Just Don't Ask To Speak To The Princess

I hate to do this to a fellow member of the Connecticut bar, but I am now casting my ballot for the tackiest lawyer advertisements of all time. I saw it last night driving home from a prison visit in northern Connecticut. There alongside the road in Hartford was a prominent billboard advertising the services of Lady DUI.

A wondered for a moment whether it was an ad for services of a different sort. The bill board was on display in a seedy part of town. But the picture of the woman suggested not. Then it struck me. This is an ad for legal services. If you face a drunken driving charge you can dial 1.888.LADY.DUI. And there is a web site, too. Here it is

I don't know the lawyer using the ad. I am sure she is competent and serves her clients well. But I find this ad about as offensive as any legal ad I've seen. A close second goes to a firm boasting that it can get every dime possible for you if you are injured. The lawyer intoning this commitment stands slapping baseball bat into an open hand. What does he do, beat the adjuster to death for an extra dollar or two?

I am not so blue-nosed that I think lawyer advertising should be prohibited. But it seems to me we are getting awfully close to offering Happy Meals to people coming in for a consultation.

Imagine a semi-sloshed client turning up for an interview at Lady-DUI's office, sporting a feigned Cockney accent to suit the occasion: "So where's the princess, eh? And here I thought she was dead." Lawyer and client then get down to business, but only after the client clearly understands that the fellow answering the lawyer's phone is not Prince Charles.

Comments

[S.cotus]

Strangely enough similar nicnames have been given to prosecutors and public defenders b/c of their skill in DUIs.

But seriously, is this any better or worse than a beauty contest where partners brag to in-house counsel about the wonders they can do and how wonderful their firm is.

[Windypundit]

She's not bragging about her nickname. She's making her phone number easy to remember. It may be tacky, but I'll bet it gets her a lot of new clients.

[Gideon]

Did you just make a Princess Di joke?

Too soon, Norm, too soon.

G:

I assumed she was. One of the first things I thought of when I saw the ad.

N

[Gideon]

Huh...I drive by that billboard a few times a week and this is the first time that connection has been made.

Now that you mention it...

Have you seen that lengthy questionnaire on her website? I'd be a little afraid to fill it out and transmit that information over the web.

G:

I guess I have a hyperactive imagination.

N

[jonnaM]

I'm not offended. The "average man" used to determine blood alcohol level in DUI cases deals with just that: the average man. There are numerous defenses women can take advantage of in these cases not only debunking the "average man" theory, but affirmatively defending women because of their very different biological makeup. And in scientific defenses, women are still playing in primarily man's world. So, if she is good at what she does, and women can take advantage of that because of maybe tacky advertising, then so be it.

JM:

You are in good company. The firm employing the young woman recently wrote me a note thanking me for the publicity. It turns out it generated them business. Thus proving that for every Jill there is a Jack.

N