The new history of legal marketing?

• Author: Pasquini, Simone

In the history of legal marketing, most trace the very beginnings back to an advertisement that appeared in the Arizona Republic on Feb. 22, 1976, with a headline that read: "Do you need a lawyer?"

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John R. Bates and Van O'Steen, who placed the ad, wanted to "provide legal services at modest fees to persons of moderate income who did not qualify for government legal aid." Since they were targeting people of moderate income, they needed to ensure that their costs were low. By relying heavily on paralegals, the lawyers could keep their fees reasonable. But in order to support their business plan, they also needed a high volume of work.

After two years, though, they were not generating enough work to support their business. So they turned to mass media to try and turn their fortunes around. Their advertisement was a direct violation of the Arizona Disciplinary Rule 2-101, which forbade lawyers to advertise: "A lawyer shall not publicize himself ... through newspaper or magazine advertisements, radio or television announcements, display advertisements in the city or telephone directories or other means of commercial publicity, nor shall he authorize or permit others to do so on his behalf."

The state bar association took swift action and a few months later, in April 1976, it requested that the two lawyers be suspended from practicing for six months. The penalty was eventually reduced to one week. The case went on to the Arizona State Court and eventually the U.S. Supreme Court. The next year, in Bates v. Arizona State Bar, the Supreme Court found in favor of Bates and O'Steen. Traditionally, that victory is considered the birth of legal marketing and Bates and O'Steen are considered pioneers with a single advertisement. It may be time to consider a little revisionist history, though.

A Clinic, Not a Firm

Consider the ad in more detail. What exactly are they advertising? It is not a law firm. It is a "LEGAL CLINIC." Bates and O'Steen did not open the first legal clinic. In fact, they had the second. The first was opened by the law firm of Jacoby & Meyers. Lenard Jacoby and Stephen Meyers launched the first legal clinic in 1972, as a full-service practice with the aim of providing legal services to the middle class at prices they could afford. This was two years before Bates and O'Steen founded their law firm.

They focused on legal issues such as divorce, personal injury, bankruptcy, criminal defense and family law. To...