Can I get sued for this?

I'm a full time SEO at a law firm and I would say TREAD LIGHTLY!

There's nothing easier for a law firm to do then print out a C&D letter on some nice legal stationary and send it off to you.

Unless your badmouthing the law firm in question, I wouldn't see any reason why they might want to actually sue you, but I would think it's only a matter of time before they get in touch with you.

On the other hand, many law firms I've worked with are fairly "slow on the uptake" when it comes to SEO and their web presence and might not notice - especially if you just use a 301 redirect on the domain (my recommendation).

For the mention of "paypalsucks dot com" above - check out this story about a lawfirmnamesucks dot com domain that led to a lawsuit.

www DOT businessinsider DOT com/firm-sues-ex-associate-for-levinson-axelrod-sucks-site-2009-11

But all in all expect an eventual C&D if you go live...
 
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If they sued you, wouldn't it be good for publicity?

Ever been to

Code: 
http://www.nissan.com

?
 
You are right - being sued and suing others is AWESOME publicity for law firms.

There's a firm in CA that sued Britney Spear's on behalf of her old manager - they got a TON of awesome backlinks that really can't be duplicated unless your firm does something equally as stupid/ballsy.

The "lawfirmsucks.com" story link I posted earlier also got them backlinks from multiple great high PR news sites.

My boss asked me soon after I brought those links to his attention if we could think of a reason to sue lady gaga...

*facepalm*
 
Get that crap on courttv and monetize the hell out of it.

How to monetize? Offer the lawfirm's competitors advertising space. :D
 
Just add to your copyright or footer that you have no affiliation with the other site. Your site does not represent their opinions/services/etc.

theironlemming said:
Hey everyone,

I've read quite a few topics on here about aged domain buying strategy so I've been on the hunt for a few decent PR and aged domains.

I came across a domain with a pr2 and aged about 3 years so I decided to snatch it up because it would work well with one of my law niches.

However, after buying it, I realized that it uses the law firms name in the domain.

For example: Law firm owns LEGALFIRMlaw.com, the domain I picked up uses -LEGALFIRMlawblog.com.

Now, obviously, I want to avoid a C&D, so do you guys think I'm opening myself to some legal issues here?

Should I A)Setup a 301 redirect and blast the crap out of the domain with spammy links to pass some link juice to another site; B)Use the domain and carry on as usual; or C) something different?

Looking for some advice from those of you who have had some experience with this.
Click to expand...
 
pietpatat said:
You actually can't. Even if you have a review site with only positive things about the company, the company can still take your domain.
Click to expand...

Erm. I don't think so. I think you can make a site dedicated to the idea that Microsoft Sucks Ass, and there's nothing they can do about it.

http://microsoftsucksass.com/
 
First, you own the domain that you can simply sell, walmart lost a case against a domain owner who had their slogan as a domain but I would say don't get in trouble with lawyer firms, if they want they can give you a hard time.

I would sell it as soon as possible
 
anyone can be sued at anytime for anything, no laws have to be broken whatsoever to absolve someone from litigation. i would stick up the disclaimer as one of the previous posters said. law firms know they don't have to be "right" to win, they know that it costs $300.00 an hour for a pedestrian to defend himself in a civil case and most aren't willing to invest the $3K it will cost before there is even a court date on the books.
 
I had a domain that i got as part of an auction on ebay and i wanted some of the other domains... well about 3 months after I won the auction, i get a C&D from Fedex(it had to deal with their golf tournament) regarding the domain. I ended up going back and forth with the lawyers about 3 times, and ended up selling the domain to them for $25. I didn't want to push it, but I did want to recoup any costs I had.

I would expect a C&D from them, but if they want it back... sell it to them, but don't push the price or you will get sued.
 
I agree that you can get sued for just about anything. I think that it would be a waste of time for the company to make a HUGE deal out of this. But you know I have seen paranoid companies do worst. I would tread lightly, watch carefully and known when to fold them.
 
I would say put 301 redirect and move on to find another domain. There are plenty of PR2 domains and it is really not even worth the hassle.
 
It really isnt worth the hassle. I've gotten lawyer threat letters from even having something in a subdomain. Unless you got a few grand to fight the issue it's better to just give it up and move on to another project.
 
i wouldn't give up - if you are not trading off on their business name or reputation, you may be ok
 
see if there are multiple practices using it, if they are you are good. Or you could just call them...
 
Two of my clients was recently forced to change the name of their business for the same reason, just because the domain name contained - or even hinted at the trade names of other established businesses. I'd actually seek legal advice before throwing lots of money at any business under this domain.
 
If the company has their name trademarked, and being a law firm it seems pretty likely. You probably shouldn't risk it.
 
If you
don't have the money
don't want the trouble
don't want the headache
don't want to deal with the lawyers
don't have the time
then do a 301

If you have the time, have lots of hatred, have lots of money and have lots of patience then keep the domain name.
 
If they see it then they will atleast send a C&D letter. I think it better be making some good money to be worth dealing with the head aches.
 
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