Once upon a time, serving as an elected public official was one route to building a successful law practice.

That’s less often the case today.

Running for office is a risky move when it comes to protecting your reputation.

Politics gets more difficult all the time as politicians get dirtier and dirtier.

That’s sad. It’s not good for government when smart, capable, public-spirited lawyers hesitate to get involved.

I’m not suggesting that running for office will necessarily damage your public image. But even if you win, there’s tremendous risk today because of the way campaigns are conducted.

Negative campaigning is now the rule, not the exception.

Scorched earth is what usually remains after the victory party.

The risk is especially high for lawyers.

Politicians attack lawyer/politicians for doing their jobs, even when they’re doing it well.

• Defending the constitutional rights of a criminal defendant? Expect an attack.
• Defending the rights of injured people? Expect an attack.
• Doing your best to put criminals behind bars? Expect an attack.

They’re coming after you regardless of what you do or whom you do it for. It’s guilt by association. It’s irrational stuff calculated to destroy you. It’s ugly.

It’s not just Democrats attacking Republicans or vice versa. Two of the commercials you’ll see below are Republicans attacking their fellow Republicans. The other ad is the typical attack across party lines.

Anything you do as a lawyer is fair game today. You’ll get the blame for the behavior of your client, and you’ll get blamed for doing exactly what you are supposed to do. There’s always going to be something you did as part of doing your job for your clients that’s going to reflect poorly on you when someone is paid to twist it into a negative ad.

Watch the commercials (30 seconds each):

Click here to watch the first video

Click here to watch the second video

Click here to watch the third video

Should you resolve to never run for office? I’d hate to answer in the affirmative. I’ve met quite a few successful lawyers who’ve built great practices either while serving in public office or after finishing their terms. It’s not an impossible feat.

But you need to weigh your options carefully. Politics is a high-risk activity. When your opponent (or some political group) spends a few hundred thousand dollars trashing you, it’s going to hurt. You may find that your mother is the only person left who doesn’t have doubts about your reputation.