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Foshee & Yaffe, Greg Haubrich attorney Oklahoma, GregoryH. Haubrich attorney, John Edwards scandal, lawyer ads, legal advertising, Senator John Edwards
Greg Haubrich
Foshee & Yaffe
I was talking to my friend Bobbie a few years ago when John Edwards was running for President — and before it was known that he was not just a pretty boy, but a lying pretty boy who cheated on his wife. I had met Senator Edwards and was one of many who were more than disappointed when he imploded. Bobbie said: “Greg, I could never vote for him.”
I asked why? “Because he’s a trial lawyer.”
Well, shoot, Sis, I’m a trial lawyer. What’s the problem with that?
It turned out that what Bobbie really hated was the mass media lawyer advertising that encourages people to call lawyers and file lawsuits when they would not even know they had a claim unless they saw the idea on television.
Let’s stop right here and acknowledge that my website, my blog, and my social media are here to promote and encourage you to call me if you have a legal problem. This website and this blog are “advertising”. Hopefully it is not the kind of self-promotion that brings down your image of the law, legal system, and legal profession.
Until about 1975 lawyers were prohibited from advertising. Doctors, pharmaceutical companies, and hospitals didn’t advertise either. We were “professionals”, and therefore did not solicit business. How times have changed:
Or, in a less creative but equally disgusting example:
Let me give you a clue. You probably don’t want to hire this guy. Another clue: the yellow pages doesn’t help either; it just gives you names to call and some categories of stuff they claim they do.
Here’s a third clue. If the bottom of the lawyer ad has a whole bunch of fine print on it, you probably don’t want to call that number. Lawyer ads should NOT have to have a whole bunch of fine print like all of James Sokolov’s ads that tell you he’s barely a real lawyer and is going to immediately refer your case to someone else who may or may not be a real lawyer. If the guy on the television is from out-of-state telling you that you may have been hurt by asbestos or birth control devices or vaginal mesh, avoid him like the plague. All he or she wants is for you to call, so he or she can have his staff do an “intake”, sign you up, and refer you to someone who may or may not be competent.
So here’s the problem. Besides the fact that people who advertise like this are SLEAZY, they damage our legal system. By degrading themselves, they also degrade the best legal system in the world, the only one that is actually democratic and has juries to decide who wins and loses.
Because of mass lawyer advertising that catches your attention like an ad for a wax in a spa, a cheap mattress — “If you don’t come see me, I can’t save you money!!! — or a used car salesman, the legal system and the public’s view of lawyers and injured people is mocked and degraded. When you see stuff like this you think all lawyers are hustlers, and all injured people got sent to their doctors by their lawyers to make up their injuries and try to collect money from their lawsuits.
This is one of the reasons jurors have become jaded and non-caring/non-believing about injuries. They, like you, think that most cases are made up, lawyer-generated hoaxes. Every time I start a jury trial I assume that all 18 prospective jurors believe I am a lying greedy SOB representing a lying greedy SOB. Because of gross and disgusting lawyer advertising, I have to figure that every potential juror regards me as lower than a criminal, in a conspiracy with my client to defraud a poor widder woman of her life savings.
In 2006 the Pennsylvania Bar Association conducted a study of the public’s reactions to lawyer advertising. More than half agreed that their view of the law and the legal profession was degraded by lawyer advertising in yellow pages and on television. 85% were turned off by lawyer ads which overemphasize money. Over 70% said that ending lawyer advertising would improve their view of the legal profession. In a study in Florida, 85% of lawyers, including 76% of lawyers who advertise, thought that lawyer advertising hurt the legal profession. “I hate this, but I have to do it”, apparently is their thought process. Thus we get this:
They must be so proud. A former Marine! Semper fi, Mac! roars the angry gorilla. “24 hour hospital visits”. Great, they’re doctors who make hospital calls, too. Now if doctors would only make house calls we could go back to the good ol’ days: Lawyers make hospital visits, and doctors make house calls. Perfect.
One of the things I like about practicing my craft at Foshee & Yaffe is we really don’t have to advertise in order to get business. Former clients and other lawyers know what we do, and recommend us to their friends, family, or clients who need our kinds of services. Recently one of our clients testified to the Court here in Oklahoma County that our services were “the only good thing that had happened to him” in the 6-plus years that his case had gone on. Well, Yay!!
That’s the way it’s supposed to be. You read my blog, you like what you see, you call me and we talk. After your case is over if I’ve done my job right you will recommend me to a friend or family member when they need a lawyer. There’s a sign in our lunchroom: “If we don’t treat our customers (clients) right, someone else will.” Satisfied clients are the best advertising of all.
* Call to speak with Gregory Haubrich about your case. Toll Free (888) 873-9238.