This is quite a headshot.

Some marketing topics are complex and require a lengthy discussion.  Other times, res ipsa loquitur (“the thing speaks for itself”) applies. We think today’s discussion of lawyer website biography photos might be one of those.

In the early-2000s, lawyer website photos were stiff and formal.  Suits, ties, and plain-gray backgrounds. Over time, attorneys grew willing to soften these formal website photos. To make them more casual. Less rigid.

For example, firms are opting for friendlier “environmental” pictures, in front of a window or landscape, over the formal “high school yearbook” style in front of a gray screen. Increasingly, lawyers and firms with a more casual style have eschewed suits and ties in favor of business-casual attire.

And some lawyer photos are even less stiff:

Winston-Salem’s J. Clark Fischer, for example.  Photos can help provide information that plain text cannot — “a picture is worth 1000 words” and all that.  And Mr. Fischer’s “head shot”?  I’ve never met Mr. Fischer, a criminal defense lawyer, but suddenly I know a lot about him.  I mean, like, an awful lot.

He sprayed on a tan and made an intentional and relatively hard choice in going this direction.

Many of his peers have said good things about his legal skills. The fundamental marketing question is:  Are you more or less likely to hire him to defend you in your DUI or murder trial after seeing this photo?  

What do you think?  Please feel free to comment below.

Looking for a powerful, beautifully designed website?  Oil yourself up and contact Fishman Marketing at ross@fishmanmarketing.com or +1.847.432.3546! Or simply scroll back up and SUBSCRIBE to our blog!

Photos (c) 2015  J. Clark Fischer

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