Best Houston Injury Lawyer?

Unlawful advertising trend plaguing law firm marketing

Many lawyers like to present themselves as being the best in the industry. Often, they make liberal use of terminology on their web and print advertisements that claim that they are the best injury lawyers in Houston, for example. However, terms like "best" or "most successful" or "certified" are often used in a manner that is untruthful, inaccurate, and in violation of the State Bar of Texas ethics rules.

In a nutshell, the State Bar of Texas (the organization that regulates the professional conduct of attorneys, read: protects consumers from bad attorneys) forbids the use of marketing language that may be misleading or unethical in any way. This is done in the interest of protecting potential clients from lawyers that would be untruthful and claim to be better than other lawyers. Naturally, anyone can make such a claim and it may have no validity. As such, these types of claims are barred from use and any law firm that claims to be the best is blatantly breaking the rules. I would recommend that anyone looking for an attorney in Texas should strongly reconsider any law firm that is willing to break these most basic rules as doing so is a fairly good indication that they are not holding themselves to high ethical standards, the cornerstone for quality legal representation.

Ultimately, in order for a person to present themselves as an attorney, he or she had to have graduated from an accredited law school, passed the bar exam and kept his or her law license current with the State Bar of Texas by taking continuous educational courses.

Any other certifications or ratings are merely ways for lawyers to try to differentiate themselves from other lawyers for marketing purposes. A lawyer who represents himself as the "best" or claims to be an "expert" (aside from a few random scenarios where such a designation is permitted) is committing an ethical violation and should be reported to the State Bar of Texas. The State Bar of Texas sets forth strict guidelines that all attorneys must follow with their marketing practices. These guidelines are in the best interest of a potential client as it keeps them from being bombarded by most marketing jargon, thereby enabling them to choose a Texas attorney based on reputation and skills rather than superlatives.

"Super Lawyers" in Texas

In Texas, there is a magazine called "D" Magazine. A number of years ago, in an attempt to increase ad revenue for the magazine, the magazine came up with the "Super Lawyer" distinction. In order to become a member and to refer to themselves as a Super Lawyer, an attorney must meet certain criteria. These criteria can be read in detail on the magazine’s website, but ultimately these criteria are set forth by the magazine and not by any formal authority. The benefit for the magazine is that the lawyers who are invited to become members can then buy advertising space in the magazine. As such, a large number of lawyers buy ad space in the magazine.

Again, the "Super lawyer" concept was created to increase ad revenue for the magazine. It is a legal way for a lawyer to be able to put the word "Super" before lawyer, as the State Bar lets an attorney reference the good things that others have said about him, even when he cannot make such claims himself. The same can be said about being the marketing terms "AV" rated, "Martindale Hubbell" etc.

There are some exceptions. Our attorneys are members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. The distinction lies in the fact that membership into this particular group is based entirely off of performance, rather than spending power. There are other such memberships that are performance based as well.

Overall, most of these phrases are just a clever way for magazines and other types of publications to increase revenue unless the attorney can prove that his experience, effectiveness, or hard work earned him such a title. In most instances, the lawyer uses it as a vehicle to create a strategic advantage in his marketing efforts. Unfortunately, we think this just confuses the general public.

Hiring an attorney is an important decision, and you should hire an attorney based on his past performance, areas of experience, and reputation rather than because he uses a catchy title.

Before considering an attorney, a client should ask a few questions.

1. Does the attorney have experience with my type of case?
2. Does the attorney have a proven track record for winning cases like mine?
3. Is the attorney rated well by former clients?
4. Is the attorney ranked well by the State Bar of Texas (have they ever been sanctioned, fined, disbarred, sued for malpractice, or had their license suspended, etc?) and the Better Business Bureau?
5. Have they approached me or solicited business from me in an unethical manner? In other words, it's illegal for an attorney to make the first contact with a potential client in most instances. An attorney is not allowed to call a potential client and offer his services and he is certainly not allowed to make an uninvited appearance to their home. Remember, a good lawyer calls you.
6. Do they answer my questions, explain my rights, explain the strategy for my case in a way that makes sense to me?

Ultimately, if an attorney or law firm is not capable of satisfying the above-mentioned criteria then you should seek out another firm to represent you. In short, never partner with a firm that claims to be the best personal injury attorney in Houston or any other claim that is not substantiated by the opinions of a third party.