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The way people view attorneys may soon change. |
"We've constantly heard about the negative perception of attorneys and what they do, because the bad apples get the publicity," David Blaner, Executive Director of the Allegheny County Bar, said in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "It's a fairly significant task to take on but it's become a high priority to address."
According to a 2002 American Bar Association survey, attorneys were second to last in a list of the most respected professions. They came in only slightly above journalists. People who were surveyed said they didn't trust or respect attorneys for a lot of different reasons, including the assumption that attorneys only care about winning, not about the truth.
The Pennsylvania Bar Association is also working to paint a better picture of the legal profession through a new and improved ad campaign that includes commercials featuring clients thanking their attorneys for helping them through difficult situations. The commercials are set to air on CBS starting in April.
"We're probably easy targets. We're probably seen as a profession where we're only looking for the bottom line," Kenneth Horoho, President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, said in an interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Another bar association that created a campaign to change the way attorneys are viewed is the State Bar of Wisconsin. Although not all of the members of the bar were in full support of the campaign, most thought it was extremely important to improve the image of lawyers. The campaign concentrated on television commercials that showed attorneys volunteering for causes such as Habitat for Humanity.
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