What is a real lawyer?
What is a real lawyer? Look up ‘real’ and ‘lawyer’ in the dictionary and you may be surprised at what you get. If you are a ‘real lawyer’ you ought to be mighty proud. When marketing yourself do not be afraid to get up on your soap box and tell folks you are a real lawyer. Tell people you care, are experienced and passionate about what do. Tell them you are proud to be a lawyer because of the opportunity to serve others. Show them you care by providing on your Web site or blog the practical legal information folks are looking for. You’ll find wearing your heart out on your sleeve attracts new clients on the Internet.
Look at the dictionary definition of real.
- Genuine and authentic, not artificial or spurious
- Free of pretense and falsehood
- Not to be taken lightly, serious
- Being no less than what is stated, worthy of the name
And the dictionary definition of lawyer. One whose profession is to:
- To give legal advice
- To give assistance to people
- To represent people in court
- To represent people on other legal matters
Put ‘real’ and ‘lawyer’ together and you have mighty noble profession. Despite the public perception of our profession, there are some wonderful people who practice law. They became lawyers because they wanted to make a difference in the world and they still do, one client at a time. That goes for lawyers practicing in all areas of the law whether it be divorce, corporate, personal injury, elder law, employment, criminal defense or whatever.
These lawyers are not the ones you see on television or read about in the newspaper all the time. But my oh my are they qualified to represent people in their city or town. These lawyers have specialized expertise, they care and are passionate about what they do. They are the lawyers people want to know about when they need the help of a good local lawyer. Real lawyers have the obligation to effectively get the word out about themselves so people can find good lawyers. Plus it improves the image of our profession.
I publish information here and provide my products and services to help these lawyers. I know first hand how important it is to market yourself when trying to bring in enough work in to meet the monthly overhead. I also know how God awful tough it is to distinguish yourself from other lawyers while marketing. That’s especially true given the advertising mediums lawyers have historically used – they make all of us look bad. I was embarrassed by some of the marketing, if you want to call it that, I did in the yellow pages or on television. Let alone the cost of same and the fear of not keeping up with the the advertising of other lawyers in town keeping me awake at night.
But those lawyers who are genuine, authentic, free of pretense & falsehood and not to be taken lightly now have an incredible medium to tell folks who they are, what they do and how they can help. Real lawyers will now be able to distinguish themselves from other lawyers so folks can really make an informed choice when selecting a lawyer. I am going to help real lawyers use this medium to market themselves with dignity and pride. It’s the Internet and fortunate for us, it’s here to stay.