EFF Files Suit on Behalf of Lawyer Ratings Site After Law Firm Sends Cease-and-Desist Letters
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has filed a lawsuit on behalf of LawyerRatingz.com seeking a declaratory judgment that the website is not legally responsible for online ratings of a Florida law firm.
The suit, filed last week in Northern California federal court, says LawyerRatingz.com is protected by the Communications Decency Act, according to a press release and a story by Wired’s Threat Level blog. The complaint seeks a declaration that the lawyer ratings website is protected from suit by the Law Offices of Adrian Philip Thomas in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
According to the EFF suit, the Thomas law firm sent cease-and-desist letters to the website complaining of lost clients and threatening a lawsuit for tortious interference with business relationships. The law firm wants removal of its ratings, both good and bad. Two ratings in particular are false, misleading or libelous, according to one of the firm’s letters.
Thomas did not immediately return a request for comment.
