Yes, Findlaw – Lawyers Can Set Up A Booth At Farmers’ Markets – So Long As They Sit Like A Potted Plant
Talk about lazy blogging. I happened to come across this March 2015 post at Findlaw’s Law Firm Business Blog recommending that law firms consider setting up an informational booth or table at the outdoor festivals, fairs and farmers’ markets that propagate in communities across the country throughout the spring and summer months. The article goes on to suggest that lawyers have a “stack of business cards” available at the booth, or “provide some added value” by offering quick consults about legal problems.
Although perhaps setting up a booth at a fair isn’t the most original idea, it’s not a bad one either. And in fact, the idea sparked enough interest amongst readers that at least one asked “whether having a booth at a farmer market violates ethics rule 7.3 regarding direct solicitation.” Instead of responding, the author offered the usual cop-out caveat that:
This is a bit of a gray area, so we can’t give a clear answer. Always do your own research and talk to your local bar association before embarking on a new advertising venture.
Seriously?
It would have taken twenty seconds for the author to run a search on Westlaw (presumably, Findlaw authors have access to parent company’s Thompson Reuters product) or Google on the ethics of sponsoring a booth. At least, that’s how long it took me to locate on-point ethics decisions from five states (Arizona , Michigan ,Ohio , Utah , Nebraska ) and the ABA (ABA Inf. Op. 85-1515 – but you didn’t expect that to be online, did you?). These opinions pretty much concur that so long as lawyers sponsoring booths channel potted plants – sitting passively and speaking only when spoken to by passerbys – they do not run afoul of ethics rules. Honestly, this isn’t much of a gray area at all.
But my real beef is about this blogger’s laziness. Though he’s not the only one — I come across blog posts all the time by legal marketers or consultants about this or that idea that lawyers should try out – yet few ever identify or attempt to resolve the ethics issues. Same with posts about flat fee billing or legal subscription services, both of which may give rise to ethics concerns if not implemented properly. Message to marketers: if you’re really serious about this content marketing thing, why don’t you provide readers with something of value instead of tossing out a few tired ideas and making us do all the work to see if we can actually apply them ethically.
Photo courtesy of Shutterstock
Of course, it also highlights the archaic ethics rules that hamstring us. Can you imagine sitting there like a wallflower, waiting for someone to make eye contact or speak to you? Ugh. OK, I know that the bar associations don’t want us throwing boomerangs at potential clients’ heads as they pass by, but why can’t we engage people in conversation, like a normal human being?