There’s several who are constantly on the boob tube here, and my buddy and I are
always mocking them when they come on. There’s one who is really sanctimonious-
sounding, makes himself out to be some sort of saint. I know for every firm which
has ads on TV there’s dozens who don’t. Anyway I was just wondering if any
of these guys are any good at really helping you, or will they suck your wallet dry
with little received in return? Anyone felt compelled to call one of these bozos?
Typically, the ones who advertise on TV are “ambulance chasers,” who specialize in going after damages for people who have been injured in auto accidents, workplace injuries, etc.
If they don’t win, they get nothing, but if they do win they will keep 1/3 to 1/2 of the settlement for themselves.
Of course, lawyers have many different specialties, and most don’t feel the need to advertise. I know this is GQ, but IMHO lawyers as a whole would not have quite as bad a reputation if not for some of these guys.
Man oh man, if those attorneys knew how much they were getting razzed by the like of me, my friends, and probably everyone else they may not want to advertise anymore.
They always have the most cheesy, hoaky, cornball commercials. Almost as bad as local used car dealers.
I think eveyone mocks them on a regular basis.
There’s a local one here Meshbesher & Spence.
We like to make fun of his name when asking someone around the office to do you a favor. (In a little kid voice) “If you borrow me your stapler you’d be Meshbesher friend.” (sounds like ‘my-special’)
Fixed.
I’ve never checked up on an attorney, but if the state has (well, it should have) a local Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (or ARDC, or Disciplinary Commission) they should be able to tell you if the attorney has been brought before it for any reason. The ARDC handles the state licensing of the attorney licensed to practice in that state, and can be typically found through the state’s supreme court because the state SC is the one who handles the roll call of attorneys.
Economically speaking, the attorneys with commercials have to be somewhat successful because they need to be able to afford the cost to run a commercial, and it’s not cheap (my company’s ad campaign is more than my department’s salary).
However, that’s not to say whether they’re good or not. Making money at the practice of law isn’t necessarily a sign that you’re a good attorney/firm. Personally, I think it’s a good indicator, especially if there are no disciplinary complaints. However, the civil lit firms (“ambulance chasers”) can easily churn and burn clients. All they care about is volume and turnover.
A lot of these guys are really BOOKING AGENTS-they will refer you to another lawyer, and take a chunk of the settlement as well. There are several of these guys around here (james Sokolove is one). he never represents clients-he just lines up the business, and sells the case to another lawyer. Opps, i said “sell”, should have said “splis fee”…that made it legal!
I am sure that they know that you don’t hold them in high esteem. I suspect that they are laughing all the way to the bank.
That’s what the reference to “little kid voice” would explain.
Many attorneys advertise on some level. Because effective advertising targets the the potential customer and because the mid-day/late-night television viewer is not every lawyer’s potential customer, you won’t find all lawyers using television spots in those time slots . However, television is not the only way to advertise. Any law firm worth it’s salt has a website (with pictures of the lawyers and neat little bio’s). Prestigious commercial law firms will often advertice in their local business newspaper (In Atlanta, it’s the Atlanta Business Chronicle). There are also legal newspapers in almost every major city – in Atlanta, we have the Fulton County Daily Repor, which is published by the ALM media congolmerate – they also publish the National Law Journal. Firms and lawyers often make “announcements” in these paper which amount to little more than advertisements. Some high end lawfirms in Atlanta have radio spots on NPR during Morning Edition, Evening Edition and Marketplace – I am a lawyer in just such a firm. No one would ever question my firm’s reputatuion or prestige, and our ads are simply voice overs to the effect of "Evening Edition is brought to you by the law firm of XXX, at XXX . . . "
As for the cats on TV, some of them are great, some not so much. FTR, it’s not just ambulance chasers – it’s also workers’ comp, social security, dui and bankruptcy lawyers that use these cheap spots. Why? To hit their target audience.
remember Mr. Plow:
Bart: Who’s up at 3:17 AM watching TV?
Homer: Alcoholics, the unemployable, angry loners…
and on preview, gazpacho hits the nail on the head.
this really will just tell you if someone’s been censured or had complaints against them. it’s a start, but by no means exhaustive. there are plenty of bad attorneys that never cross the bar.
There used to be one that advertised on the Fox affiliate that we get up here
Jim “The Hammer” Shapiro
It was soo funny. He was a little nerdy-looking guy and he would clench his fists and be all dramatic
“THE HAMMER”
In these parts we get TV ads for the Cochran Law Firm. Yes, the firm started by Johnnie Cochran.
He’s sold his name to firms all over the country.
A few years ago the legal community around here was shocked when the best personal injury firm (the one the ambulance chasers refer the really tough cases to) ran a series of very low-key TV ads, but they didn’t run for very long.
The best bankruptcy lawyer in town ran some TV ads for a few years, but not lately.
OTOH the top criminal defense attorneys in town have never run any kind of advertising, and they can pick and choose their clients.
Actually, most of the time their contract specifies that even if they don’t win, they get their legal expenses paid. That obviously includes court filing fees, etc., but many of them include charges for secretarial work in preparing papers, making copies, etc. So this means that the client is paying a share of the costs of operating lawyers office, even if they don’t win his case.
I have know people who were encouraged by such a TV lawyer to file a suit (on what I thought was pretty weak grounds), lost the suit, and wound up owing the lawyer a considerable sum of money.