That's So Sweet!

Milwaukee is a great place, but I had no idea that our area's lawyers were so thoughtful and concerned. I was recently in a very minor auto accident and within four days I had received five concerned letters from the local lawyer community. By the end of seven days I had recieved ten!


Without exception, the firms were worried that I might have been injured. Some of them assumed I had been injured and needed help. Gary S. Greenberg wrote, "When you get injured, I take it personally!" (Gary also sent me a refrigerator magnet so that I can remember his concern every time I drink a glass of milk). Hupy and Abraham sent me a 22 page (plus several inserts) "Handbook for personal injury victims." The most thoughtful gift was an emery board from Weigel, Carlson, Blau & Clemens; I suppose they didn't want me adding to my "injuries" by scratching myself with a ragged fingernail.

Fortunately, the accident was a slight, resulting in a few dents to the door and front fender. However, the outpouring of mail from bottom feeding lawyers has gotten on my nerves. Any lawyer can access police accident reports and then contact the drivers involved in the incident. I suppose this only a minor inconvience to be endured so that the larger values of freedom-of- information and transparency can be maintained, but it is still annoying.

While citizens definitely need the right to legally pursue compensation when wrong has been done, the "ambulance chasing" character of personal injury lawyers comes across as parasitical and nasty. I have had prior experience with one of the firms that contacted me. I was working for a non-profit organization taking kids on a bike ride. Another bike rider entered the bike path and wiped out, hurting her wrist. None of our riders hit her or otherwise caused her crash. We performed basic first aid, got a van and gave her and her bike a ride home. She sued us. Pursuit of justice has turned into pursuit of money, money, money. Unfortunately, liability law has also encouraged the practice of making other people responsible for one's mistakes.

One of the letters I received began with this sentence: There is never an "appropriate" time to contact someone who has recently suffered a loss or injury. Then why are you sending me this letter? If an injured party needs your help, they will call. There is a German proverb that states: Quality goods sell themselves, shoddy goods require a sales pitch. The same goes for attorney services.

The same week our mailbox was crammed with this garbage, I did the Word Search puzzle in the weekly paper. The hidden saying in the puzzle was, "If it were not for lawyers, we wouldn't need them."