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These Lawyer Ads Do Not Represent Our Profession

By Steve Lombardi

This series on the public's perception about lawyers is into its 4^th day and I'll probably take the day off tomorrow. Not to play golf, because I don't play golf. [Oops, after Tiger's public image destruction can we still talk about golf?] I work too hard solving my client's problems to learn to play golf. Golf is something defense lawyers and insurance adjusters do while they are promoting and managing the insurance float. That float is your money. It's the premium dollars you've paid the insurance company that they set aside in a reserve and invest and then go off to relax while playing the delay game. The float, as it's called, is the bread and butter of the insurance industry. Taking time off to play golf promotes the float because while they aren't paying it to injured people it's earning them money. Other people's money has worked for Wall Street and Float Street for centuries. While they delay your claim, the float is earning a return for the insurance company executives and stockholders, but mostly for executive bonus and the building of massive buildings for CEO ego trips. But today I really didn't intend to talk about them, because today we need to talk about lawyer advertising that really, in my mind, is in poor taste.

These videos are on YouTube and I have no idea if they are done by real lawyers or if they were done by others feeding the public's faulty perception of how they think most lawyers think and behave. Just so you know, 99.99% of us don't think or act like this. We are too busy doing what we were trained to do for clients with real problems and legal concerns. Many of us do personal injury work and there is a good reason; because there are so many injuries caused by irresponsible people and companies. Did you know that there are more injuries than there are lawsuits? You see there are too many lawsuits because there are too many injured people. Saying there are too many lawsuits therefore it must the lawyers who should be blamed is similar to saying let's blame the doctors for all the cancer cases. It makes no sense.

Let's get to the videos.

He's the Hammer and who is the nail.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62xreSr25uI

He's the Avenger.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eEg9Ic3OVQ

He's the sausage maker.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9J4-PA3vwE

But in California call "The Switchblade".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS2YOtLLK-4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJtGt_xiYE0

Here is a divorce lawyer in Florida telling you how to get rid of that 'vermin you call a spouse'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1Qk6QPzuIc

How about practicing like Billy H. Barker! He's never won a case.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo3eh_IRVJk

If these are real lawyers then each needs to reconsider what they are doing to our profession and how this type of advertising damages it. The law is honorable; but is this respectable legal advertising?

But we are also engineers of our reputations; and when what we do in advertising can damage the reputation of our profession; and when that happens, perhaps it's time to take a good hard look at the ad copy.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Steve Lombardi

Full post as published by Des Moines Personal Injury Lawyer on December 17, 2009 (boomark / email).