Advertising in the media has become an accepted norm for legal practices. Many firms consider it an essential aspect of their practice, when even not long ago it was considered ethically dubious, if not legal. This isn’ t an essay on the merits of legal advertising per se or of its ethics. Rather the hope is to focus your consideration on what your advertising says about you as a trial lawyer, your values and sense of mission. Advertising may or may not be effective from a business perspective, but how you advertise can provide insights into your health as a trial lawyer.
An essential value of practicing trial law is effectuating justice for victims. That sounds like a cliché and the phrase is often used as a cliché. However, the real impetus for practicing as a trial lawyer is not so simple or cliché. Effecting justice is at its core a healing endeavor. There is no justice that can bring a victim back to life for a family, or replace a limb, or undo damage to brain. It cannot erase the suffering of trauma. What getting justice from a trial does is to promote healing and provide comfort to the suffering. The process of practicing trial law promotes healing in many meaningful ways. The truly effective trial lawyer in and outside the courtroom understands that they are in a healing profession. They provide validation when they hear the complaints of the suffering by acknowledging that, yes, you have been wronged, and you are suffering and we are willing to take up your cause. The healing done by trial lawyers is not only symbolic or a gesture. Trial lawyers promote healing through verdicts which can mitigate damages, value the losses and bring about social change. However, we all realize that our justice system can rarely ever provide complete justice or healing. We tell jurors that non-economic money verdicts are only a symbol of justice … an affirmation of the value of human life— specifically their client’ s life and the meaning of the trauma and loss to them. In the courtroom, money is a means to mitigate but can never erase suffering— it is the consolation of justice that heals.
Money as a verdict is often the only consolation the law can offer to victims, most of whom would never take any money to suffer what they have suffered in the first place. Therein is the issue with much of the legal advertising we see today. Much of the legal advertising done emphasizes the size of money verdicts(“ we get the largest money verdicts”), or exacting revenge(“ we will punish them”). Some advertising emphasize pugilism(“ we are the fighters … we will fight for you”). There are many archetypes offered by agencies: the rainmaker, the pugilist, etc. but rarely do we see advertising that emphasizes the true mission of justice as a means of healing. The issue to consider is what does this type of advertising say about why you practice the law and what does it teach the public about the what the practice of law accomplishes?
The Rainmaker … Advertising money verdicts may be good for attracting certain types of clients, but doesn’ t it suggest that your measure of success is money and not the client or the cause? Law is a business, and the goal is profit—“ show me the money!” when read from a billboard announcing“$ 100 million for a broken ankle”. There is no context for the public to understand this advertising other than they can get a lot of money for something that seems trivial. We can argue whether or not such advertising has a deleterious effect on the willingness of juries to compensate with large verdicts or provide fuel for the insurance industry to lobby on behalf of damage caps. It might be possible to cite a money verdict without emphasizing the amount of money rather than its meaning to a victim. However, the more important
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