Why do you see so many billboards advertising lawyers? Hint: it’s not good

Driving around town, you see many billboards advertising the service of a lawyer.

Why?

I will tell you. But spoiler alert: the reason is not good.

In my opinion, these billboards are dangerous. They create the impression that lawyers are standing by ready to serve the cause of justice and that legal services are just a phone call away.

Actually, nothing could be further from the truth.

If you pay attention, you will notice that these billboards for lawyers only advertise one type of legal service: personal injury. They are seeking only clients who have been injured in an accident. And that, my friends, is not by accident.

Accident claims have the two features that lawyers love most. They don’t require much work. And there are large dollar figures involved.

Lawyers are lazy. They don’t want to work. The good news is that personal injury claims don’t require much work at all- yet the payouts can be enormous.

Most Americans think that lawyers serve the cause of justice. The average citizen learns about lawyers from TV shows like Law and Order. In those shows, there is drama and honor and principles. The courtroom is a noble place, a citadel where justice is handed down.

In the real world it doesn’t work that way.

Lawyers are mercenaries. They pick which case to represent the same way a stockbroker picks stocks. They want the case that gives the highest return on investment. Lawyers want to earn the most amount of money they can in the least amount of time. Ideals such as justice and fairness have nothing to do with it.

Personal injury cases are a lawyer’s dream. Most personal injury cases don’t require any legal work at all. The vast majority of personal injury cases are settled without ever going to court. The best part is there is not even a lawyer on the other side of the lawsuit- at least, not an adversarial lawyer who will challenge them in court.

It’s just an insurance company. An insurance company with deep pockets offering a big, fat settlement.

Accident cases are settled rather than litigated because the routine of personal injury cases is well known to both sides. It’s a well-rehearsed dance, and both parties know the steps.

The lawyer and the insurance company have a pretty good idea of exactly what each case is worth. They use tables and charts to determine what a jury would be likely to award. Those numbers form the basis for the the settlement value of the case.

The joke in personal injury cases is that “a scar is worth a thousand dollars an inch and a man’s life is worth a thousand dollars a year.” It’s all done by math tables.

It only takes a bit of back and forth between the lawyer and the insurance company to arrive at the settlement figure. A little haggling. Going to court is not required. A few emails and faxes will seal the deal.

And the lawyer keeps half.

The settlement amounts in personal injury cases are large because our society values bodily integrity. We don’t like it when people hurt other people- especially if they do so recklessly. Six figure payouts are common. Settlements in the millions of dollars are not unheard of.

Usually, a lawyer will keep half of that settlement as their “fee.”

If you are injured in a car crash and the case settles for half a million dollars, the lawyer will keep $250,000 of that. Not a bad payday for just sending a few faxes and emails to the insurance company!

If you don’t believe that this is how it works, try an experiment. Call a lawyer and tell them that you were hit by a drunk driver. The lawyer’s ears will perk up. They will become very interested in your case.

Then, tell them the drunk driver was uninsured. The person who hit you had no car insurance. They were driving as an uninsured motorist.

The lawyer will drop the call faster than a hot penny. Lawyers don’t sue uninsured defendants. Where is the money in that?

Suing an uninsured person would require a lot of work. It would mean going to court, getting a judgement, and then trying to enforce the judgement by locating the assets of the defendant. Who wants to go through all that hassle? If you’re a lawyer, you would rather just wait for the next caller who saw the phone number on your billboard. The caller who was hit by a motorist insured by a big, fat insurance company.

Why do you see more billboards for lawyers in some states and fewer in other states? It has to do with how lawyer-friendly the state is.

States like Nevada and Louisiana are perceived as very friendly to personal injury lawyers. The laws of those states make it easy to get a settlement. Accordingly, you will see more billboards for lawyers in those states. They all want in on that game.

(Incidentally, those are the states with the highest prices for car insurance. Insurance companies have to charge drivers more in a litigious state to make up for their losses.)

Start paying attention and you will see that nearly every billboard for a lawyer or law firm is advertising for personal injury cases. Every. Single. One.

You will never see a billboard advertising lawyers seeking more complex legal work, such as civil rights, tenant rights, or other legal matters. Those cases require too much work. The plaintiff (the person suing) has to come up with payment beforehand- and most people can’t afford the hourly rates that lawyers charge.

For a lawyer, the payoff is not worth it. They will stick with the easy money: personal injury cases.

That’s why I’m against these billboards that advertise for lawyers. They give a false sense of security. Most people see a billboard with “Lawyer” on it and they think they can just call a lawyer if they have a legal problem. Actually, they can’t.

Some people learn this the hard way. They are unfairly fired at work, or their local city government infringes on their rights. They think they can just call a lawyer. After all, there are billboards for lawyers on every street corner and highway overpass. A lawyer should be eager to take their case- right?

But it doesn’t work that way.

When you see a billboard for a lawyer, don’t be fooled. Despite what it says on the billboard about “justice” and “fighting for your rights,” the lawyer is not there for that purpose. Those lawyers only want personal injury cases- the kind that can be settled quickly between the lawyer and a deep-pocketed insurance company with just a few phone calls.

The kind where they get a maximum payout for minimum effort. The kind where they keep half the payout- and leave other citizens who need legal representation holding the bag.