Lawyers have now graduated from print-based advertising to video. As solo practitioner Gary Wachtel puts it, “If someone has the opportunity to see a one-to-two minutes video that talks about a legal issue of interest to them, they are more apt to contact that lawyer, especially when they can see the lawyer’s face and demeanonr. It helps them determine whether they can work with the lawyer.”
Many lawyers are using the Yellow Pages of the Internet era, namely: YouTube and Google Video. Consider Terry Crouppen’s spot (“I’m a lawyer… I fix problems.”) or Compton & Compton’s ad (“families helping families) or Leonard Neuman’s ad (protecting the “most important right… the right to collect money.”).
As Mr.Neuman’s video makes plain, these ads sometimes come so close to self-parody it is hard to tell the real ones from the put-ons. And the put-ons are varied and numerous, whether it is a Coke ad “punking” a “real life” lawyer, a fake asbestos lawyer ad (actually fronting for a dating service) or a young talent in a personal injury spoof.
The public attack on lawyers has taken on a more ominous tone in a series of political advertisements in which the mere fact that a candidate is a trial lawyer is treated as a public liability.