People have certain ideas about lawyers. They think we’re stiff, stuffy, and formal. They assume we’re going to be serious and that we don’t have much of a sense of humor.

It’s tough to build a relationship when people make these assumptions about us. We’ve got to overcome their mistaken beliefs and show them that we’re human.

Being human is relatively easy (for some of us) in one-on-one situations. We can sit down at lunch and show them we’re interesting, enjoyable, entertaining people to know. We can turn on the personality and destroy those preconceived notions about us.

How the Perception Dampens Creativity

What I’ve found challenging is when marketing people have those “stiff, stuffy, formal” ideas about us. We need marketing help, and we need to be presented as interesting, helpful, creative problem solvers. They think we’re boring.

Here’s what I mean:

I hired a guy recently to do some PowerPoint slides for us for a presentation (it could just as easily have been a website, brochure, business cards, etc.). I gave him a feel for what we wanted, and he went to work.

I asked him to do something fun, interesting, and light. The first draft came back and it was “stiff, stuffy, and formal.” He had ideas about lawyers, and he got bound up in his attorney stereotype.

I went back to him and asked him, again, for “fun, interesting, and light.” After a few more iterations we got there, but it wasn’t easy. It was interesting to see the stereotype effect in action because I’d picked him based on his portfolio. His presentations are terrific, and he does a great job. It’s only when he goes to work for a lawyer that everything changes.

It reminds me of the way I talk into a microphone. Normally I just talk, but put a microphone in front of me and I go all disc jockey. I can’t help it. I stop talking the way I normally talk. The designer stopped designing in his normal way.

Suddenly, instead of being the talented, creative designer I’d selected, he became the law firm designer. He went from fun and interesting to boring and conservative when presented with a lawyer assignment.

Breaking Free of the Lawyer Stereotype

It doesn’t have to be this way. We can have interesting graphic design and presentations if we try. Unfortunately, we’ve got to try harder than those in other industries. We have to convince the designers to loosen up and let their creativity run wild even though we’re lawyers.

Don’t accept boring lawyer design. Push for more. Get the designers to use their creativity to show that you’re human. Design matters. It’s often the source of the first impression we make. Don’t let the stereotypes lock you into being something you’re not. Help your marketing people let the real you out so your clients can understand what you’re all about.