Legal Battle Pits Lawyer vs. Lawyer

A Norwich attorney is going after the way his colleagues are marketing their services on the Internet and he's filed hundreds of ethics complaints about lawyer across the nation.

Zenas Zelotes, a bankruptcy lawyer, has filed more than 550 complaints in 47 states claim Internet sites run by Total Attorneys Inc. of Chicago are making improper referrals, the Norwich Bulletin reports.

Lawyers sign contracts with sites such as totaldivorce.com and totaldui.com, to get referrals through those Web sites, and  Zelotes says those referrals violate rules against for-profit services.  

Zelotes told the Bulletin that the case raises “fascinating issues” about the use of technology in marketing legal services.

Kevin Chern, president of Total Attorneys Inc., defended himself against the legal claims. 

"Unfortunately, this is something you have to deal with in business," Chern told the Bulletin. "We're trying to do good things for consumers and improve access to the legal system."

And a 1957 Connecticut law makes it a felony to pay for referrals to a lawyer or accept such a payment.

Chern calls Zelotes' complaints "anticompetitive."

Copyright Associated Press / NBC Connecticut

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