Comments on: How Lawyers Can Handle Bad Reviews and Complaints on Social Media

By: Spitfire11

Spitfire11 — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 14:09:17 +0000

It is refreshing to see that some legal professionals “get it”. I have had the sad experience of working with not one, but two attorneys who simply vanished into thin air after missing very important deadlines that cost me literally tens of thousands of dollars.

In both instances I filed a grievance with the local BAR Association(s) and all that accomplished was the attorney at fault had to hire another attorney to assist them with the complaint.

It was only out of sheer desperation that I filed a consumer complaint online with one of the major complaint websites and “lo and behold”, I finally got their attention. They were not dead or MIA after all, just totally unconcerned with the outcome of my case or my issues.

It took one full year of negotiations between myself and the “other parties” attorneys to finally reach a resolution, but reach it we did.

The unfortunate thing for the attorney(s) was that on a lot of those complaint sites, once the complaint is registered, it never goes away even if the original poster requests it be taken down or states clearly that the matter has been satisfactorily resolved.

I think the moral of this story is to always address disgruntled clients issues head on and make every effort to keep your fiduciary duty to them. And when you fail to do so, then MAKE IT RIGHT instead of dodging their calls and e-mails.

By: Nadine

Nadine — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 01:38:26 +0000

What about when the review is not from a real client??

By: Roger

Roger — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 18:09:54 +0000

Having the same issue with a criminal defense client. Two 1 star reviews that are totally fake accounts stay on our yelp page. In the meantime real clients leave 5 star reviews and are filtered out immediately.

By: Hillary

Hillary — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 14:20:24 +0000

In reference to your suggestion about Yelp reviews…Once you get a negative review on Yelp, you may find that all of your positive reviews prior to that will suddenly disappear. When your clients post positive reviews after that, you may find that those too will get filtered out. Yelp refuses to allow any of my positive reviews to remain. I’ve noticed they disappear within two days. My clients have asked me about it. I complained to Yelp and to the BBB with no result — and I’ve had 13 positive reviews since I began complaining to them.

There are countless complaints and several lawsuits against Yelp accusing them of extortion, using negative reviews as a way to scare businesses into advertising with them. Remember that Yelp gets nothing from positive reviews. Their business model is to make money on paid advertising. Beware! You cannot beat Yelp at this game.

By: Debra L Bruce

Debra L Bruce — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 02:19:54 +0000

Take heart. Maybe it’s not a bad review of you after all. If you responded in a way that demonstrated that you were speaking out of concern for her welfare, her angry reaction would not necessarily reflect poorly on you. Other readers may perceive you differently. The challenge in writing online or in emails is that the READER supplies the tone of voice. Sometimes our intent gets misconstrued. I hope you were able to make your caring or helpful intent more clear in your second response.

By: Debra L Bruce

Debra L Bruce — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 02:08:34 +0000

Kevin, I agree. When I see a lot of positive posts and a couple of negative ones, I tend to wonder whether the negative folks are the types who are never happy. Often complainers speak in such hyperbole, with so few facts, that they don’t have a lot of credibility unless the number of complaints start adding up.

By: Debra L Bruce

Debra L Bruce — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 02:02:23 +0000

Hi Carolyn,
You are absolutely right to warn lawyers not to reveal client confidences in responding. That’s a good point to highlight. I also like the suggested language in your post: “I don’t know who posted this response, but I wish you had mentioned your concerns about the bill while I was handling your case.” I would probably follow that with “I appreciate getting feedback and I hope you will contact me personally to discuss this matter.”

Personally, I think that we can rarely come off well by defending ourselves online. There is such a risk of sounding like we aren’t really listening and are more concerned about ourselves than the client. It also can incite them to blast us again. I’m in favor of expressing my regret that they are unhappy and inviting them to contact me directly so that I have a better opportunity to understand and address their concerns.

Thanks for your comment, and for sharing your post with its valuable insights.

By: C. Vodzak

C. Vodzak — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 12:36:41 +0000

I recently responded to a post on a popular question and answer forum from a person who admittedly had “no clue” as to how to proceed in a legal matter. Knowing that more than just the asker read these posts, I tried to emphasize the importance of seeking legal counsel because the forum that she was on was simply not going to give her what she wanted (basically, step-by-step guidance from a lawyer at no cost).

Her response was harsh. I chose to respond by saying that I was sorry about her taking offense (not sorry about my post) and that I understood that wasn’t the information she *wanted* to hear.

So, now I have a bad review online (forever connected to my profile on that site) from someone who is not even a client. No doubt some will find fault with my response to her criticism, just as she did with my initial answer. But, in the end, I feel better about replying to it.

By: Kevin Houchin

Kevin Houchin — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 22:36:08 +0000

Rule 1. Never engage trolls.

There are no other rules.

And, sit back and smile that you’ve just received a post or two that give credibility to the truthfulness and sincerity of all the good reviews people have posted.

By: Carolyn Elefant

Carolyn Elefant — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:59:12 +0000

I posted about this topic a few months back here – http://www.legalmarketingblawg.com/2011/03/rating-responses-to-negative-r.html and agree with everything you’ve said.
However, I think you’ve overlooked the most important point: lawyers can never, ever breach client confidentiality to respond to a negative review. I have seen some of the attorney responses at Avvo, and a handful throw the client under the bus by disclosing too many facts about the case just so that the lawyer can preserve his reputation. Nor can a lawyer have buddies post fake endorsements in response. When a lawyer respond to negative views in that manner, it makes me wonder whether they’re deserved.