Legal Advertising Could Steer You Toward the Wrong Attorney for Your Case

When searching for the best attorney for your situation, it can be difficult to sift through all the legal advertising out there and determine which lawyer is right for you. Legal marketing has changed a lot in the past decade, moving past billboards and TV ads and focusing more on social media and online advertising.

But just because a law firm popped up first on a search engine or a firm reaches out to you, does not mean they are best suited for your case.

Frankly, the average person does not know what to look for when researching potential attorneys. When working with personal injury or truck accident cases, the lawyer you hire and their level of expertise can greatly affect the outcome of your case and potentially prevent you from getting the justice you deserve.

Ways Legal Advertising Has Changed Over Time

Advertising for lawyers was banned during the 1900s. It was considered unethical at the time, and the state bar associations would go after attorneys that attempted to advertise and sometimes revoke their licenses. The only real way to advertise was by handing out business cards, and many of the large and older firms were against legal advertising because they were established and known in the community.

This rule changed with the Bates v. State Bar of Arizona case in 1977. Bates and O’Steen published a small advertisement for their law firm in a local newspaper and faced disciplinary action from the State Bar of Arizona. The two attorneys chose to appeal the lower court’s decision and take it to the Arizona Supreme Court and later the United States Supreme Court. It was ruled that the ban violated the First Amendment, which then opened the door for legal marketing.

Prior to the digital age, legal marketing was rather simple, typically focusing on print ads, billboards, Yellow Pages, and television advertisements. However, most of the formerly successful marketing methods have become less effective and produce diminishing returns. The end of the Yellow Pages and the beginning of the digital revolution have made advertising more competitive in the legal field. Now, the creation of Google and Facebook ads in the early 2000s has been lucrative for all kinds of industries, and advertising revenue in general has risen by billions of dollars.

Legal Advertising in the Digital Age

Within the past decade, the average person has been flooded with all kinds of legal marketing. And many forms of online advertising have bogged down the market and made it harder for someone who is not well-versed in law to choose an attorney.

One of the main ways the market has changed is through venture capital money that is invested into firms. Large companies will invest large quantities into businesses that are designed to go out and find potential cases to sell to law firms. These marketing companies seek out these leads for sale.

For lots of firms, refining their search engine optimization strategies and pay per click campaigns can take a lot of time and be very expensive. And keyword phrases for law firms hoping to show up in searches can be costly because many attorneys compete for these search terms. This competition at both the national and local levels incentivize these firms to purchase legal leads, which allows them to pull in potential clients in an easier manner.

Some marketers and lead generation companies sell their leads directly to law firms. However, when the client contacts the lead generation company, the potential client does not even realize they are not dealing with a law firm. Additionally, there is no guarantee the lead generation company is going to sell the lead to the best attorney for the potential client’s type of legal matter.

This can lead to the client hiring the wrong attorney. And hiring an attorney that is not right for you can prevent you from getting the justice you deserve.

Final Thoughts

Overall, the legal advertising market has become polluted and confusing for the average person. And while people today are more familiar with their rights when it comes to hiring a lawyer and pursuing a legal case as a result of advertising, they may not know where to begin to find the best attorney for them.

If people have the information needed to sort through all the advertising, then they are more than capable of choosing a lawyer. But not everyone is equipped with that knowledge.

That’s why regular people need legal resources, like truck accident attorney David W. Craig’s newest book, It’s Never Been Easier to Hire the Wrong Attorney. In the book, David outlines how to research attorneys for your specific situation and what qualifications to look for. Whether you need a truck accident lawyer or a divorce attorney, readers will be equipped with the knowledge needed to get justice the way it was intended.

Ask David: Episode 65 of After the Crash with Harlan Schillinger

David W. Craig is the managing partner and a founding member of Craig, Kelley & Faultless, a personal injury and wrongful death law firm. He has authored two books, Semitruck Wreck: A Guide for Victims and Their Families and It’s Never Been Easier to Hire the Wrong Attorney, to help victims navigate the legal process.

Harlan Schillinger is a Legal Marketing Expert with over four decades of experience working in the legal advertising sector, focusing on legal marketing, intake, and conversion. He is considered the “Grandfather of Legal Advertising”, acting as one of the very first in the legal field to produce and market television advertising for attorneys. He currently works as a private consultant for lawyers looking to increase business, maintain accountability, and obtain high-value cases.

He and David discussed the current state of legal advertising, as well as the positives and negatives of how marketing has evolved in the legal field, on a recent episode of After the Crash, David’s free podcast. Ranked fourth-best personal injury podcast by FeedSpot, After the Crash educates and empowers listeners.

Harlan asked David questions about legal advertising, his tips for researching attorneys, and more about the legal industry during episode 65.

Want to Know More? Check Out These Resources

Everything in this article — and even more — is discussed at length by attorney David W. Craig in Semitruck Wreck: A Guide for Victims and Their Families and It’s Never Been Easier to Hire the Wrong Attorney, available on Amazon.

Check out David’s “Red Flag” series to learn more ways to spot the wrong law firms or lawyers.

Learn more by following Craig, Kelley & Faultless on Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube.

The attorneys at Craig, Kelley & Faultless are nationally recognized and have helped clients across the country recover from life-altering wrecks. They are prepared to fight insurance companies and motor carriers on your behalf.

Both attorneys David W. Craig and Scott A. Faultless are board-certified in truck accident law by the NBTA, accredited by the American Bar Association. The firm also has a rapid response team—including investigators, reconstructionists and mechanics—that is sent to the scene of a wreck to collect evidence as soon as the firm is hired.

For a free case consultation, contact the team at Craig, Kelley & Faultless today by calling (800) 746-0226 or submitting an online form.

David W. Craig is a nationally recognized truck accident lawyer who sits on the Board of Regents of the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys. He is board certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, accredited by the American Bar Association in Truck Accident Law. He is the managing partner and one of the founding partners of Craig, Kelley & Faultless LLC. He is recognized as a Top 10 Trucking Trial Lawyer and Top 100 Trial Lawyer in Indiana by the National Trial Lawyers, as well as a Top 50 Indiana lawyer by Super Lawyers. He was the recipient of the National Thurgood Marshall “Fighting for Justice” Award for his work helping victims of truck wrecks. David is the author of Semitruck Wreck: A Guide for Victims and Their Families and It’s Never Been Easier to Hire the Wrong Attorney, written to help people navigate a terrible situation by answering questions that come after a tragic wreck. He also hosts the podcast After the Crash, where you can gain valuable information about the dangers involving semis and large trucks that do not follow Indiana law safety protocol regarding speed, weather conditions, maintenance upkeep, etc.