I get all my TV from rooftop antenna. Many of the commercials on these channels seem to be for lawyers: accident attorneys, unemployment comp attorneys, and the ubiquitous Class Action Lawsuit firms (talcum powder, mesothelioma, Zantac, hernia mesh, etc.) I remember when it used to be illegal for lawyers to advertise. Then in 1977 a couple of lawyers in Arizona decided to sue. Their argument was that it was a 1st Amendment repression, and that "the unconnected" among us had no idea how to go about finding an attorney in their hour of need. Interestingly (or perhaps, hypocritically), the strongest opposition came from personal injury lawyers, who claimed that it would tarnish the reputation of the industry, while others claimed that those well-established firms were only interested in shutting out new competition. Those Arizona lawyers took their case to the Supreme Court, and won. Last I read, the advertising of legal services is generally managed by local bar associations, as best they are able to. As an aside, one Chicago firm put up a billboard saying "Life's Short. Get a Divorce." So what do you think? Is this a net good? Or do these advertisements make us more litigious?
When we lived in Florida, we seen quite a number of advertisements, mostly during the weekdays, on tv from very popular law firms. Living here in northern Colorado now, we don't see as many, but there is a couple that are very popular in Denver that seem to be advertising all the time during the weekdays. Frank Azar, the "Strong Arm" is one that advertises a lot. Frank Azar advertisements is the only law firm, that we've seen, that has previous clients included in the ad.
I try to ignore most advertising on TV especially that from lawyers. A lot are from nowhere near from where you live and are filing a class action law suit, where if they win they get most of the money and what's left is divided up among all who joined the lawsuit, and your portion would be a pittance.
I get the class action stuff, but I can also off the top of my head name 4 local firms who advertise all the time (workman's comp, vehicle accident, etc.) I wonder if there are places where the market is stronger for such lawyers...and why that might be so.
In answer to the question, I do not know. It seems like more people are suing for this or that but because of the advertising, we might simply be more aware of it. A couple of years back I was reading about the depression years and there was a report that there were actually more disputes being settled via the court system than any time in our history. I think one of the main disputes of the time was over injuries incurred at the work place. Workman’s comp hadn’t been invented yet, child labor laws were vague, OSHA hadn’t reared it’s head and very few manufacturers and other work places had insurance hence the need for more arbitrators and lawyers. So again, I’m not sure but I think we’re just more aware of who to go to in case of a problem but I do not know if we have more or less problems at this time to warrant more lawyers.
Yes I remember hen there weren't lawyer ads. I also remember when drug ads touting miracle cures before giving you the results of yourbet were illegal
More recently I've seen ads for anyone who has had a COVID-caused Loss of Business Revenue claim denied by their insurance.