Have you ever searched for a personal injury attorney online? On a google search, you will find both paid advertisements as well as identification of some actual law firms. In many cases, the advertisements (labeled as “Ad”), and even some of what appear to be legitimate law firms, are in fact companies that acquire personal injury claims and essentially sell them to attorneys (“lead generation services”). Frankly, it’s sometimes hard to differentiate between actual personal injury attorneys and lead generation services.
Some of these lead generation services are statewide but some are even national. If you drive through Texas, you will see advertisements for Tiger Law that focuses on Motorcycle accidents but is also in fact a lead generation for accidents all over the country.
Generic leads are called non branded leads because when you submit your information, you have no idea who will get that information. For example, when you search for a personal injury lawyer in Seattle you will end up on a particular landing page where even what appears to be legitimate law firms might actually be out of state firms that have created an online presence for Washington.
Many personal injury attorneys subscribe to these lead generation services. The web listing companies net clients and then distribute them out to contracting attorneys, per their paid subscription. Many attorneys and firms are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars per month on this type of advertising in addition to billboards and other high-profile advertising.
Having your case collected by a service operating a personal injury drag net to refer the case out to a random attorney is not the proper way to select the best attorney for your personal injury case. At Gig Harbor Law, we pride ourselves on word of mouth referrals from previous and existing clients who can attest the quality of our work. Your personal injury attorney should be local, responsive, and accessible. Word of mouth is the best way to select an attorney and word of mouth referrals are the best referrals that an attorney can receive.