Images
It
is
nice
to
be
a
highly
credentialed
lawyer.
I
am
a
highly
credentialed
lawyer.
However,
nobody
else
really
cares
whether
or
not
you
are
a
highly
credentialed
lawyer.
All
those
awards,
articles,
presentations,
and
certifications
are
perfectly
reasonable
things
to
pursue
for
a
variety
of
reasons.
It
feels
good
to
be
recognized
for
your
work.
It
is
gratifying
to
know
enough,
and
be
entertaining
enough,
such
that
other
people
want
to
hear
what
you
have
to
say
on
a
given
topic.
Yet,
you
should
not
pour
resources
into
this
sort
of
thing
for
the
specific
purpose
of
attracting
clients
to
your
firm,
because
it
won’t
work.
Nobody
cares.
The
big
glass
shield
representing
the
award
I
received
three
years
ago
at
the
Supreme
Court
delightfully
throws
little
rainbows
all
over
my
walls
when
bathed
in
sunlight,
and
occasionally
gives
me
a
pang
of
nostalgia
when
I
look
at
it
and
remember
a
good
professional
experience.
But
that’s
about
the
extent
of
its
practical
usefulness.
Laypersons
who
have
seen
it
don’t
know
what
the
organization
I
got
it
from
is,
what
“pro
bono”
means,
or,
about
half
the
time,
what
the
Supreme
Court
is.
That
is
hard
to
believe
for
a
lot
of
lawyers.
The
reality,
though,
is
that
as
we
live
and
breathe
this
stuff,
the
rest
of
the
world
goes
on
in
blissful
ignorance
of
the
internal
jostlings
of
attorney
prestige.
Go
ahead,
ask
someone
who
is
not
an
attorney
(or
married
to
an
attorney)
what
the
best
law
firm
is
in
the
area.
If
they
can
do
that
without
naming
whatever
local
personal
injury
firm
is
flooding
the
advertising
marketplace,
see
if
they
can
even
come
up
with
the
names
of
three
other
law
firms.
As
much
as
law
firms
pontificate
about
their
reputations,
law
firms
do
not
really
have
reputations
outside
of
the
small
circle
of
other
nearby
law
firms.
Regular
people
are
not
paying
attention
to
that
sort
of
thing.
Big
firms
already
have
big
corporate
clients.
When
these
sorts
of
clients
are
in
the
market
for
new
representation,
large
companies
and
very
rich
individuals
use
their
existing
networks
to
find
it.
For
almost
everyone
else
who
needs
a
lawyer,
these
days,
they
simply
turn
to
Google.
When
people
are
searching
for
an
attorney
online,
they
do
not
type
in,
“Which
attorney
in
[local
geographical
area]
has
won
the
most
industry
awards?”
or
“Are
there
any
nearby
lawyers
who
are
Certified
Civil
Trial
Law
Specialists?”
It’s
almost
always
something
more
like
“[geographic
area]
[whatever
the
potential
client
thinks
the
practice
area
for
their
issue
is
called]
lawyer.”
Obviously
there
is
a
lot
of
value
to
be
had
in
showing
up
near
the
top
of
the
page
in
these
kinds
of
search
results.
Beyond
that,
potential
clients
are
making
some
very
rough
judgments
on
quality
before
deciding
where
to
go.
I’m
not
here
to
tell
you
what
attribute
of
your
firm
is
most
important
to
advertise
to
potential
clients
—
if
you’re
wondering
about
that,
you
could
try
asking
a
few
of
your
best
clients
what
attracted
them
to
you
in
the
first
place.
What
I
am
saying
is
that
if
you
are
focusing
your
marketing
efforts
on
piling
up
legal
industry
awards,
certifications,
and
publications,
you
are
probably
advertising
more
to
other
law
firms
than
to
the
general
public.
There’s
nothing
wrong
with
pursuing
some
accolades.
I’m
kind
of
an
accolade
pursuer
myself.
Just
realize
that
when
you’re
doing
that,
it’s
for
your
own
personal
satisfaction,
not
for
a
real
marketing
return
on
your
investment
of
time
and
money.
Check
your
local
ethics
rules
about
attorney
advertising,
of
course,
and
comply
with
those.
Then
advertise
to
real
people.
Coming
off
as
someone
who
will
really
listen
will
earn
you
a
lot
more
clients
than
any
obscure
legal
industry
award
ever
will.
Jonathan
Wolf
is
a
civil
litigator
and
author
of Your
Debt-Free
JD (affiliate
link).
He
has
taught
legal
writing,
written
for
a
wide
variety
of
publications,
and
made
it
both
his
business
and
his
pleasure
to
be
financially
and
scientifically
literate.
Any
views
he
expresses
are
probably
pure
gold,
but
are
nonetheless
solely
his
own
and
should
not
be
attributed
to
any
organization
with
which
he
is
affiliated.
He
wouldn’t
want
to
share
the
credit
anyway.
He
can
be
reached
at [email protected].