Lawyer's Web links to club tragedies raise questions

By Ameet Sachdev
Chicago Tribune staff reporter

March 5, 2003

When you typed "E2 nightclub" into Yahoo's search engine, you got more than 1,100 matches,
mostly news stories about last month's tragedy at the Chicago night spot.

You also got an ad from Chicago personal-injury law firm Kenneth B. Moll & Associates Ltd.

Moll's Web site popped up again, linked to "Station Nightclub" where nearly 100 people were
killed in Rhode Island a few days after E2's stampede.

The links to the law firm's Web site represent a novel marketing ploy. Professional conduct
codes prohibit lawyers from direct solicitations.

For instance, the Illinois State Bar Association warned lawyers to back off from E2 victims'
families after reports circulated that some lawyers were camping out near the Cook County medical
examiner's office.

Still, some legal experts wonder whether Moll's advertising crossed the line. Tuesday night
Kenneth Moll pulled the ads after a Tribune reporter questioned him about their propriety.

"My own visceral reaction is negative," said Larry Marshall, a law professor and ethics expert
at Northwestern University School of Law. "I suspect there are a lot of consumers who share that view who
wouldn't hire a lawyer who is hawking his wares in that manner."

Moll said the ads weren't intended to lure clients. "We want people to know we're investigating
these matters to see if there are witnesses out there who can help us," Moll said. "We're not getting clients from
E2 or Rhode Island.

"We've advised people that we are doing this for free," Moll continued. "If we're not asking for
money, it's not ambulance chasing."

The firm's Web page on the E2 investigation does not indicate that the firm is working for free.
It states that "a class-action lawsuit will be filed shortly against the owners of the club."

Web marketing is not new for lawyers. Most major law firms boast Web sites describing
services. Consumers also can find lawyers through online directories.

Yet Moll's approach seems unique, said Will Hornsby, staff counsel in the division for legal
services at the American Bar Association. "This is probably the first time I've heard of a law firm using a
search engine to seek clients from a specific event," he said.

This kind of advertising is so new, it has not been discussed by Illinois regulators who oversee
attorneys' conduct, said James J. Grogan, chief counsel of the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary
Commission. The commission is an arm of the Illinois Supreme Court.

Grogan said the firm's marketing seemed similar to lawyers sending direct mail or buying
newspaper ads soliciting clients who have suffered from tragedy. Such forms of speech are constitutionally
protected, Grogan said.

Moll's ad displayed above results of the Web search, in a similar type face, and identified with
a phrase like "sponsor matches." It popped up by typing in other search terms such as "Chicago nightclub" or
"E2."

Moll's firm purchased the ads from Overture Services, a provider of search results for Yahoo,
MSN and others. Overture charges advertisers when users click on a link to their site.

Moll currently is facing disciplinary action as a result of not taking down his Web site after he
was suspended for three months from practicing law in 2000. Suspended lawyers cannot market themselves.

Moll was disciplined after pocketing a $60,000 referral fee in 1993 that should have gone to his
former firm. Moll contends that the rule only applies to lawyers suspended for six months or longer.

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