Judge sanctions LegalMatch over 'appalling' discovery behavior

A San Francisco judge called the client-lawyer connection website LegalMatch's discovery behavior "appalling" and issued sanctions in the company's dispute with the State Bar over the disclosure of lawyers who used the website.

The bar had filed motions to compel the production of documents several months ago, which would reveal the identities of attorneys who matched with clients on the website, LegalMatch argued in court on May 20. Superior Court Judge Ethan P. Schulman noted that LegalMatch is required to keep records of lawyers who are on the website's panel.

The issue started in 2019 when the 1st District Court of Appeal deemed LegalMatch to be a lawyer referral service, rather than an advertiser, requiring it to register with the bar under California Business and Professions Code Section 6155. Jackson v. LegalMatch.com, 2019 DJDAR 11045, (Cal. App. 1st Dist., Nov. 26, 2019).

Schulman said that LegalMatch had been engaged in gamesmanship while the bar acted in good faith. LegalMatch tried to avoid giving out the information, saying that it would violate the privacy of attorneys, despite a stipulated protective order. LegalMatch also objected to the vagueness of the word "referral," which the court already addressed in 2019, Schulman wrote.

"The gamesmanship by LegalMatch.com is both evident and appalling," Schulman wrote and sanctioned the company $10,000. State Bar of California v. LegalMatch.com, CGC-20-584278, (San Francisco Super. Ct., May 4, 2020).