The client as consumer: Marketing the law,clinic-style

In 1977 the Supreme Court ruled that lawyers could not be prevented from advertising their prices for routine services, thus outlawing a long standing restriction imposed by the legal profession on its own members. This decision prompted a ferocious controversy (even for lawyers) over the proprieties of advertising legal services, not to mention the effect that “marketplace ethics” might wield on the delivery pricing, and quality of services offered to the great lay public. This article looks at how legal consumers are affected by the kind of high-volume, low-priced delivery of routine services that can only be offered profitably through aggressive marketing. Then it discusses how one firm used segmentation strategy and a consumer orientation to introduce the clinic concept on the East Coast. Finally, some implications of the immediate future of lawyer marketing for marketing professionals are analyzed.