LEGAL GROUP PLANDS ADS TO ALTER IMAGE OF LAWYERS

The problem with attorneys is not based in reality but on image and public perception, said the Missouri Bar Association president in Cape Girardeau Monday.

It is an image the bar will try to change with an upcoming advertising campaign.

Bar association president Jennifer Gille Bacon said a major problem attorneys face is based on the public's attitude lawyers.

Bacon's conclusion was based on research commissioned last year by the bar association and conducted by the University of Missouri Political Science Research Center.

"The general response (to the survey) was, 'Why would I want to use a lawyer. You think I have problems now, wait until I get a lawyer,'" Bacon said.

To counter lawyers' negative image, the bar association will launch a radio and television advertising campaign early next year to project a positive image of attorneys.

Bacon, in Cape Girardeau as a part of the Missouri Bar Association's annual media tour, said nine of 10 people surveyed had a negative response about the legal system in general. Seven of 10 had negative responses about lawyers.

But, she added, when asked about their personal experience with attorneys and with the courts, less than 5 percent said they had a negative experience.

"Their personal experience is favorable, but the image they have of lawyers is negative," she said.

The purpose behind the new campaign, which Bacon called "image advertising," is to change the public's perception of lawyers and the court system.

The association's campaign hopes to convey three things: the judicial system works, lawyers are efficient advocates and problem-solvers, and the public can afford lawyers.

"Missouri has an outstanding judicial system," Bacon said. "Ninety-eight percent of all lawyers are effective advocates who do a good job at an affordable price."

She compared the association's image advertising to the media campaigns of tobacco companies and hopes the campaign will improve the public's perception of lawyers the way the recent advertising done by the tobacco companies redefined the issue from being about health concerns to being about taxes.

"If the tobacco companies can do it, anyone can do it," she said.

In August 1997, the association commissioned the research into access to the legal system by ordinary citizens. After surveying focus groups in St. Louis, Springfield and Chillicothe, researchers surveyed additional people throughout the state about their attitudes of lawyers and the legal system.

The results showed people had a negative reaction to lawyers in general, even if they had a positive experience with their own attorneys.

Bacon said she does not expect the new image advertising campaign to change everyone's attitude toward attorneys and the judicial system.

"We won't ever make lawyers popular," she said. "That's because of the adversarial nature of the business. Someone wins and someone loses. You're always going to have dissatisfaction."