Most lawyers don’t realize how powerful it is to educate the public. By this, I mean they should present themselves as authorities in their field through consistent and deliberate ‘information campaigns.’
First of all, most people don’t want to use a lawyer -they want to avoid using a lawyer.
If I were a lawyer, I would depict myself as the exact opposite of most lawyers (who only want to increase billable hours to clients). I’d produce all kinds of printed material – articles, booklets, manuals, newsletters, etc. -with titles such as
‘Fifteen Legal Situations Where You Don’t Need An Attorney’
‘How To Minimize Your Legal Fees In Any Situation’
‘Seventeen Questions You Should Ask To Determine If An Attorney Is Competent’
and so on…..
I would do radio interviews using this whole provocative approach.
I would offer to speak to all sorts of groups for free.
I would offer to become the legal advisor to big companies of 50+ employees, one day a month. I would sit in a company office and offer free legal help to their employees, with the thrust of helping them avoid expensive legal problems. If you give a lot for nothing with no strings attached, it is implicit that you have a lot more to offer. When a genuine legal problem arises that requires the services of an attorney, a lot of the people you’ve helped for free will want to retain you. That’s the power behind this approach. Attorneys who have used it in the past have built huge practices very quickly.