Lawyer’s Fee Agreement Gagging Client Reviews Is Illegal–LS Carlson Law v. Sedgwick

Katie Sedgwick is a former client of LS Carlson Law. It sounds like she didn’t love working with them. She negatively reviewed the firm on Yelp. I had difficulty finding the original review. In response, the firm sued her for defamation and breach of contract. The firm enumerated seven allegedly defamatory statements, including “They are either scam artists or complete crooks” and “They are not tough, they are not effective and they will rob you blind.” The lower court held these statements were nonactionable hyperbole and the author’s opinion. Other claims failed because the firm didn’t show they were false. With respect to the contract breach, Section 16 of the firm’s fee agreement said the parties “agree not to directly or indirectly disparage each other either electronically or otherwise.” Because of this, Yelp has flagged the firm’s Yelp business page with a “Questionable Legal Threats” warning: The link goes to the full text of the Superior Court opinion in this case. As every…