or email [email protected]) for clarifications or further questions. Otherwise, I would not be taking any further action on your case. See me on the web at www.jayknixonlaw.com. View my past answers at http://www.avvo.com/attorneys/53401-wi-jay-nixon-1529181/answers.html?sort=recency , or http://www.lawguru.com/answers/search/attorney/jknixon.