Have you seen Wayne Dolcefino’s latest investigation into lawyers gaming online reviews? The Circle Jerk
Unbelievable.
Has anyone else watched Wayne Dolcefino’s latest “Circle Jerk” investigation?
Video: https://youtu.be/CPxpeCqlU1Y
It raises a question I think is worth discussing here: How much can consumers actually trust online lawyer reviews?
The investigation looks at lawyers reviewing other lawyers, friends and business associates leaving glowing reviews, questionable reviewer profiles, and negative client reviews allegedly being challenged or removed.
That matters because most people looking for an attorney have no idea who to hire. They Google a lawyer, see 4.9 stars and dozens of glowing reviews, and assume those reviews represent satisfied clients.
But what if a meaningful number of those reviewers were never clients?
And what happens when a real client leaves a 1-star review and the lawyer successfully gets it removed—or enough 5-star reviews appear afterward that the complaint effectively disappears?
Has anyone here experienced this firsthand?
Did you hire a highly rated attorney and later wonder how their reviews could possibly be so good?
Even more interesting: Did you leave a negative review and then have the attorney try to get it taken down?
I’d especially like to hear from former clients, attorneys, or anyone familiar with how Google/Yelp handle complaints from law firms.
This seems like an issue worth digging into beyond just one investigation.