Recently, a friend of mine from law school and I were talking and made an observation. The proliferation of lawyers on billboards seems to have gotten a bit out of hand. Especially considering the more unhinged material we are seeing on said Billboards courtesty of multiple area Persoanl Injury Firms.
Coming up on ten years of practice, my view of the legal profession has in a sense, soured. I see a profession in distress. A profession that once prided itself on being a pillar of community, now riddled with cheap “get rich quick” schemes, practitioners drowning in mental health and substance abuse problems and, overall distrust from the public. It has seen itself become a hollow shell of its former respect and prestige. Maybe this a broader societal issue. But, when injury firms advertise using provoactive messaging to gain attention, it makes for great marketing, but also makes the profession be seen in more of a degraded and cartoonsih element.
Of course, this observation is nothing new. Back in the mid to late 20th century, it was unheard of for lawyers to market themselves in commercials, let alone billboards. It was seen as beneath the profession. You see, back when “America was Great Again,” it seemed as though people weren’t as litigous as they are now. Often times when disputes arose, the parties seemed to share a common decency to work together to come to a solution. Suing and attacking the other party was seen as a low brow move made only for self gain. But as we evolved and market forces strained more of the common folk in the working and middle classes after the Great Recession and again during Covid, the need for alternative methods of Bag Chasing became apparent. And the sad truth is, most people don’t have the personal agency, direction or creativity to get themselves out of their situation. Most are waiting around to be told what to do to improve their circumstances.
Enter the “Ambulance Chasers”: Why work a low or middle wage job where you are unappreciated when you can just manufacture litigation against your employer, a fellow citizen or some random business and collect your check in just a few months? This is the messaging from these injury attorneys AND the dilemma of much of society now. I think it has made us less trusting of each other as a result and has shown itself in our continuing distrust of our institutions. And spoiler alert, the legal profession, like medicine, finance and other white collar professions, functions best when there is a high level of institutional trust. Total disclaimer: I’m a civil litigator specializing in Plaintiff cases so while I don’t necessarily do personal injury, I’m not saying that I’m immune or exempt from contributing to this wider issue. However, I do feel as though it’s path that I have been pushed into due to the market forces that reward this sort of work in ths era where legality and not morality is the basis for taking on certian cases. Yes, something can be legal but not necessarily moral in our society. It is something that I personally struggle with often and is a basis, among many others, for why I see myslef exiting the profession in no more than 2-3 years.
Before I close, I leave you with a true and accurate tale: I once had a friend in High School who moved to our city from New York City as a result of his dad suffering an “injury” working a construction job in Brooklyn. The family made out with a $1,700,000.00 settlement in 2007 dollars (adjusted for inflation has the same purchasing power as $2,747,680.00 in 2026). The family bought a modest 3 bed/2 bath home in our city, bought a new Mercedes CLS and Mazda CX5 all in cash. My mother looked at thier situation and said to me “See? That’s the new American Dream. Suing your way to a house with a picket fence.” Almost 20 years later, that statment still resonates.
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