U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg granted the injunction to Atlanta-based personal injury firm Montlick & Associates in a consent order she signed against Exclusive Legal Marketing (ELM). She found the Texas-based marketing company purchased use of Montlick’s trademark, firm name and common misspellings of ‘Montlick’ from Google as search engine keywords.

That way, when potential clients were searching for Montlick or some variation online, they would actually be directed to ELM telephone operators. Then, those employees would surreptitiously try to direct callers to personal injury firms under contract with ELM for its marketing services. Furthermore, ELM was also found to have used those keywords to generate online advertisements that targeted consumers when they searched onilne for 'Montlick.'

The injunction bars the marketing company from directly or indirectly bidding on, purchasing and targeting online ads based on the keywords ELM purchased. Moreover, ELM is forever barred from misusing office backgrounds emulating those used by Montlick in its online ads. The marketing company must also discontinue its practice of channeling Montlick’s potential clients to ELM’s clients.

Mark VanderBroek, Montlick’s Atlanta attorney, has been quoted as saying ELM’s practices "an online version of the bait-and-switch scheme."

In the lawsuit, ELM was found to have crafted online ads in such a way that potential clients assumed they had successfully contacted the Montlick firm when, in fact, they had reached an ELM call center. Operators were trained to answer the telephone in a generic manner so that callers did not realize they had not reached the Montlick firm.

If a caller inquired whether they had actually reached Montlick & Associates, operators were trained to dodge the question and distract the caller by asking for additional information. Then, the ELM representative would text or email a contract for legal services that the potential client could sign online.

The name of the law firm for whom ELM was trolling for clients was included in the contract in very small print that most people overlooked, thinking they were hiring the Montlick firm.

Joseph Kershaw Dreitler is a Columbus attorney who was the first to successfully sue ELM for its deceptive practices. His clients were two prominent Columbus personal attorneys whose names, web addresses and more were improperly usurped by ELM.

In March 2017, Kershaw Dreitler sued ELM and another defendant in the Southern District of Ohio, claiming the defendants misappropriated the law firm's trademarks and redirected potential clients using the same tactics employed in the Montlick matter.

This past February, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Watson of the Southern District of Ohio issued a consent order and permanent injunction barring ELM from mentioning the plaintiffs in any online ads. The defendant was also ordered to pay the plaintiffs $13,897 in legal fees.

According to Kershaw Dreitler, the Montlick matter is "one more case that is establishing precedent that attorneys who 'purchase' the registered trademark names of other attorneys for the purpose of obtaining clients seeking those well-known lawyers are engaging in trademark infringement and violation of rights of publicity." 

Tami Kamin Meyer is an Ohio attorney and writer.