"The Best-Kept Trade Secret
in the Legal Profession"

 

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Editor's Note:  This article was written by Hardy Parkerson, a self-described "old timer" lawyer who has some very interesting marketing advice for young attorneys. 

 

And just so you know:  I know a criminal attorney who tried this advertising technique -- word-for-word -- and he was deluged with telephone calls... however, he complained that all of his cases were low-fee clients.  After reading this article, can you understand why?

 

As I've heard Hardy say many times... "take what you've got, and put it in the pot."  In other words, he believes in taking what you can get, and using the cash flow to help finance larger cases.

 

Of course, I have to disagree with this approach -- after all, the slogan for this website is "More High-Fee Clients, More Often."

 

However, Hardy has some very worthwhile advice, and it might be something to consider if you ever have a cash flow emergency.  In any case, it's an interesting look at one lawyer's marketing secret -- plus, Hardy is a very good writer...

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"The Best-Kept Trade Secret
in the Legal Profession"

by

Hardy Parkerson, Atty.

 

I came up in the old school when it was considered dirty for a lawyer to advertise.  As a matter of fact, when I came into the law, it was even illegal for a lawyer to do so.  But a case came along, a U.S. Supreme Court case, I think named the BATES case, which held that it was illegal for Bar Associations to bar such advertising; and that changed the practice of law. 

 

Yet the old lawyers from the old school seem to have held on to the idea that lawyers should not advertise.  A friend of mine who was also a Judge (yes, I have a few friends who are judges) told me a long time ago that the best advertisement for a lawyer is a "job well done."  I can't argue with that, but I found over the years that the young lawyers who were coming into practice and advertising were outdoing some of us older lawyers.  I reached the day that I started advertising.

 

I had very little money to pay for advertising, so I began to advertise in the Classifieds; for it was cheaper, and it was daily.  I had some of my "friends" even make fun of me for such advertising.  One such "friend" passed me one day in the coffee shop and said to me in front of everyone else there that he had seen my ads in the paper and that he "hoped things got better for me."

 

Well, he was passing out of the place fast, so I did not get the chance to tell him that I was pulling the ad, for I was spending all my time discussing new cases with new clients and signing up new clients and their new cases.

 

I thought that there must be other lawyers who were thinking, "Poor old Hardy has to resort to Classified ads to stay in practice, to make a few bucks."

 

Well, I also thought to myself, "This is the best kept trade secret in the legal profession; what they don't know won't hurt them." 

 

I have learned that classified advertising,
although not in vogue, is the best-kept trade
secret in the legal profession, especially if
the message is that you will work with the clients on the fee.

 

I have had great years and bad years in the legal profession, and recently when my business fell off and my phone stopped ringing, I ran this ad in the very front of the classifieds, under Public Announcements:

 

DON'T GET a court-appointed lawyer! You can afford me. Call me; let's talk! Hardy Parkerson, Attorney at Law, 3309 Common Street; 478-6126.

 

My phone began to ring off the wall.  And it was not for criminal matters, but for other types of legal matters.  Now I spend my whole day just interviewing new clients and opening new files.  I have realized that it's because the message is that I will work with the clients on the fee.

 

There are thousands of potential clients out there who just do not have the money that most lawyers demand up front. 

 

We have always been told to get your money up front.  Great if you can do it; but I found that I was always quoting reasonable fees that people either could not pay or would not pay.

 

So I learned to just ask them what they were able to pay and willing to pay, what they felt good about parting with, and that I would take that as a "retainer fee" and work against that. 

 

I tell them I will take that and write a receipt for it and they will not owe me any more until I sit down with them, tell them what I have done to earn their money, where we have been, where we are, where we need to go, and then they can decide if they are willing to invest any more money in their own case.

 

I tell them that sometimes I can complete the matter for the initial retainer fee.

 

Of course, I do my accident cases on a one-third contingent fee, and that is where my real money is made. The other cases are the lagniappe (Editor's Note: I admit that I had to look this word up.  It's a Cajun word meaning "a little something extra.") -- the cash flow -- money "in the pocket" and to operate off of... to invest into my accident cases until I can get them settled or tried.

 

There is more to it all than this, but this is something to think about.  It has worked for me.

 

Don't tell these other turkeys here in Lake Charles what I have discovered.  I am sure they think, "Poor old Hardy, having to advertise in the classifieds!"

 

What they don't know won't hurt them.

Sincerely,

Hardy Parkerson, Atty.
Lake Charles, LA