LAW SCHOOL PROJECT: Why do attorney's advertise?

[lawstudent123]

I am a law student writing a seminar paper on why attorneys advertise in Buffalo, New York (and other rust belt cities).  However, if you have any opinions, statistics, facts, or quotes of why attorneys advertise and where this could be helpful.  Thank you and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on why lawyers advertise.

[PhilEsq]

I am a law student writing a seminar paper on why attorneys advertise in Buffalo, New York (and other rust belt cities).  However, if you have any opinions, statistics, facts, or quotes of why attorneys advertise and where this could be helpful.  Thank you and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on why lawyers advertise.

I am not sure what statistics you are looking for, but lawyers advertise for the same reason that any other retail or professional business advertises, more business.  Whether, you own a clothing store or you are an accountant or a doctor, advertising will tell the public your services are available and it will bring more business.

Even hospitals and law schools advertise for business.  I hear hospitals advertise all the time on TV and radio to get your business.  Just search for "law school" on Google and you will see law schools advertising for students to to bring their money.

[lawstudent123]

Thank you for responding.  I have interviewed several attorney's in the Rochester and Buffalo, New York area on their opinions, impressions, and experience with regards to plaintiff's personal injury law firm advertising.  What I found is that there is, at the very least, a feeling that while anyone can hang out a shingle and advertising, most lawyer advertising is dominated by a few.  Also, even for firms who receive an overwhelming amount of their business through referrals (anywhere from 80-90%!), some still feel the need to take out Yellow Pages advertising in the six figure range.  I found this to be fascinating.  After the interviews I have more and more questions like is this the norm for other legal markets?  How successful is attorney advertising as far as rate of return on the investment of advertising in dollars?  Is this dogged pursuit of the public's attention beneficial or detrimental to the profession?  Finally, billboards which question drivers with a single phrase such as "Injured?" and television commercials that are played so often it become natural to know every line of the pitch --do these really play any part of the goals of the tort system?  Are lawyers any different from any other advertisers? Should they be?

I know this is a bit much but I would appreciate anyone's thoughts, opinions, or experiences on the subject.  Thank you!

[PhilEsq]

YOUR QUESTIONS:
1) ...some still feel the need to take out Yellow Pages advertising in the six figure range.  ...is this the norm for other legal markets?

2) How successful is attorney advertising as far as rate of return on the investment of advertising in dollars?

3) Is this dogged pursuit of the public's attention beneficial or detrimental to the profession?

4) Finally, billboards which question drivers with a single phrase such as "Injured?" and television commercials that are played so often it become natural to know every line of the pitch --do these really play any part of the goals of the tort system?

5) Are lawyers any different from any other advertisers? Should they be?

MY ANSWERS:
1) Advertising for lawyers in the Yellow Pages has been the norm in almost every market for 30 years.  

2) The degree of success varies widely depending upon many factors such as the market; the type of media; the creative production; the budget; the type of law being advertised; the ability of the law firm to answer calls quickly; the ability of the law firm to sign up cases quickly and many other factors.

3) I wrote an article about this at www.lawyer-advertising-blog.com.  Advertising is beneficial to the profession and to the public for many reasons.  One of the most important is that lawyers who advertise get too many cases to be a general practitioner.  If a lawyer advertises for criminal cases, the lawyer will be doing nothing but criminal cases.  This makes a more experienced and better criminal lawyer.  I believe it is too difficult in modern times to be proficient in a general practice.

4) I don't see what difference it makes whether the advertising is on billboards, TV or somewhere else.  Advertising does play an important part of the goals of the tort system.  For more about this, you can read Bates v. State Bar of Arizona http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/bates.html.  Personally, I believe it is nice that advertising helps the public and the goals of the tort system, but I do not believe that the government should be allowed to prevent any industry or profession from advertising.

5) Why should lawyers be any different from other advertisers?  I don't know why they should.  In fact, instead of creating complicated ethics rules which are rarely enforced, FTC regulations which apply to all advertisers should be strictly enforced against lawyers.

[lawstudent123]

Thank you Mr. Franckel I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.  Also, I really enjoy and learned a lot from reading your other web pages.  You have been a great help, thank you!