Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Stinky Link Bait.


Here's a good example of a well optimized press release dangling bad link bait:

Chicago Trial Attorneys Win $7 Million Verdict in Defamation of Character Lawsuit for Former Bears Kicker

Joseph A. Power, Jr., and his partner Todd A. Smith, Chicago trial attorneys at Power, Rogers & Smith, successfully upheld the rights of Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice, a former Bears Kicker, in one of the more important defamation court cases in recent years.

Chicago, IL (PRWeb) November 21, 2006 -- Premier
Chicago trial attorneys, Joe Power, Jr., and Todd Smith, founding partners of Chicago-based personal injury powerhouse Power, Rogers& Smith, won $7 million in a defamation lawsuit on behalf of Chief Justice Robert R. Thomas of the Illinois Supreme Court.

The Chief Justice alleged in his defamation court case, #04LK013 filed in Kane City, Il, that anewspaper columnist and the columnist's publication, the Kane County Chronicle, defamed him and his character by making false statements and, in particular, by falsely accusing him of a felony in a series of articles written in 2003. The Chronicle's columns had accused thechief justice of interfering in the disciplinary case of a former Kane County state's attorney."

Defamation court cases are critical to the person who has been defamed. I am very pleased that the jury understood how important it was to the Chief Justice to show that the columnist and the newspaper defamed his character," says Mr. Power.

Power argued as part of the defamation of character lawsuit that Chief Justice Thomas was significantly hurt by the newspaper's allegations. Not only did the newspaper damage his reputation but it also damaged his ability to get a high-paying job with a prestigious law firm when his Supreme Court term was up.

The allegations go to the heart of what a judge is, and that is integrity, as he told the jurors.

Mr. Power, in the chief justice's
defamation of character lawsuit, had asked the jury to award his client money for damages, lost potential income, damage to his reputation, and compensation for the public humiliation that he suffered as a result of the false articles that the newspaper penned.

Mr. Power and Chicago trial attorneys of Power, Rogers & Smith have been winning major sums for clients for nearly 30 years in a wide variety of tort and personal injury caseson behalf of their clients.About Power, Rogers & Smith: The plaintiff's law firm of Power, Rogers & Smith has been fighting and winning the hard fight for more than a quarter of a century. Armed with the best Chicagotrial attorneys in the state and the country, Power, Rogers & Smith has recovered more than $260 million on behalf of their clients in the past two years alone. Many of the law firm's medical malpractice, product liability, defamation court cases, and wrongful death cases have been featured in newspapers and on television screens across America. The personal injury lawyersat Power, Rogers & Smith have been winning some of the largest verdicts and settlements in the state and the nation.
http://www.prslaw.com

While I give them two points for doing a good job on optimizing the release, they get a BIG thumbs down for dum-ass use of teaser link bait.

I mean, come on...what were they thinking when they used "Former Bear Kicker" in the headline? The man being defended was an Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice, that's him in the middle of the picture. Don't you think a law firm would know "Chief Justice" trumps "Kicker" in any situation?

On top of that, adding "Former Bear Kicker" to the headline pretty much assures a loss of female readership; most women aren't interested in the exploits of an old football player and won't bother to read on.

Neither would a lot of men I bet, we're all a little jaded to the idiotic exploits of professional athletes and care even less about lawsuits and court cases. Yawn.

So two points to the ambulance - I mean link chasers for the optimization efforts but boo to the wormy headline. Keep in mind headlines need to appeal to a wide demographic and focus on getting the reader to keep reading, not stop before they start.

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