Let's be honest, this is one of the most meritless C&D's ever.
Unless Shankman's lawyers are totally incompetent, there's no way they would ever seriously pursue this, since it's obvious to anyone they have no case.
Personally, I would just drop all references to Shankman and HARO from the website and politely send back an email letting them know you did so, and politely point out that there's no legal basis for any of their other absurd requests.
I agree with this approach. You don't need a lawyer for most things of this nature. They're expensive and finding a good one can be a real crapshoot.
I don't think there's anything wrong with researching the legal side of things a little bit, then firing off a letter that politely but firmly disagrees with their position.
If they're really serious about coming after you, you'll find out soon enough, and you can get a lawyer then.
If you want to build business out of this, send back said response, but respond to the ridiculous points in a snarky way and post the response. Whatever you pay in legal fees, you can justify as PR expense.
Perhaps I'm cynical, but I think that whether the lawyers pursue this has less to do with competency and more to do with their client's willingness to pay for their time. The client may take it personally and be willing to pay good money to tilt at windmills.
Most of the time, a claim must be really egregious for a judge to actually penalize the lawyer for bringing it. Legal ethics rules vary from state to state, but they generally say, in effect, that a lawyer owes every client a duty of zealous advocacy.
Comments
Let's be honest, this is one of the most meritless C&D's ever.
Unless Shankman's lawyers are totally incompetent, there's no way they would ever seriously pursue this, since it's obvious to anyone they have no case.
Personally, I would just drop all references to Shankman and HARO from the website and politely send back an email letting them know you did so, and politely point out that there's no legal basis for any of their other absurd requests.
I agree with this approach. You don't need a lawyer for most things of this nature. They're expensive and finding a good one can be a real crapshoot.
I don't think there's anything wrong with researching the legal side of things a little bit, then firing off a letter that politely but firmly disagrees with their position.
If they're really serious about coming after you, you'll find out soon enough, and you can get a lawyer then.
If you want to build business out of this, send back said response, but respond to the ridiculous points in a snarky way and post the response. Whatever you pay in legal fees, you can justify as PR expense.
Perhaps I'm cynical, but I think that whether the lawyers pursue this has less to do with competency and more to do with their client's willingness to pay for their time. The client may take it personally and be willing to pay good money to tilt at windmills.
I thought lawyers faced fairly serious penalties for knowingly pursuing obviously meritless cases.
Most of the time, a claim must be really egregious for a judge to actually penalize the lawyer for bringing it. Legal ethics rules vary from state to state, but they generally say, in effect, that a lawyer owes every client a duty of zealous advocacy.