Are Lawyers Who Advertise on TV Good Lawyers?
Some personal injury lawyer websites warn people to stay away from personal injury lawyers who advertise on TV. They claim that personal injury lawyers who advertise don’t do trials and just settle personal injury cases cheaply.
That is simply not true.
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Why Do Those Websites Warn Against Personal Injury Lawyers Who Advertise?
Simply because those lawyers don’t advertise on TV and are trying to get people who found their website to call them instead of a lawyer who advertises on TV.
This article is written to provide the truth about personal injury lawyers who advertise.
Interestingly, lawyer websites warning people to stay away from personal injury lawyers who advertise are themselves advertising. If they have business cards or a website, that’s advertising, and it’s regulated as advertising by attorney ethics rules.
They usually rail against personal injury lawyers on TV and billboards because they don’t have the money for advertising. But while they’re not advertising on TV, they’re probably also advertising for personal injury cases with Google Ads, which can be done with a much smaller advertising budget.
Do Lawyers Who Advertise on TV Do Trials?
Yes. Whether a personal injury lawyer advertises on TV doesn’t mean that the lawyer does trials or not, nor does it mean the lawyer is a good lawyer or not.
I know many personal injury lawyers who advertise on TV, and all, except one, do trials.
The one law firm I know that advertises on TV and does not do trials doesn’t do any of the daily work on personal injury cases. They immediately refer their cases to a top-notch personal injury law firm that does all the casework and trials. The law firm that advertises acts as a liaison for the client.
Of the personal injury law firms that I know that advertise, they are all excellent personal injury law firms.
See more personal injury lawyer TV commercials.
Are Lawyers Who Advertise on TV Experienced?
An interesting fact about personal injury lawyers who advertise on TV is that TV advertising makes them highly experienced. Why? Because when a lawyer advertises on TV, two things happen.
TV brings a high volume of clients to a lawyer who advertises on TV. A high volume of clients results in more experience.
Because TV creates so many calls and a high volume of clients, lawyers who advertise on TV have to advertise for only one type of case. They have to specialize.
The reason is money, like so many other things. It’s just not financially lucrative to advertise for different types of clients or to maintain a law firm with lawyers and paralegals experienced in different types of cases.
Additionally, a law firm that handles only one type of case, like personal injury, can handle many more cases and earn more money while spending less on advertising and overhead.
Is There a Reason Not to Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer Who Advertises?
Lack of personal service. Because personal injury lawyers who advertise have a high volume of cases, you may not get the same level of personal service that a small law firm can provide.
Large personal injury law firms are typically very busy and may have a protocol to follow for all similar case types so mistakes aren’t made.
You may speak with a lawyer when you have a free consultation. After that, you’ll usually speak with a secretary or paralegal. The next time you speak with your lawyer will be to prepare you for a deposition.
But that doesn’t mean a small law firm that doesn’t advertise will provide personal service. Small law firms are usually less efficient and can be even busier than large personal injury law firms, and we frequently hear people complain that they don’t get to speak with their lawyer in a small law firm. Many of these people have switched their lawyers to us.
The most common complaint people have about their lawyer is a lack of personal service, no matter whether it’s a large personal injury law firm or a small law firm.
Which Are Better, Lawyers Who Advertise or Lawyers Who Don’t Advertise?
Whether a lawyer advertises or not shouldn’t affect your decision about hiring a lawyer. However, advertising makes lawyers better at their job.
Lawyers who advertise get a lot of business, which forces them to specialize in only one area of law practice. For instance, my law practice does only personal injury. Criminal defense pays well and has great cash flow because lawyers get paid upfront. But we’re too busy to do anything other than personal injury.
Both the fields of personal injury and criminal defense are highly specialized fields that constantly change and require substantial knowledge.
While small law firms may practice in several fields of law, larger law firms that advertise usually practice in only one field of law. These lawyers get very good at what they do.
See more personal injury lawyer billboards.
Should You Believe Claims in TV Advertising?
No. Just because a personal injury lawyer advertises that they got millions of dollars for their clients, that doesn’t mean they will be able to do the same for you.
Many TV commercials and websites for personal injury lawyers show millions of dollars in settlements they got for their clients, but every case is different.
Additionally, just because a lawyer gets $3,00,000 for a client doesn’t mean it was a good result. You would have to be a personal injury lawyer and see the case file to know if it was. Any inexperienced lawyer can get $3,00,000 for someone who became a paraplegic when the case is worth as much as $50,000,000.
Interview two or three lawyers and speak to friends who had a personal injury case. Read about how to choose a personal injury lawyer to hire.
Disclosure
I’m a personal injury lawyer who owns and advertises 1-800-HURT-911® for my own law practice. I also license 1-800-HURT-911® to other personal injury lawyers for advertising. I advertised on TV for one year in 2002 and currently advertise 1-800-HURT-911® with Google Ads for my own personal injury law firm in New York. We are also one of the premier motorcycle accident lawyers in New York.
