What do you think of when you think of an attorney? If you’re like most people, as a profession, we aren’t too high on your likability list. Several studies support this. In a study that measured competence and warmth, Princeton University concluded that lawyers are regarded as highly competent professionally, but very cold personally.
In a similar study taken in 2001, the American Bar Association found that most American’s believe “lawyers are knowledgeable about the law and can help clients navigate through difficult situations,” but they are “greedy, manipulative, and corrupt.” Interestingly, in both cases, those polled reported that their personal experiences with lawyers substantiate both the positive and negative beliefs.
In this same study, society’s confidence level in attorneys ranked only above their confidence in the media, just below their confidence in Congress.
If these studies are an accurate indicator of public perceptions, that means you probably think lawyers are smart, but selfish; competent, but cold; and manipulative, merciless money-grubbers to boot.
Like all generalizations, this one isn’t universally true, but certainly grounded in reality to some degree.
But not all lawyers are like that.
At H & P, we aim not just to be success-driven, but to make it a positive experience for our clients. That means that from the first time they hear about us, to their first phone conversation, to when they first walk in the door, to when they sit down with an attorney, to the end of their case, they are comfortable.
We want our clients not only to know that they’re in very capable legal hands, but also that hiring an attorney doesn’t have to be a painful experience. Usually our clients are already experiencing some sort of loss in their life—there’s no reason to heap it on by making the hiring-an-attorney process miserable.
We believe lawyers should be people, too. We don’t want you to think we’re so knowledgeable we’re stuffy or so successful that we are above you. We want you to feel like we are genuine. Real. Human.
Give us a call. Speak to an attorney you’ll actually like.
Our clients and potential clients are smart. They realize that in some circumstances, it doesn’t make sense to hire an attorney. They have already talked to the insurance adjuster of the at-fault driver, and the adjuster has been really friendly and may even have already offered some settlement amount. If they’re already offering to pay, why would you hire an attorney who is just going to take a portion of the eventual settlement?