As the presidential election quickly approaches, political groups bombard us with television attack ads firing shots at the opposing candidate or viewpoint. Throughout the years these tactics have become so commonplace that we have grown accustomed to the vitriol and low blows. Now, however, a different group has begun to probe the effectiveness of attacking its competition in the media. That group is lawyers and law firms.For many years legal advertisements expounded upon the reputation or superior performance of a given attorney or law firm as to why they deserve our business. Using monikers like “The Heavy Hitter” or “Courtroom King,” attorneys have used saturation marketing to make their personas household names. These ad campaigns focused on the attorneys, not the competition.
Facing an increasingly competitive market, however, attorneys are looking for new ways to set themselves apart from their rivals. As more attorneys scramble for a piece of the pie, lawyers are beginning to put the crosshairs on each other. The commercials used by lawyers can take a humorous stance or possess a darker, more aggressive tone.
Donna Lane, who has worked in the law firm advertisement industry for nine years, has taken an unorthodox approach to commercials. Instead of bombarding her audience with talk of how her firm is better than the rest, there is simply silence. Words flash on the screen saying “We get it. There are a lot of lawyer ads on TV. Seems all you hear are lawyers talking. So this 30 seconds of silence is brought to you by Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley.” Other more serious commercials may call the competition out by name saying “You think you know them, or do you?”
Kantar Media predicts that money spent on attack ads could explode by 300% in the next year. This is a significant increase considering law firms spent an astounding $825 million on advertising in 2015. Los Angeles and New York led the way with $32 million and $29 million, respectively, spent on their legal advertising.
Regardless of the methods used, advertisement is becoming a staple of law firm marketing, and, as aggressive ads gain popularity, they will certainly create significant ethical and professional implications for the legal community.
Ironically, in the digital age, there is no reason for potential clients to rely on attorney advertising at all. Most attorney’s credentials are easily found on the internet, and even their disciplinary history can be researched with the click of a button. There is no need for anyone to rely on attack commercials or saturation marketing campaigns, but that does not mean that lawyers will not continue to push the limits when it comes to marketing their practices in an increasingly competitive industry.