Law Firm Sues Ex-Paralegal for “False Review”

Michael Weston, of Weston & Associates in Bellaire, Texas, hired Amber Williams as a paralegal in October 2010 and fired her for insubordination in November 2010. On March 3, Mr. Weston did a Google search of his firm and pulled up a review on Citysearch.com that warned prospective clients to find another firm. The review was posted in November 2010 under the name “jon77088,” which was traced to Amber Williams’ husband, Jon Williams.

Upon request, Citysearch.com removed the review. Mr. Weston and his firm filed a defamation suit against the Williams’ for the fraudulent posting and seek more than $1.25 million in damages for lost profits, damage to reputation, and punitive damages. Mr. Weston doesn’t know how many clients and prospective clients viewed the review over the several months that it was posted, but he knows that reputation means everything if you’re a lawyer.

To prevent future similar occurrences, Mr. Weston set up Google alerts so that he will know when something is posted online about him or the firm. “There’s one small problem with that, Weston notes: The main character in the USA television series ‘Burn Notice’ is named Michael Westen, so most of the alerts are about that fictional character.”

Brenda Sapino Jeffreys, Lawyer, Firm File Suit Over “False Review”, Texas Lawyer, Mar. 28, 2011.