Legal Directory Sued For Sending Unwanted Fax

A depressing case from Minneapolis.

A plaintiff-hungry lawyer has sued a small legal directory publisher after he received a fax that contravened a Telephone Consumer Protection Act regulation.

All legal directory publishers brush with litigation from time to time – an occupational hazard if you’re writing about, and maybe ranking, lawyers and law firms.

But this defendant didn’t write some disparaging remarks about a lawyer.

No, it was the heinous crime of sending him a fax advertising their services – a fax that the plaintiff allegedly agreed to receive – but at the same time, the fax failed to include an opt-out that would prevent the recipient from receiving more faxes in the future.

Yes, sending marketing materials without an opt-out isn’t ideal, and may be mildly irritating for some recipients (if the delete key and/or waste paper basket is too much effort) – but hardly the crime of the century.

I don’t know all the facts here, and not much surprises me about the plaintiffs’ bar.

But let’s put this into perspective – something’s gone seriously wrong when this man’s business and livelihood are on the line, and that of his staff.

A horror story for any small businessperson.

More in the Star Tribune.

(Pictured: Doug Walburg, owner of Mariposa Publishing in St.Paul, Minneosta.  Picture from Star Tribune)