# A lame rant about PI lawyers **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 19, 2007, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-rant-about-pi-lawyers/419764 "2007-09-19T16:50:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-rant-about-pi-lawyers/419764/21 "2007-09-19T19:24:30Z")
What’s the difference between a Lawyer and God? … God doesn’t think he’s a Lawyer! HA… HA HA HA HA HA HA HA… ha… ha… hee… 😃 (No, i don’t have anything to contribute to this thread. Yeah, this post is totally useless. Shut it. I’m low on sleep and I have something against lawyers right now. So nyah.) ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-rant-about-pi-lawyers/419764/22 "2007-09-19T19:27:24Z")
[QUOTE=VunderBob] And you’re trying to bait me into turning a short, sarcastic rant about legal solicitation into a screed against all advertising. [/QUOTE] No, I’m saying that you’ve pointed out no legitimate differences between advertising and legal solicitation. And asking whether, since you were worked up enough to pit the one, you held the same contempt for the other. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-rant-about-pi-lawyers/419764/23 "2007-09-19T19:29:55Z")
[QUOTE=Richard Parker] Many people lack the education to know when they’ve been legally wronged, or to know what to do about it if they have. [/quote] Not my problem. > [@Richard Parker](#): > > But aside from this, do you hold all solicitations to the same standard? All advertisers should be condemned. If you want a shiny new gadget, by golly, you’ll call them? Yes, although I begrudgingly concede that advertisers pay for much of what I do on the internet, for the TV shows I watch, and for the magazines I read. Not having ever lived in a society that is not advertiser-supported, I wonder what one would look like. I’m guessing there would be sweet smelling flowers in front of every building, shit would smell like roses, there would be no crime or violence, and we’d all close each day with a group hug. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-rant-about-pi-lawyers/419764/24 "2007-09-19T19:31:24Z")
[QUOTE=Richard Parker] No, I’m saying that you’ve pointed out no legitimate differences between advertising and legal solicitation. And asking whether, since you were worked up enough to pit the one, you held the same contempt for the other. [/QUOTE] I’ll concede to you that the core of my rant is the practice of trolling the accident databases, and I did not mention it in #1. These clowns did it in NC for me, and others in VA for my wife’s accident in May. ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-rant-about-pi-lawyers/419764/25 "2007-09-19T19:34:41Z")
So it seems, **VunderBob** , you would prefer less targeted advertising (TV spots, Yellow Pages ads, general mass mailers) than more targeted solicitation (single mailers to people who have been involved in an accident). Seems somewhat of an odd position to take. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-rant-about-pi-lawyers/419764/26 "2007-09-19T19:35:57Z")
[QUOTE=Richard Parker] Many people lack the education to know when they’ve been legally wronged, or to know what to do about it if they have. [/QUOTE] Or in my case, know they were legally wronged but can’t get a PI attorney to take the case because there isn’t someone to sue with deep enough pockets. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-rant-about-pi-lawyers/419764/27 "2007-09-19T19:37:23Z")
I get where you’re coming from and understand why it would strike you as distasteful, but the lawyer who sent the letter probably doesn’t waste valuable billing time evaluating claims _before_ sticking a stamp on an envelope. They directed an ad towards you because you’re in the target demographic for their service. You were in an accident. People who are in accidents often need legal representation, so they sent you a letter, just like they do everyone else. It’s no different from television ads for dishwashing soap on daytime TV, and beer ads during football game at night. The people who put the ads on don’t know that you don’t have a dishwasher and don’t drink. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-rant-about-pi-lawyers/419764/28 "2007-09-19T20:08:51Z")
But what I can’t get my head around is, how do they know I _do_ have a dishwasher? That freaks me out, sometimes! ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2007, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-rant-about-pi-lawyers/419764/29 "2007-09-19T20:17:39Z")
It’s the census. The government passes the information on to dishwasher detergent manufacturers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lame-rant-about-pi-lawyers/419764.md?page=1)