AN ATTORNEY AD AND A BRIDES’ MAGAZINE

Michael Sean Quinn*
There are “brides magazines” everywhere.  They are glossy paged journals mostly advertising expensive dresses worn by beautiful and gleaming models, outfits for grooms, related costumes for other participants, party pictures of receptions and other celebrations, related society-fuction contexts, and so on. In addition there are ads for new homes, wealth management services, vacation locations (perhaps for honeymoons), fitness centers, and more. 

The best ones are analogues of ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST, and similar publications. Not all of these mags are in that high class category. I’ll come back to this in a moment.  

Ironically, perhaps, these mags–irrespective of their quality–seem an excellent place for divorce lawyers to advertise their services. In part, this is because brides keep the magazines in which they appear, as do their families. 

Now, I recently saw a dreadful issue of one of these rags, the title of which is THE SOCIETY DIARIES, although it may be THE SOCIETY DIARIES [of] TEXAS (July-August 2015). The subtitle on the cover page was “LOVE STORY [/] RAVISHING BRIDES AND DASHING GROOMS [/] 0n Their Dreamy Day.”  

The striking trouble was that the bride on the front cover looked very sad. Her face says, “Get me out of here.” Either she or someone who looks like her is trying to look cheerful, but she is failing. (Then again, someone else who looked at her thought she might be going blind.)

And that’s not all. Several of the bride’s clothes don’t really fit, and other ads are not really much better. Of course, some of this is attributed to those buying the space, but poor advertisements can be refused.  

The best thing about this issue, however, is an elegant ad of a gentleman who is widely regarded as one of (if not out-and-out) the best family/divorce lawyers in the whole state. It takes up nearly half of one page considered vertically. 

Of course, there are no rules of legal ethics forbidding an attorney from purchasing ad space in poor publication. But  one might wonder about the marketing philosophy. Then again, perhaps that’s where a financially effective ad should be placed. 


(It is certainly better and strategically more sensible than the slew of more or less standardized photos and  shallow business slogans–both usual embodying allegations of  lawyer fame, references to alleged achievements or previous recognitions,  and ostensible seeking to manifest the spirit of attorney aggressiveness–that are to be found on the pages of journals like Super Lawyers Magazine (Texas 2015*), rags virtually no one actually reads. *This one being a child of Thomson Reuters and the publishers of Texas Monthly.)


Michael Sean Quinn, Ph.D., J.D., C.P.C.U. . . .
The Law Firm of Michael Sean Quinn et
Quinn and Quinn
                                                  1300 West Lynn Street, Suite 208
                                                              Austin, Texas 78703
                                                                  (512) 296-2594
                                                             (512) 344-9466 – Fax
                                                  E-mail:  mquinn@msquinnlaw.com