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No cold faxes for lawyer marketing

Do not think many lawyers would do it, though greed causes folks to act in strange and unethical ways, but law firm marketing should not include sending unsolicited faxes to prospective clients.

The Denver Post reports a Boulder software engineer has taken about 25 business owners to court for sending him junk faxes. “Most of these faxes pitched mortgages, movers, maintenance, marketing, prescription-free oxygen, skylights, snow removal and even meat from “The Big Kahuna BBQ” McKenna told the Post. He alleges they are illegal under the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 and the Colorado Consumer Protection Act.

The Post explains how McKenna successfully took on the junk faxers:

[He] took stacks of faxes to the Boulder County District Attorney’s office. But nothing came of it. So McKenna studied the law and started suing junk faxers himself. The law allows people to sue for at least $500 per fax violation. McKenna won several settlements, judgments and injunctions.

His success allowed him to hire a lawyer, Andrew Quiat. Quiat says there are about a 1,000 lawsuits against fax advertisers filed in Colorado, a faint cry against the reportedly 3 billion illegal faxes sent each year nationwide.

Don’t blow these guys off. McKenna even sued a Chamber of Commerce for faxing him cocktail party invitations. The suit alleges 14 violations contained in seven faxes. With treble damages, the cocktail party faxer could be liable for $21,000.

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