Demand Letters to Hair Salons? Bald Extortion!

03/27/08

That's what a lawyer in New Hampshire found out, much to his shock. Daniel Hynes sent some letters to some local hair salons. When he showed up to collect the money, there was a nice posse of police officers, who collected him.


What had he done? Well, he threatened to sue a salon for pricing haircuts differently for men and women and stated in his letter, "I demand payment in the amount of $1,000 in order to avoid litigation." He argued at trial that the price structure he saw was discriminatory and had caused him stress and mental anguish, even though the prices were less for men than women. He claimed that he was being denied an "inherent benefit in being treated equally."

Apparently, he was deeply concerned; the state attorney general found out he'd sent letters to at least 19 different hair salons.

Needless to say, the jury was not convinced and took an astonishing one and a half hours to convict him. The astonishing bit is that it took them that long. Hynes faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $2,000 fine. But he's also likely to be reviewed by the New Hampshire Bar Association, which I personally predict won't turn out for him.

Hynes plans to appeal, claiming that his conviction goes against the first amendment and his right to petition the courts. Good luck with that, Mr. Hynes. As the state attorney general said, if Hynes was so concerned with salon hair-pricing structures, his letters could have been sent without demanding money.

It appears as well that Hynes got his degree to do exactly this. He graduated in 2006, he was admitted in November of 2006, and these letters started showing up in hair salons the next month.

This case does have some implications for other attorneys. Hynes didn't have any clients, which was why he was forced to come up with reasons he himself was deeply offended. But many attorneys, as part of their job, send out lots of demand letters. On their face, they demand money, or they threaten a lawsuit. In effect, it becomes "Pay up now, or I'll sue, and you'll pay that plus what I want from you now."

Demand letters are more than a little extortionate. Yet they are usually legal. So what happened in this case? Well, it was ridiculous on its face, and the lawyer sent out 19 demand letters. Plus, he had no client involved. So beware, and make sure your letters are not extortion!