“Ambulance chaser!” People sometimes snicker when I tell them that I am a personal injury lawyer. Somewhere along the line, the idea of the lawyer being a trusted advisor has gone the way of the dodo bird. Instead of Atticus Finch, the stereotypical lawyer is short on scruples and long on bull.
Why is that? A great deal of the perception of lawyers has to do with the blitz of misleading lawyer advertising that inundates our life through television ads, billboards, internet marketing and the like. The competition for personal injury clients is fierce. Today, lawyers spend $900 million or more in television advertising each year. Since 2008, there has been a 70% increase in lawyer television advertising, a figure that far outpaces other industries and professions. The undisputed heavyweight champion of lawyer advertising is the personal injury lawyer. Personal injury lawyers far outspend any other practice area advertising. In the hysteria to get injury clients, some personal injury lawyers simply yell louder and more obnoxiously than the competition in their quest for new clients.
Trust of lawyers is at an all-time low. Lawyers are one of the least trusted professions, ranking just above car salespeople. A recent Forbes poll found that only 18% of U.S. adults feel that lawyers have high or very high honesty and ethical standards.
Why then would a nice young man like myself (15 years ago) choose to become a personal injury lawyer? To know that answer, you need to go back many years to my childhood. My family did not grow up rich. My dad was a serial entrepreneur. He owned several businesses, including a skating rink (as cool as you think) and a used car lot. He was always hustling, and his kids weren’t dropped off to play golf at the country club on the weekend. To make ends meet, dad worked nights at a bingo hall. I started selling bingo markers at the bingo hall at age 16 and bingo paid my way through college until I got my first “real job.” You meet a lot of different people at the bingo hall, and boy do I have some stories.
Needless to say, we got to meet a lot of interesting people growing up. From pretty college girls at the skating rink, to gruff but loveable “grease monkeys” at the used car lot, to little old ladies at the bingo hall, I learned a lot from the wide array of people I interacted with growing up. My early experiences gave me a deep appreciation and affection for all people from all walks of life.
When I went to law school, my goal was to make it big, become a corporate lawyer, and live the good life. I pursued that dream and succeeded. I was hired by one of the largest and most prestigious firms in Texas. I joined the country club. I bought an Audi for god’s sake. But deep down, I knew that my heart was meant to help real people with real problems. Personal injury law is the perfect vehicle for me to help the same kinds of real people that populated my youth.
Every week I meet new people who need a hand after they have been injured through no fault of their own. These people, my people, aren’t greedy or out for a quick buck. My people need help dealing with real injuries, pain and suffering and all of the legal confusion that they are going through after an accident. I have dedicated my career honing my skills as a personal injury lawyer so that I can help my people get through this tough time in their lives.
Even though the overall perception of personal injury lawyers is negative, I strive to shatter the myth of the greedy personal injury lawyer. Instead of misleading advertising, my focus is to educate people about the personal injury process. My firm strives to be the source of information on personal injury claims in the Borderland. That is why you will see lengthy blog posts with educational information on the topic of personal injury law on our website. That is why I have written (humble brag alert) what I consider to be the best book available anywhere to help consumers through the car accident process in Texas. The ink is drying on The Insider’s Guide to Texas Auto Accident Claims. I am very excited to share it with my people and the public. Give me a call and I will put you on the advance list to get a copy of the book.
If you have made it thus far in reading this post, I consider you part of my tribe. As part of this community, my promise to you is to be a trusted source for all of your legal questions and needs. My practice area is dedicated exclusively to personal injury law and by all means, give me a call, God forbid, if you or a loved one are injured in an accident. Also, please consider me your go-to source for all things legal. I am happy to give general guidance on legal issues to you free of charge. I know a lot about the law, and I know the good lawyers in this community who can help you with your specific problem.
Whatever success I have achieved in life, I owe in large part to the experiences and people of my youth, and my goal is to give back to the real people that make up this community. That is why I am proud to say that I am a personal injury lawyer.
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