Law firm sues former client over bad online review

A law firm in the US has lost after taking a 20-year-old nursing student to court over a bad online review.

Lan Cai was involved in a car accident when driving home from a 1.30am waitressing shift earlier this year.

She was hit by a drunk driver and then immediately struck by another car, breaking two bones in her lower back.

Having never been in a major accident before, Ms Cai hired Tuan A Khuu Law Firm in Houston.

However, she believed they had offered a less-than-satisfactory service and posted reviews online saying as much.

"They came to my house and into my room to talk to me when I was in my underwear," Ms Cai said.

The law firm refute this and told Click2Houston that Ms Cai's mother invited them in.

"They didn't know where the hell my car was," Ms Cai added.

Lawyer Keith Nguyen also refutes this, claiming they knew where the car was all along.

The law firm were demanding between $134,000 and $168,000 - more than 100 times what Ms Cai had in her bank account.

But luckily, lawyer Michael Fleming took on Ms Cai's case pro-bono.

Mr Fleming filed a motion arguing that Ms Cai's social media complaints were true and she couldn't do much to damage the reputation of a firm which already had multiple poor reviews.

The judge agreed and ordered the firm to pay $36,000 to Ms Cai for her attorneys' fees.

"We are very happy with the judge’s correct ruling in this case," Mr Fleming told Ars Technica.

"Texas law specifically protects folks who are exercising their free speech rights and the statute was appropriately applied in this situation. People should be free to express their opinions without the threat of a lawsuit."