Ethical Marketing

    This week I’d like to discuss Dustin A. Cole’s Ethical Marketing Presentation. I find that I see a lot of advertising around Florida that seems questionable. It seems like a lot of attorneys in this state like to push the boundaries of what is acceptable advertising – specifically personal injury plaintiff’s attorneys. 

 

Cole’s article focuses on a few main points: 

 

    1. Competition – Lawyers have to compete for business and marketing is necessary to make a living because there is so much competition. His presentation indicates that there are more than 1.1 million attorneys competing with one another for business – and this text is now 20 years old! He notes that pressures to succeed can lead to questionable marketing. 

    2. Florida House Bill 1357 Entitled “A Bill Relating to Attorney Practices” – This bill proposed that marketing would be restricted to a “tombstone,” including only name, rank, and serial number of attorneys. He notes this bill did not take off, and I think we can clearly see that driving down Dale Mabry, Kennedy, or I-275. Cole finds this troubling and indicates that most individuals who break the ethical rules are just trying their best to pay their bills rather than deliberately trying to violate the rules and be an unethical practitioner. 

    3. Referrals – Using a personal anecdote about reputation, Cole maintains that we don’t live in small communities anymore, people do not know each other like they used to, and there are hundreds of similar attorneys living in one area, so referrals do not typically generate the amount of business that they used to. That is, unless you develop these trusting relationships with other attorneys. He goes further to say that “skillful referral marking is even more relevant and successful today,” noting that building trusting relationships for referrals is a very ethical way to advertise your firm. In addition, it is cheaper than advertising. It is a relief to know this is the most ethical type of advertising, because frankly I find it degrading to plaster your face on billboards and bus benches. I’m sure many of those attorneys are incredible, but I automatically associate this type of aggressive advertising for legal professionals too be sleazy and automatically gives me a feeling for distrust. 

    4. Solicitation – Attorneys used to directly solicit for business, that is, reaching out directly to strangers, and asking for their business. As competition grew in the industry, PR rules barred solicitation, including solicitation through third-party agents. This is why referrals are more ethical – they require a client to reach out to you first rather than you reaching out to a client.  Some states like Michigan, even criminalize solicitation of legal services in the same vein as prostitution! 

    5. Systems for Referrals – Cole maintains that attorneys and firms need to have systems in place like injury forms and file opening checklists to maintain referrals. This is more effective than just trying to remember receiving a call about a referral. In addition, the use of a calendar is a great way to keep up with constant communication regarding referrals.  Maintaining your phones and emails and doing so quickly through either yourself or your team is imperative to ensuring referrals keep up and do not decrease. 

 

    This article was thorough in discussing the best way to obtain clients in an ethical manner. Again, I am pleased to hear that a referral system can be the best and most ethical way to “advertise” to clients. Not only is it a more dignified process, it removes the concern of violating professional responsibility rules. It would be a true shame to spend the time and money to get a law license and then lose it due to advertising.