by Sean McManus
Staff Writer
You must have seen them by now. The slick, new television spots featuring attorneys Wayne Hogan and Jim Terrell, tanned and confident, explaining to the audience in words meant to be indicative of the firm’s culture, “We are trial lawyers, and we want to win.”
Brown Terrell Hogan Ellis McClamma and Yegelwel is not the first law firm to advertise on television, but they are part of a growing trend where successful firms formerly opposed to advertising are beginning to brand themselves with everyday people who may one day be injured in an accident.
“Top firms are advertising more than ever these days,” said Al Dominick, Legal Industry Specialist at Corporate Board Member magazine in New York, which last year, seeing the rising tide in legal advertising, inaugurated a special law issue for CEOs and directors of public companies. “In this competitive environment, firms are starting to realize that name recognition is just as important as reputation when it comes to their ability to attract clients.”
Dominick, who coordinates strategic campaigns for firms across the nation, said that advertising, if integrated with a consistent and timely marketing plan, can enhance a firm’s image and supplement the kinds of one-on-one marketing that firms have traditionally relied on.
“When you look at Jacksonville now, compared to 20 or 30 years ago, there are so many new people who have moved here from all over the country,” said Hogan, the quarterback for the firm’s aggressive advertising initiative. “People who have been here know the kind of work Brown Terrell can do, but in a city this big, lots of people don’t.”
So at the end of last year, Hogan called his friend Dan St. John, president of St. John & Partners, to inquire about putting together ideas for an advertising campaign. “We wanted to convey how we can work on behalf of our clients,” said Hogan. “Bad things happen in life and we want people in Jacksonville to know that we’re here if they do.”
Brown Terrell was founded in 1974 as a personal injury and wrongful death trial firm that has done work in toxic exposure, asbestos, product liability, and has gained recent notoriety — and a lot of money — for a large settlement against the tobacco industry on behalf of Florida taxpayers.
St. John & Partners is coordinating an integrated marketing strategy where the main focus is the television spots. The reasoning, of course, is that television is the way most people get their information. But the plan includes an updated website and, eventually, print ads.
Like they would for any client, the agency spent time conducting basic due diligence to extract the tone and culture of a firm founded almost 30 years ago. But what was also critical to the preliminary process was a comprehensive understanding of what the general public needs to know about law firms in general.
Because this is the first law firm that St. John & Partners has done work for, there was extra research that went into studying the rules The Florida Bar places on legal advertising. They also conducted focus groups to determine how people make decisions about how to hire a law firm and to find out how advertising effects those decisions.
“The Bar knows that hiring and firing an attorney is an important decision,” said Hogan, who has been active in the local and state bar since the 1970s. “They want to make sure the firm is portrayed honestly and fairly. We were happy to work with them to make sure everything we did was within the guidelines.”
According to Jeff McCurry, vice president and business development director for St. John & Partners, the guidelines require that filming must be made inside the law firm and a member of the firm must be the one delivering the message. And any implied endorsements or testimonials are completely out of the question.
“This is supposed to be a law firm introducing themselves to the public and talking about the services that they can provide,” said McCurry. “It’s not about how this firm is perceived compared to other firms.”
Hogan said the policies played nicely with the firm’s goals anyway and he assembled an internal committee, including Chris Burns, Evan Yegelwel and Terrell to work most closely with the agency through the production process. However, all 18 lawyers have been involved to some extent.
“We want people who call to know that the lawyers here are going to work with them personally,” said Hogan. “So everybody needs to be involved so that we are effectively sending that signal.”
There was some give and take between Brown Terrell and The Florida Bar in the making of the ads. Hogan said that one of the preliminary ads showed the Brown Terrell logo superimposed in front of the office’s library books, and there was no lawyer in the shot.
“That didn’t fly,” said Hogan. “So we made the minor technical adjustment and now everybody’s happy.”
The Florida Bar has an advertising review committee that reviews ads for about an 8-10 week period after production, at which time the ads can be simultaneously distributed to television stations. According to McCurry, that does leave the door open for inappropriate ads to be seen by the public, but the penalties are serious. Because firms know the rules beforehand, it’s not worth the risk.
The Brown Terrell spots were filmed at their offices in the Blackstone Building over a two-day period in February. St. John & Partners hired a commercial director from New York who was experienced with filming people. The spots were debuted formally last month.
“We wanted the spots to reflect the quality of the firm,” said Hogan. “And the seriousness of the decision being made.”
McCurry said they were going for the widest reach possible with the ads. “We did identify a few demographics that were of particular interest, but mostly it was about hitting as many people in Jacksonville as possible,” he said. “After all, anyone could need a lawyer.”
There are four firms in Jacksonville who release regular television spots — Eddie Farah, Harrell & Johnson, Barnes, Barnes, & Cohen and Brown Terrell. McCurry said there are others from time to time, but those are currently the “big four.”
Walter Arnold of Booth and Arnold, who has been practicing law since the 1930s, said that in his opinion it is unprofessional for law firms to advertise at all.
“You don’t see doctors splashing ads all over the phone book and on TV,” said Arnold. “If they are good lawyers, then they can do what I did and rely on word of mouth to get business.”
But Brown Terrell believes differently. And McCurry said there are three sides to the overall advertising approach that will serve as the medium for presenting a comprehensive picture of the firm to the public.
The first is the introduction, which is currently being released. The other two are more detailed accounts of attributes of the firm, and specific areas of law, which will include messages about people’s rights.
“We may roll these out in phases but there will be times where two or even all three will overlap,” said McCurry. “There’s a top-of-mind aspect to choosing a lawyer that means it makes sense for each message to be coordinated simultaneously with the others, and with other advertising vehicles, like print, events and web.”
“It’s similar to the process we go through when we do work for our clients,” said Hogan. “We get to know them, then we work hard on their behalf to make sure they are getting the best representation possible and that all avenues are being explored.”
And Hogan said they are already very pleased by the volume of calls the ads are generating. The firm has a tracking mechanism that documens the calls that come in to a designated phone line — the same number that is flashed on the screen during the commercials. And because Brown Terrell does get a fair amount of referral business, Hogan said it never hurts that the ads can remind other lawyers about their firm.
Asked whether it made sense to advertise more heavily during topical shows like “Law & Order” or “COPS,” McCurry said that they did have that conversation, but it was a “non-issue.”
Asked about how much money the firm was spending on the spots, Hogan said only that, “if you turn on the TV, eventually you’re going to see our ads.”