Top 100 Lawyers in the Galaxy
How about this badge, which you may see this on other lawyers' websites?:
It may even be accompanied by the claim that the lawyer is a "Top 100 lawyer in Houston" or a "Top 100 lawyer in Texas" or even "one of the top 100 lawyers in the U.S.A."
The badge is nonsense, and the claim that it signifies "one of the top 100 lawyers in" some geographic area is false, and means one of three things:
The lawyer is a fool with a fragile ego, and doesn't know what the badge means;
The lawyer is a liar, and thinks you won't know what the badge really means; or
The lawyer has handed his web content off to a marketer, and doesn't care whether it's true or not.
Don't just take my word for this. Walter Reaves of Waco has written about the scam. The "National Trial Lawyers" of Dothan Alabama is a business formed for the purpose of making money while reinforcing lawyers' fragile egos by selling them the opportunity to claim that they are "Top 100." The business sends an invitation to every lawyer in town, and those who become "top 100" are those who pay the $300 annual fee. The company doesn't select for legal ability, but only for foolishness.
On the one hand I feel sorry for those lawyers who pay the money, but on the other hand I think that people should not put their lives in the hands of fools or liars.
(I went and looked at the Top 100 Lawyers directory, and found that the guy from whose site I copied the badge at the top of this post was not listed. He has figured out that he can use the badge without paying the $300 a year, which makes the lawyers who do pay seem even more pathetic.)