4. Can You Identify the Different Types of Internet Attorneys?
There are several different types of Internet lawyers. If you can’t identify the kind you’re dealing with, there’s a good chance you’ll pick the wrong one to represent your business.
Defamation Lawyers
There are lawyers who like to represent plaintiffs or defendants in civil lawsuits. Sometimes they specialize in defamation (libel and slander) cases. As the Internet has grown, these attorneys have found clients to represent who have been defamed online or have been accused of defamation.
These attorneys are not really Internet lawyers but are instead trial lawyers (litigators) who represent individuals and some businesses in lawsuits involving defamation. The fact that the defamation occurred on the Internet instead of in a printed newspaper or on television really isn’t very relevant to these lawyers.
Business Trial Lawyers (Litigators)
There are trial attorneys who focus on handling civil lawsuits involving businesses. These can be anything from contract disputes to ownership issues. Although they may handle online defamation cases too, their focus is primarily normal business disputes.
Few focus on the Internet exclusively. Instead, most Internet business litigators will represent your company in court whether or not e-commerce is part of the dispute.
Good business trial lawyers have transferable skills that can persuade a judge or jury on your behalf regardless of what’s at stake. Ideally, however, you want legal counsel who understands your Internet business enough to have a competitive advantage in the courtroom against a trial attorney on the other side who doesn’t.
What’s The Down Side To Trial Lawyers?
They’re a hammer looking for a nail to hit…and everything looks like a nail.
In other words, because they’re skilled at going to court, they’re heavily biased toward using lawsuits to solve business disputes that might otherwise be resolved to your satisfaction without ever getting involved in a lawsuit in the first place.
Remember — lawsuits are expensive. Avoid them unless absolutely necessary.
This means that when you are hunting for an Internet trial lawyer to represent your business, you’ll want one who has the experience to win in a court room…but also the wisdom to recognize sometimes you’re better served by settling your dispute without a lawsuit or before trial.
