After you found out that your hip replacement is one of the devices recalled by DePuy (either the ASR XL Acetabular System or the ASR Hip Resurfacing System), you likely went online to find out more about the recall and/or to obtain a legal consultation. There are many Web sites that claim to be affiliated with a law firm and offer a free case evaluation. In reality, many of these sites are not designed to connect you with a lawyer, but are commercial operations seeking to obtain your personal information.

When a popular product such as an ASR device is found to be defective or dangerous, the Internet becomes flooded with new Web sites targeting those individuals who may have suffered injuries from the product. In the case of the DePuy recall, as many as 93,000 people are affected by the news, which has led to hundreds, if not thousands, of new sites that offer to review your case in exchange for information such as your name, phone number, street and email addresses, and the circumstantial details of your injury. You may encounter a phrase on these sites such as “complimentary case review” that leads you to believe that the answers to your questions are only a click away.

Unfortunately, sites of this kind are typically not run by a law firm, nor do they have any legal credentials or affiliations at all. Rather, they are operated by a marketing company that solicits your personal information in order to send you advertisements in the future. When you click the “send” or “submit” button thinking you will receive legal advice, you in fact are only setting yourself up to receive unwanted advertisements. And what’s worse is, once your personal information is sent out into cyberspace, the entity soliciting it might turn around and sell it to other companies. While you may receive emails from actual law firms or attorneys, you wanted prompt answers to your questions, not an inbox stuffed with spam.

To avoid this, always read the fine print on a Web site offering legal consultation, including the Terms of Use, Disclaimer, and/or Privacy Policy sections, before you submit any information. In order to receive genuine legal help, only visit sites maintained by actual law firms, such as the Rottenstein Law Group Web site. Taking these precautions will ensure that you end up speaking to an actual hip recall attorney, not a selfish marketing company that only wants to profit from your misfortune.