Is your lawyer always getting in the way?
That’s the question Denver law firm Isaacson Rosenbaum poses in a new ad campaign rolling out in the Denver Business Journal on Friday.
The ads feature cranky, imperious goons in lawyerly attire blocking ordinary people from accomplishing ordinary tasks — as lawyers are prone to do.
In one ad, a woman reminiscent of Nurse Ratched blocks the path to an ATM. In another, some sanctimonious aristo-creep stands on a golf green obstructing a putt. In another, a cross-armed thug in a double- breasted suit prevents someone in a shower from grabbing a towel. “If your law firm spends time creating problems, instead of solving them, call us,” the ads read.
The message: Too many lawyers are in the business of obstructing business. But not at Isaacson Rosenbaum and its website, .
“These are terrible, capitalizing on stereotypes,” said John Sadwith, executive director of the Colorado Trial Lawyers Association. “Self-serving, alarmist advertising serves no purpose other than name recognition and a grab for market share.”
Isaacson Rosenbaum partner Mark Grueskin said his firm paid a Chicago-based advertising consultant for this tongue-in-cheek campaign. The ads will run in several specialty trade, business and real-estate publications, he said.
“These ads weren’t designed to make everybody happy,” Grueskin said. “They were designed to make a point about our law firm and the way we practice law.”
All you can do is scream
Isaacson Rosenbaum is more than 50 years old. Its 45 partners do everything from real-estate and securities deals to election law and criminal defense.
It was recently chosen among many contenders to do legal work for the 2008 Democratic National Convention Committee. It represented developers of Denver’s new Ritz- Carlton. Gov. Bill Ritter, himself a lawyer, chose the firm to defend Colorado in a lawsuit against aspects of its school funding.
And anyone facing serious criminal charges around here soon learns that Gary Lozow is the go-to guy. Consistently cited as one of the nation’s top criminal-defense attorneys, he’s represented former Qwest executive Marc Weisberg in a plea deal; the Klebold family after the Columbine massacre; Michael Wise, who was acquitted of federal charges in the collapse of Silverado Savings and Loan; and even TV’s embattled bounty hunter, Dog Chapman.
Despite myriad successes, this storied local firm is surrounded by giants, moving in from New York and Washington, D.C., scooping up some of Denver’s most talented lawyers and their clients.
Denver, for instance, is just one of 22 offices of Hogan & Hartson and its 1,100 lawyers. Greenberg Traurig is even bigger, with 28 offices and 1,750 lawyers.
Last week, labor attorney Todd Fred rickson — a sage who is frequently quoted in this column — and his colleague Darin Mackender left Denver’s Otten Johnson Robinson Neff & Ragonetti to head up the new Denver office of employment law firm Fisher & Phillips.
“We have wanted to expand into Denver for some time but wanted to ensure we started out with the right attorneys,” said Fisher & Phillips chairman Roger Quillen. “Todd and Darin are two of the most successful labor and employment attorneys in Colorado.”
In this environment, all a local 45- lawyer shop can do is scream. Thankfully, there’s advertising.
For most of the past century, bar associations forbade members from advertising. Then, in 1977, came a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of Bates vs. State Bar of Arizona.
The Arizona bar had come down on a member for simply advertising “legal services at very reasonable fees.”
The Arizona bar argued that this sort of boast would: have an “adverse effect on professionalism”; be “inherently misleading”; encourage litigation; drive up prices; and possibly even cause a decline in the quality of legal services. Imagine that.
The Supreme Court rejected these arguments, but flash forward 31 years and ask yourself this: “Is your lawyer always getting in the way?”
Theresa Conley, clinical professor of marketing at the University of Denver, predicts Isaacson Rosenbaum’s ad will resonate with businesspeople who’ve met an obstructionist attorney or two.
It seems the debate between professionalism and shameless marketing in the legal profession has long been decided in favor of hucksters. So what if they look just like used-car salesmen?
“Sure, they want to be seen as ethical, professional, selfless and dedicated to justice,” Conley said. “But . . . they are competing with other firms. . . . And if they’re not making noise, they are going to be forgotten.”
Al Lewis’ column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Respond to him at ., 303- 954-1967 or alewis@denverpost.com.
