THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, November 7, 1994 TAG: 9411051059
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JANET DUNPHY, SPECIAL TO BUSINESS WEEKLY
LENGTH: Long : 172 lines
How can you tell when a lawyer is lying? His lips are moving.
Why won't a rattlesnake bite an attorney? Professional courtesy.
You've probably heard the lawyer jokes before. Even many lawyers will tell one or two for laughs. But why does the public hold lawyers in awe and contempt at the same time?
Lawyers in Hampton Roads are grappling with the question of public disdain for a profession that has been ridiculed in televised beer ads even as readers eagerly buy thrillers about lawyers.
Lawyers trace the love-hate relationship to American cynicism of all institutions as well as headlines about bad apples in the profession, advertisements that make lawyers look like charlatans, towering fees and simple misunderstanding of the legal process.
``The public doesn't understand what lawyers do,'' said attorney Gregory Giordano, president of the Virginia Beach Bar Association. ``People always ask me how I can defend someone who's guilty.''
While the American Bar Association has launched a campaign to repair the profession's image, law schools have begun honing courses on advertising and marketing.
BUT A PERCEPTION OF GREED and arrogance, curried by television shows such as ``L.A. Law,'' taints the profession even for many attorneys.
That's happened although lawyers have clearly won verdicts in the public interest against major corporations. Giordano, a commercial litigation specialist, pointed out that lawyers put together winning cases in instances where the public was harmed, including the exploding Ford Pinto, the faulty man-made heart valve, the Dalkon Shield and most recently, breast implants.
Still, the perception lingers. ``I'm disgusted with the ego trip,'' said Lynne Marie Kohm, an assistant professor at Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach. ``Attorneys have a lot of status and power, and it can go to your head. It can make you very self-centered.''
Kohm said she was stunned when the TV networks hired loads of lawyers in the summer to cover the O.J. Simpson case. ``Who's in control?'' she said. ``Not the jury, not the judge. The attorney.''
Putting attorneys in control and putting them on television has kept the profession in the limelight, and tended to make lawyers look like circus acts rather than Matlock, the winning do-gooder of television fame.
Because their task is to define and solve problems in society, lawyers have become a lightning rod for public cynicism, said Harry Hirsch, deputy bar counsel for the Virginia State Bar.
``The profession plays a central role in the essence of what our country is built on - its laws and its government,'' Hirsch said. ``We are in a moment in history where we as a country have a tremendous level of cynicism about government, its leaders, the institution, the authority.''
While the public may look coolly at lawyers, many people respect the profession. The legendary difficulty of law school and the bar examination eliminate many contenders, furthering the notion that lawyers aren't just average people earning an average living.
``The majority of people still respect an attorney's opinion and see them somehow as an educated elite, unlike an academic who's also an elite but hidden away,'' Kohm said.
``Let's face it. It is a profession for people with intelligence,'' said Norfolk attorney Rex V. Sparks. ``It's fascinating and a never-ending source of learning.''
Even so, the bad apples in the business make headlines. The Virginia State Bar fielded 2,422 complaints about lawyers last year, issued 266 sanctions and 52 reprimands. Most complaints concerned general neglect or failure to communicate with clients.
In Hampton Roads, where six bar associations have more than 1,700 members, four lawyers have been disbarred since 1992; three have gotten their licenses back.
In tracing the profession's fall from grace, many lawyers point not to the bad apples, but to the ads that have appeared since a 1977 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court allowed lawyers to advertise their services. For example, legal ads run for 84 yellow pages in the current South Hampton Roads phone book.
``Advertising overall has not helped the image of attorneys,'' said Regent law school dean Nelson Happy, calling some TV ads chicanery. ``It tends to bring disrespect. It's not a profession. It's just a way to get money.''
Virginia Beach divorce attorney Irene Sutton concurs. ``I don't care for advertising because people have gone so overboard,'' Sutton said. She assails the ``used-car salesman approach'' and contends the State Bar hasn't done enough to keep the ads in check.
The Virginia bar's standing committee on advertising and solicitation monitors advertising by lawyers statewide on everything from billboards to videos.
Ads are reviewed periodically by geographic area for compliance with a code of professional responsibility, said Susan Spielberg, staff counsel to the Virginia Bar committees.
Since the State Bar is an arm of the Supreme Court of Virginia and bar membership is mandatory, lawyers are bound to the code by law.
``There are a lot of good attorneys who advertise,'' said Hirsch, of the Virginia bar. ``I can't say it's a negative thing.''
He adds: ``The fact is I think there would be a sizable body of opinion out there that says advertising is inconsistent with the professional person.''
CONSISTENT OR NOT, there is also the bottom line. Joynes and Bieber, a young law firm based in Virginia Beach, spends more than $1 million annually telling the general public they can afford an attorney.
``We think that our growth is a result of the advertising,'' said managing shareholder Joel Bieber. The firm, formed in 1989, is about to open its fifth office, located in Raleigh.
``If you don't have to advertise, that would be nice. It's a large bill every month,'' Bieber said. ``But it helps build business and it helps let folks know we're still around.''
He doesn't worry that public respect will erode because of the widespread advertising.
``Each passing month our practice continues to grow and people continue to call us,'' he said.
Bieber's format is ``based on the old Procter & Gamble idea of name identification,'' both in 30-second TV ads and 60-second radio ads.
``I concentrate on our name and I always try to use an attention-grabber, like a free consultation and we come to you.'' n [The following article appeared as a side bar to this article.] FEES ARE FALLING AS COMPETITION AMONG LAW FIRMS HEATS UP
Stephanie Tomlinson has a clear idea why she's spending $30,000 on her legal education.
``To vindicate people in our society, to see justice done, even though that sounds a little esoteric,'' Tomlinson said. ``I respect our judicial system greatly. That's the underlying reason.''
While competition may be heating up among law firms and pushing legal fees down, Tomlinson expects she'll recoup her educational investment once she graduates from Regent University School of Law.
Tomlinson estimated she'll make about $35,000 during her first year of practice.
That compares to average annual salaries in Hampton Roads of $26,834 for accountants, $34,901 for computer programmers and $36,836 for electrical engineers, according to a 1994 compensation survey distributed by the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.
If that makes her chosen profession seem lucrative, consider this. Tomlinson said tax attorneys can command $100,000 salaries early on in their careers.
Local and state bar associations don't track attorney fees. But one lawyer compared prices and said the hourly fee for a general-practice attorney in Tidewater averages $100 to $150 while the trial fee at a general-practice office is $200.
Probate charges are 3 percent of the general estate. So, if the estate is worth $1 million, the attorney charges $30,000.
Real estate closings cost $300 to $350. Uncontested adoptions and separation agreements cost about $300. Most practices offer a free initial consultation.
Regent law school dean Nelson Happy said corporations had been recruiting law school graduates. But those in-house jobs appear to be declining with the advent of lower-cost law firms, which have driven fees down, Happy said.
``Now companies are laying off (in-house attorneys) and hiring firms again,'' Happy said. As a result, ``I think we're going to see more competition at the law firms.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff color photo by LAWRENCE JACKSON
On the Cover
Below: Attorney Gregory Giordano, president of the Virginia Beach
Bar Association
Staff color photo by TAMARA VONINSKI
Lynne Marie Kohm, assistant professor at Regent University School of
Law
Staff color photo by DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH
Irene Sutton, Virginia Beach divorce attorney
by CNB