And for the record, I am not that attorney.
I found an attorney within 30 miles of my office of whom I can determine the following facts.
1) He was sworn in in 2006 in this state, and appears to have been at one point an Assistant State’s Attorney.
2) Per his website, another defunct website that once did broad travel survey videos and maybe other media has opined him to be the Best or “a Best” [sic] Baltimore attorney for DWI work and criminal defense and allegedly has done so since 2009. I find this surprising, since the bulk of the DWI defense bar has more experience than he does and presumably he had to work at least one year after licensure as an Assistant State’s Attorney before he could become the “Best.”
I know whom I would vote as among the best – certainly not myself, as I believe I am solid and competent but hardly “the best” in criminal defense and traffic work. I would probably name at first blush, inter alia, Maryland attorneys Leonard Stamm, Leonard Shapiro, Gary Bernstein, Barry Helfand, Tom Morrow, Kenneth Ravenell, Arnold Weiner as among the best, and perhaps Tom Mooney within my younger generation. While most of these attorneys are not “in Baltimore” i.e. the city, neither is the attorney to whom this blog post makes reference. Many of these attorneys have conducted CLE or published or edited peer-reviewed professional materials for the Bar and Bench.
3) His blog repeats his name in most of its blog post titles next to the terms ______________ DWI Attorney – e.g. “Westminster DUI Attorney – _______________ Attorney-At-Law.” Hard-core SEO flawgtastica.
4) The attorney has an endorsement from another law firm that I do respect, and may in fact be very knowledgeable about his practice area.
There are two problems with flawging. One is that it probably misleads the unsophisticated client or prospective client in violation of consumer protection principles and . The second is that it camouflages what may be actual, bona fide professional talent. When you see flawging, it’s hard to pierce through the fog and smoke to see the good that may actually be there. Perversely, I would be inclined not to make a referral to this fellow even though he may be more knowledgeable than I am; the problem is the smokescreen.