Adventures in Lawyer Advertising: 100% Lean
A Biglaw traveler checked in with us from Minnesota airport:
I almost spat out my Caribou Coffee when I saw this ad next to my gate. Apologies for the pic quality—a little blurry from combination of crappy phone pic and shaky hands from said latte.
Here’s said ad:
Which firm is breaking down its lawyers’ nutritional value?
Here’s the full photo:
If you check out NewBreedLaw.com, it takes you to the site of Minnesota firm Halleland Lewis Nilan & Johnson. It has six practice areas: labor and employment, business law, intellectual property litigation, product liability and mass tort litigation, commercial litigation, and health care.
The Minneapolis-based firm claims to be a new breed, explaining on its website:
We’ve coined the term “expertique,” to describe our blend of legal expertise and applied business practicality. It means we’ve combined the specialized legal knowledge of our attorneys in small, boutique-like multidisciplinary teams where each member draws from a complete understanding of our clients’ industries to maximize your business results.
Given their coining the term “expertique,” we’re going to have to up their “Obnoxious Lawyer Schtick” content from 0% to 15%.
(59) 
Comments
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First!
FIrst!!
"Modeling Diversity"? Huh?
mine didn't have the typo!
mine didn't have the typo!
SCOTUS passed/punted/kicked on cert in the Redskins case. Eeek.
Reed Smith just asked all its non-equity partners to kick in 15% of thier pay as a kickback on pain of losing their partnership status and becomeing at-will employees, and this is the story ATL runs?
This place is slipping.
Big Gulps, huh?
And what, pray tell, were you doing in Minneapolis, young lady?
This firm is made up of many of the old lawyers from a firm called Popham Haik, which imploded a few years back. some of the nicest guys you wuld want to meet, but this ad does them no good.
7 - get your bad news fix here: http://abovethelaw.com/2009/11/this_week_in_layoffs_111409.php#more
This firm is made up of many of the old lawyers from a firm called Popham Haik, which imploded a few years back. some of the nicest guys you would want to meet, but this ad does them no good.
Where is the latest Dokupil installment?
From what I hear, most of the annoying ATL schticks are from a Halleland IP address.
This ad strikes me as false.
Thank God she mentioned "Caribou Coffee." STFU.
This her label be some city-slicker nonsense. I bet this here firm is 100% behind being yankee left-wing nutjobs.
Stop being such babies. This is a good ad. It is very eye-catching and just funny enough to not annoy. I love seeing a little entrepreneurial creativity from lawyers, a group not known for creativity. You people need to back off those trying to use what they have to make a living. Would this money have been better spent on mahogany walls and floral arrangements?
17 - You are right. Lawyers are not that creative. Therefore, an ad. agency had to come up with this garbage...
17, it's dumb. Fine (if unoriginal) idea for an airport advertisement, but it could've been much less sloppy.
-copywriter
This is so sophomoric. Did a high school intern come up with this?
Serving Size: 1 Law Firm
Serving Size Per Container: 55 lawyers
Am I the only one who sees that this doesn't ad up?
As an accountant who wandered over here from goingconcern, I feel it necessary to point out that 16.6% * 6 = 99.6%. What is the other 0.4%? While this is probably a rounding issue, it still shows a disregard for attention to detail. Would they sign off on a prospectus that has blatant footing errors?
Lame. They deserve to go out of business for such creativity.
Halfway clever. The viewer might smirk a bit as they quickly pass by, but can that be the basis for a serious business relationship?
I've got a new word too: cringetastic.
Pro bono 0.4%
ATL is terrible today.
In Florida they would all be disbarred.
Halleland is a very good firm.
In nutritional labeling, the percentage is the percent of your recommended intake that the product provides in one serving. So, are they saying that they will provide you with 1/6th of the necessary legal coverage for any of their practice areas?
Elie- quick
You could devour this entire firm and not get fat(ter)
7 = flame.
22 = sounds way too much like an accountant to actually be an accountant.
The ad isn't meant to generate serious business relationships. God, it's so obvious the trolls here are all 2Ls at Cooley...
It's meant to increase firm name recognition, period. They want everyone, from corporate counsel to CEOs to school teachers to janitors to take a second look at the ad and chuckle. Hopefully those people will remember the name.
This is Marketing 101, for Christ's sake.
Law firms seem to be getting pretty creative with their advertising nowadays. I'm glad that the twittering and facebooking viral advertising seem to be going the wayside. This blog posting I read freaked me out about: http://lawblog.legalmatch.com/2009/06/12/be-careful-what-you-write-social-media-marketing/
100% Craptastic!
This would never happen in Texas.
@32 - 22 here - I don't know if that was a compliment, insult, or just the statement of an opinion, but I am an accountant (SEC reporting @ fortune 100).
No different from that crappy firm Quinn Emanuel, which has (or at least had in the past) awful advertisements at BUR.
Why do all of the partners at Paul Hastings walk around the hallways with coathangers?
22, 37
Seeing all the "sweet hot justice" over here, I can only imagine an accounting firm.
All of you wage-collecting associates looking over your shoulder for a pink slip seem nonetheless to retain a sense of second-hand superiority by virtue of your Biglaw employment. This sense of superiority will vanish if you actually get the pink slip and then realize that you don't have any clients and don't really know how to do anything that you can do without being employed by a big muckety-muck.
Think about it- these 6 lawyers are going to get paid year in year out because they go out and get CLIENTS. What a concept! If they just put their names on a sign with a little gavel next to it NO ONE WILL READ IT.
38:
I'll have to look for them next time.
This ad has been in the MSP airport for months. Years even. It's old as shit.
This blog is absolute shit.
Some of you people (I'm looking at 33 and 41) seem to be pretty miserable.
There's a shareholder at this firm with the last name "Hittler"!
If this situation doesn't cry out for a surname change, I don't know what does.
There's a shareholder at this firm with the last name "Hittler"!
If this situation doesn't cry out for a surname change, I don't know what does.
Holy shit. I thought you were kidding about there being a Hittler there? Why the fuck would his family not have changed that? I'm freaked out just looking at the guy. Are there any Jews that work there?
That is incredibly stupid.
I ate this law firm.
It had just a hint of "modeling diversity" to make it delicious.
I love MSP!!! Hot guys in the bathrooms, and now this awesome ad!
--Larry (Wide Stance) Craig
ah, the desperation of those fighting to survive in a desperately overcrowded industry....
Is it just me or is this very ad - the one that claims that the firm involves "0% Obnoxious Lawyer Schtick" - not itself obnoxious lawyer schtick?
Is it just me or is this very ad - the one that claims that the firm involves "0% Obnoxious Lawyer Schtick" - not itself obnoxious lawyer schtick?
Hi Kash.
Caribou Coffee is owned by Muslim terrorists.
38~
At least one is still there by gate A2. I saw it on Friday. I laugh every time I see it.
42~
It's even more craptastic than this ad. At least this one attempts to be clever.
100% Fail.
William A. Kennedy:
makes sense but it sounds more edible than credible
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