An insidious and illegal takeover of personal injury law is almost complete, and lawyers and law firms who have refused to buckle under and pay for illegally gotten cases are breathing their death throes. Unless we shine a light on it, and stop it, the very integrity of our legal profession will continue to erode—one illegally solicited client at a time. And the quality of service provided to the consumer will decline as these unethical lawyers take the first offer and move on down the road to their next ill-gotten case, often failing to negotiate medical bills, and leaving the injured party financially upside-down. I have seen this happen more than a few times.
Crime syndicates—yes, actual organized criminal enterprises—are exploiting digital tools and vulnerable people to engage in a sophisticated form of barratry. These aren’t just shady hustlers working street corners or slipping into hospital rooms. These are private equity-backed operations deploying AI to scrape police reports, ambulance records, and even tow truck logs in real-time. Before the injured person even arrives at the ER, their phone is lighting up with unsolicited texts, calls, or DMs pressuring them to “sign here” with a simple tap.
Let’s be clear: this is not legal marketing. This is crime.
IT’S AGAINST THE LAW
In Texas, barratry—defined as the illegal solicitation of professional employment—is a crime punishable by both criminal and civil penalties. Currently it is a misdemeanor for the first offense and a felony for subsequent offenses. And the stakes are about to get higher. On September 1, 2025, two new Texas laws—HB 4325 and HB 2733—will take effect, and with them, a long-overdue reckoning.
New Laws, Higher Stakes
HB 4325 increases the civil penalty for barratry to $50,000 per occurrence. That’s $50,000 for each illegally solicited case. And that recovery belongs to the person illegally solicited—and to the lawyer who sues on their behalf.
HB 2733 brings the law into the digital age, clarifying that barratry via social media, AI, and other digital communications is just as illegal as the old-fashioned kind. It aligns the Penal Code with the State Bar’s disciplinary rules, ensuring that digital ambulance chasing carries real consequences.
These updates signal a turning tide. But it won’t turn fast enough without courage from within the profession. Some personal injury firms are already in their death throes, making the invitation to succumb to an illegal lifeline more tempting.
When I served as District Attorney in Waco, my motto was “Courage to do what’s right—not what’s easy.” That motto is more relevant today than ever. I understand the pressure lawyers are under. My firm’s intakes are down 70% from last year. And every week I hear about another lawyer I used to admire who has begun buying cases from illegal lead-generation mills all the while knowing it’s a crime.
Let me say this plainly: if you are paying for illegally solicited cases, you are committing barratry. No loophole, no technicality, no sales pitch from some slick lead-gen rep can change that. It’s against the law.
To the Lawyers on the Edge
I urge: don’t give in. Stay the course. Things will turn around, and you’ll want to still have your law license when it does. The clients who come through the front door are the ones you can truly serve and take pride in helping. When you break the law to get a case, you’ve already failed the person you claim to represent.
To the Honest Lawyers Still Holding the Line
Fight back. Sue the crooked lead generation operators. And sue the lawyers who buy these tainted leads. They’re the kind of lawyers that give the rest of us a bad name. Under the new law, the civil reward for doing the right thing will soon be $50,000 per case. That makes it worth your while to file suit. After all, it’s $20,000 more than your typical $30,000 car wreck case. And venue can be maintained in the county where the wreck happened or the county of the plaintiff’s residence rather than the county where the offending lawyer resides.
Build your case against them, file a grievance with the State Bar of Texas, and turn them in to your D.A. or County Attorney and demand prosecution. This is a big enough problem that it requires all of us in the profession working together.
To the Public
Ask yourself: if someone breaks the law to get your case, how can you trust them to protect your rights?
So, if someone texts you or cold calls you about your wreck, hang up. Contact a lawyer about bringing suit against them for the $50,000 civil penalty. You don’t have to have signed a contract to recover, and if you did sign a contract, it can be rescinded. All that’s required is that you were unlawfully solicited. Even if the case is already over, you can sue for the statutory penalty and for any money the offending lawyer was paid on their contingent fee. With a commercial wreck, that could be a substantial amount of money.
Specific Examples
Last year we were contacted by a former client who had just been in another wreck. While still in the emergency room in Waco, Texas, and before she could contact her family, she got a call from her mother in New York City. “Honey, have you been in a wreck?” she asked. “I just got a call from a man telling me you were in a wreck, and you have to call him immediately.” It was from a lead generation company.
Another time, our client was unconscious in the hospital with major injuries from a wreck. Her husband heard her cellphone ringing in her purse and answered it. A man told him he was with a company that assists people in car accidents, and he needed to double-click the side button on her phone now to receive important information about her wreck. He did, and in doing so, he was unaware he had signed a digital contract on her behalf. After engaging our firm, we were informed by the insurance company that she already had another lawyer. When we contacted the law firm asking them to rescind their illegal contract, they were aggressive and threatened me with a grievance for trying to steal their client. When our client filed a grievance with the State Bar against them for barratry, they sent a withdrawal letter to the insurance company, and we were able to resolve her case.
In another instance, we were hired by a client after she got a drop letter from a Houston lawyer on the lawyer’s letterhead. Our client told us the Houston lawyer had cold-called her, and she signed the contract by double-clicking her phone. The reason given for the drop was there was no insurance coverage. After a couple of phone calls, we located a policy that covered the wreck. We wanted to get to the bottom of the situation, so we called the Houston lawyer and asked him why he dropped the case. He told us he had never heard of our client and did not send the letter. He was shocked and appalled someone was using his name and letterhead without his consent.
And the list goes on.
Other Practice Areas Are in Jeopardy
Just this week I saw advertisements on social media offering pre-signed contracts for sale to lawyers in the areas of Bankruptcy, Storm Damage, and Estate Planning. Lead generation companies often prey on the bereaved, contacting them when they feel most vulnerable. It is a lucrative, and most often illegal, business. One advertisement offered the first ten pre-signed cases for free. I’ve seen similar ads for chiropractors servicing personal injury clients.
If you are contemplating signing up with a lead generation company, make them show you how they obtain their leads. Make them give you a notarized affidavit affirming they are not initiating the first contact. The affidavit might be helpful to your defense if complaints are subsequently filed against you.
This is not just about statutes and penalties. It’s about the soul of the legal profession. And it’s time we took it back.
Vic Feazell is a 1979 graduate of Baylor School of Law. He is senior partner in The Law Offices of Vic Feazell P.C. with offices in Austin and Waco. He is in the Guinness Book of World Records for a libel verdict tried by him and Attorney Gary Richardson of Tulsa. His career is featured in numerous books and in the Netflix Documentary: The Confession Killer. He was the 2025 recipient of the Capital Area Trial Lawyers Association’s Scott Ozmun Trial Lawyer of the Year Award.