I’ve developed a quick, six question survey on consumer attitudes about lawyer advertising.

Click here if you’d like to help us look at the question of lawyer advertising. 

I’m all for free speech and I do think that lawyer advertising is over-restricted by government regulators. Lawyers should be able to do just about anything they want with their ad dollar, as long as the ad is not deceptive or misleading.

The point is that consumers don’t have to like the ads, and if they don’t they don’t have to hire the lawyer, do they? Ads that show gory accident scenes, fistfulls of dollars or talking animals don’t really tell you anything meaningful at all about the lawyers.

Last week the Wall Street Journal did an interesting article on lawyer advertising. As part of the article, they got ahold of this ad. Interesting. Fully protected by the First Amendment.

The question is: Is it helpful to the consumer? I vote: No.

Lawyer Helping Space Invaders Ad.

7. Beware of any attorney who contacts you in writing just after you have had an accident for the sole purpose of soliciting your claim. If you are contacted “cold” it should be for the sole purpose of providing you free information that you can study in your own home on your own time, not soliciting your case.

8. Beware of any attorney who has a stable of doctors he wants to refer you to. You can tell who these attorneys are by the rack of doctors’ cards they keep in their office. Local judges have said that when an attorney makes a referral of a client to a doctor for a garden variety case, this is the ‘kiss of death’ for that case. It’s OK to get a referral to a specialist health care provider, but run from any attorney who has a stack of doctor or chiropractor cards in his office.

4. Your local bar association probably has a lawyer referral service. Understand that lawyers have signed up and paid a fee to be listed in certain specialties. Their names come up on a rotating basis. This is another good source for an initial appointment. Just take the questions we talk about here to that interview. Call and ask for the written information that I mentioned above.

5. Interview several attorneys. Ask each attorney who else handles these cases in your area. If they won’t give you any names, leave. Ask this question of each attorney. The names you see showing up on various lists of recommendations are probably good bets for attorneys doing these cases on a regular basis in your area. This is probably the best way to find the attorney who is right for you.

6. Be careful about any attorney who rushes you to sign a contingent fee agreement. A contingent fee is not the right fee for every type of personal injury case. You should take the agreement home, read it and understand it. We have heard of instances where fee agreements are delivered by courier within hours of the time you first call the attorney’s office. That’s right, before you even have had a chance to meet with the attorney. This is outrageous. Beware of “runners.”  A “runner” hangs out at the police station or listens to police radio to “run” to accident scenes or hospital rooms to encourage victims to sign contracts with attorneys. Outrageous does not begin to describe this practice!

So, How do You Find Out Who is Good in Your Area?
Here Are Some Tips:

1. Get our book, The Truth about Lawyer Advertising.  It will teach you how to “read” the ads.

2.  Get a referral from an attorney that you know. He or she will probably know someone who does specialize in your area of need. If you need an attorney an area of practice that we don’t do, call us, we’ll help you find the right lawyer for your case.

3. The Yellow Pages can actually be a good source of names. Understand three things, however: First, not everyone advertises in the Yellow Pages.

Second, be careful about the ads that tout too many different specialties, no one can do everything well.

Third, be careful about the full-page ads. This advertising typically attracts a lot of frivolous cases that can overwhelm an attorney. Make sure that the attorney you hire is selective enough with his or her cases that your important case does not become just one more file in the pile. We know several law firms that went out of business buried under the “weight” of full page Yellow Page ads.

How do you find out who in your local community is the best for your case? I believe that there are certain questions to ask that will lead you to the best person for your case—no matter what type of claim you have. It may involve some time on your part, but that’s OK because the decision as to who your attorney will be is very important.
The world of personal injury claims is, in my opinion, much too specialized for someone who does not regularly handle these cases. Too many times we have looked at cases that other—inexperienced—attorneys have handled. Sometimes they were divorce or criminal attorneys trying to help out a client. That’s just no good. Get a specialist.

You should be aware that the insurance companies who defend personal injury and accident cases know who the attorneys are in your area who actually go into court to try cases and who do not. The insurance companies use that information to evaluate their risk. One of the first questions some insurance adjusters will ask when a serious claim comes in is: who is representing the plaintiff? I’ve heard insurance defense lawyers laugh as they head for trial against one of these attorneys! Its like shooting fish in a barrel for them.

If this information is important to the insurance company, shouldn’t it be important to you?

Choosing an attorney to represent you is an important but daunting task. The decision certainly should not be made on the basis of advertising alone. The Yellow Pages are filled with ads—all of which say basically the same thing. You should not hire based solely on advertising—anyone can buy a slick commercial. Heck, you shouldn’t even hire my law firm until you trust that we can do a good job for you.

I’ll discuss this over the next few posts.

Ever seen a lawyer ad that said that? I see them all the time. TV…Radio…Yellow Pages…

What, exactly does it mean? Do you find it helpful in making a determination as to which attorney to hire?

I’m guessing you wouldn’t find an ad that says “I care and will work for you” very helpful, either.

After all, isn’t that what you would expect to hear from a lawyer soliciting your business?

That’s why I wrote The Truth About Lawyer Advertising.

Here’s something I found on YouTube.com. It’s one of the reasons we wrote the Truth About Lawyer Advertising.