A man from Maryland’s Eastern Shore saw my name on the web and called to ask if I would represent him in a legal case. I explained that I retired from practicing law seven years ago and no longer accept clients.
His response: “But you’re on the internet.”
Rule One: Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.
No rule that regulates lawyers and legal practice would prevent any lawyer currently licensed in Maryland from taking the case, absent a conflict of interest. If a lawyer licensed in another state wanted to handle the Eastern Shore resident’s lawsuit, he could apply to waive into Maryland for the specific case. But as a practical matter, travel time might be a consideration for an out-of-state attorney, who would reasonably expect to be paid for his time.
About getting off the internet. I had taken down my website shortly after retiring. The effort was apparently successful, as it no longer comes up in searches. But it is difficult to correct outdated or inaccurate information on search engines such as Google. The top five listings for me from a recent Google search all contain information that implies I am still in practice, although a sidebar correctly lists my former office as “permanently closed.”
So, we can fix this if we just contact Google and ask customer relations to remove or change the inaccurate information, right? Google’s telephone number for businesses, 1-877-243-4195, connects callers to a representative, who will inform you that you can have incorrect information de-listed for a $360 charge. That is $360 more than I paid to have the information listed originally.
You can click on “Google my business help” to try to correct an inaccurate listing, but the website pops up saying, “One or more of [my] business listings aren’t published. Complete the verification process to show your business listing on maps and search.”
The notice appears to mean that to correct inaccurate information, you must first be verified, supply an outdated listing for the search engine to publish and then attempt to remove the outdated listing.
To verify your business listing by mail, “Google My Business” advises you to enter information for verification. The search engine will then send you a postcard that gains you access to a website where you can begin verifying your business listing. I cannot report whether the process works to correct inaccurate information. Reason for failure to test the process: fear of winding up with two incorrect listings.
A Google search failed to turn up contact information for individuals to correct inaccurate information about themselves.
To be fair, a December 2018 count showed Google had an average 2 trillion searches a year, making it first among multi-platform web properties in the United States. Google averaged 63,000 searches per second in 2018, which provides an idea of what it would be like for the search engine operator to deal with the problem of correcting inaccurate individual information.
Donna Engle is a retired Westminster attorney. Reach her with questions or feedback at 410-840-2354 or denglelaw@gmail.com. Her column, which provides legal information but not legal advice, appears on the second and fourth Sunday each month in Life & Times.