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May 01, 2008

Santa Fe Attorney Is Shining Example of How Not to Promote Yourself!

I received another solicitation letter from Santa Fe, NM and Nevada City, CA attorney C. William Sutherland dated April 21, 2008. As covered in my August 19, 2007 post attorney Sutherland once gave us all a business lesson on how NOT to make a good first impression.

1. Fast forward and we now have a case of bad second impression which started with an envelope addressed to 4structured.com, LLC. If Sutherland found my name from our company web site, state registration or on the web he would have discovered that the name is 4structures.com, LLC

2 The obviously geographically deficient Sutherland says he will be visiting Florida soon and would like to visit me while he's "in my area". Looks like the attorney doesnt know "Northerland" from Sutherland. How about state laws?

2. Had Sutherland properly qualified his prospects and read the 4structures.com, LLC website page on selling structured settlement payment (rights) he would have learned that my firm would not need a "cash now pushers" lawyer for legal representation for structured settlement factoring transactions. This latent "efficency" is underwhelming.

3. Then of course he's STILL using the typo laced cheapo computer generated brochure he was using 8 1/2 months ago. Conceptually reminds me of the great "Big Red Buffalo Boob" that Forge Consulting used at both the 2006 ATLA Annual and 2007 AAJ Winter meetings. Crikey! What moron spells the word "dedicated", "deadicated"?   Download sutherland_esq_typo_laced_brochure_sent_8142007.pdf  AND Download sutherland_esq_typo_laced_brochure_envelope_and_letter_sent_04212008.pdf

4. And of course how about "ltigation" support and a missing possessive apostrophe?

5. How can Sutherland claim with a straight face that it is "reliable", "dependable" and "gives confidence" when the brochure STILL contains a display of the grammatical insufficiency that a 6th or 7th grader could easily better.

6. Then there's STILL the California FAX number he uses which he shares with this law firm and this company named Duocor. For $10 a month this Sutherland could have had an EFAX number.

Good thing I'm not a "cash now pusher". Attorney William Sutherland wouldn't meet my standards for attention to detail for serving up this slop. 

The lesson to be learned is to proofread your marketing materials and your prospecting letters and qualify your prospects.

Posted at 12:23 AM in Settlement Advertising Wall of Shame, Structured Settlement Factoring, Structured Settlement Transfers |

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  • STRUCTURED SETTLEMENTS 4REAL® Blog Is a Popular Source of Structured Settlement News and Information, Settlement Planning News, Tax Deferral and Deferred Income Planning Solutions,
    with a stable readership that seeks credible structured settlement information and/or opinion about topical issues related to settlement planning, targeted to lawyers, injured persons and their family members, guardians, survivors, judges, magistrates, special masters, mediators, administrators, trust companies, insurance company executives and adjusters, financial advisers settlement professionals, financial professionals, insurance regulators, government leaders, federal and state law enforcement, buyers and sellers of structured settlement payment rights, the news media and other interested parties. 4structures.com LLC established the structured settlement blog in 2005 and for over 16 years it has been a leading source for critical commentary. The John Darer authored blog has been among the most prolific, regularly providing fresh structured settlement, settlement planning and litigation recovery management content and commentary. John Darer®, CLU ChFC MSSC CeFT® RSP CLTC, President of Stamford, CT based 4structures.com, LLC, is an experienced New York City area structured settlement expert, structured settlement broker, Certified Financial Transitionist, and Registered Settlement Planner. In his capacity as a journalist, and professionally, Darer passionately believes that exposing a business practice is both healthy and newsworthy. It is in the best interest of tort victims, their families and their legal advisers, that the settlement planning discussion involve those that are properly trained in the topic, properly informed on the topic and, with respect to structured settlements, properly licensed and/or appointed). It has significant instructional and deterrent value to other practitioners and firms as well as those who may be caught in the cross hairs. WHAT YOU GET here is the straight stuff with a touch of irreverence and humor. We hope you enjoy and find the content to be helpful. Subscribe to the structured settlement blog feed, or a specific category feed through your blog reader, or through the Feedburner icon on this page. Followers of JDDarer™ on Twitter may also receive select content. Thank you for reading!

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Structured Settlement Best Practices Corner

  • New York Insurance Advertising law requires the full name of the Insurer to be listed along with the city and state of the principal office. Stating that you represent these fine companies using Insurance company logos without the preceding information are also illegal
  • When it comes to settlement documents it is the ultimate responsibility of the lawyers or claims adjusters who receive input concerning the structured settlement aspects of the documents to actually read the entire document, exercise independent thought and advise their clients properly
  • Be aware that financial advisors use of testimonials is prohibited or restricted
  • Most states require that Testimonials represent the CURRENT opinion of the person who made the testimonial. Be prepared to back it up.
  • Number of States That Prohibit Payment of QSF expenses by licensed agents and brokers
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