Lawyers as paladins of privacy, cont’d: After her son was erroneously arrested, Julie Danielson checked her mail and was “shocked to see at least 12 envelopes — postmarked only hours after her son’s arrest — from defense attorneys offering their services. The lawyers had been eager recipients of a jailhouse e-mail list supplied daily by the county sheriff. … The couple was astonished that Riverside County [California] deputies failed to call them when their son was arrested — though contact and medical information was in the young man’s wallet — yet managed to inform people who wanted his business.” One envelope was emblazoned “Experts in Drug Charges”. “In New Jersey, which sends information companies who have registered with the state daily updates of who’s been arrested, a Supreme Court committee recently tightened its rules on the content of direct-mail solicitations after hearing complaints ‘in a volume too great to ignore.’ One man had received 22 letters from lawyers.” (AP/CNN, Mar. 29). More on direct-mail: Jul. 15, 1999. And: Philadelphia Inquirer columnist John Grogan explores how police accident reports serve as grist for lawyer solicitation of injury suits (“Lawyers Sow the Seeds of Lawsuits”, Apr. 5)(reg).

Filed under: chasing clients, New Jersey, Philadelphia