'Wisconsin Lawyers Make a Difference' TV series expands,
Bar seeks lawyers who epitomize community service
June 3, 2005
The State Bar's "Wisconsin Lawyers Make a Difference" TV
series is headed to Stevens Point and Wausau and areas beyond. The Bar
seeks nominations of lawyers or groups of lawyers who demonstrate
exemplary commitment to community or pro bono service to feature in a
30-second TV vignette to air in northern Wisconsin this fall.
Nominations are due July 11.
The TV spots are part of the State Bar's long-term effort to
educate the public about the value lawyers bring to their clients and
their communities as expert advisers, problem solvers, and community
servants.
Nominees must have engaged in community or pro bono service
activities that have had a significant, positive impact on an
individual, group, or community. The TV spot is not intended to be a
commercial for a lawyer's practice, nor is the State Bar seeking
examples of the routine delivery of legal services.
According to Public Image Committee Chair Kevin Palmersheim,
"Television offers an effective means to communicate to the public that
lawyers, as expert advisers and problem solvers, are actively involved
in their communities."
TV spots aired from April to September 2004, reaching 23
counties in southern and central Wisconsin. Spots also aired statewide
during the men's Badger basketball games from December 2004 to
March 2005. From January to March 2005 spots aired in the La Crosse/Eau
Claire viewing areas. At that time, the La Crosse County Bar Association
(LCBA) partnered with the State Bar to produce a custom spot promoting
La Crosse County lawyers' involvement in Jim's Grocery Bag,
a local food pantry program named in memory of its founder, a La Crosse
attorney. By partnering with the State Bar, the LCBA doubled its
exposure to the public by using the Bar's media buying power.
"The State Bar was delighted to partner with the La Crosse
County Bar Association and looks forward to partnering with other bar
associations," says Palmersheim. "After moving up north this fall, we
will rotate to Milwaukee and southeast Wisconsin in the spring of 2006,
and Green Bay-Fox Valley in the spring of 2007."
To date the State Bar's TV spots have highlighted the
efforts of attorneys working with Habitat for Humanity; volunteering as
leaders of a local fire department and a search and rescue dive team;
providing assistance in family law, child support, and domestic abuse
matters to poor families who cannot afford to hire a lawyer; providing
real estate law and local government law expertise to develop a soccer
park benefiting thousands of children; helping with legal needs in the
aftermath of a devastating tornado; and creating a legal clinic, which
offers the public free advice on a variety of issues.
The State Bar introduced its Branding the Profession
initiative in the spring of 2002 to educate the public about the value
lawyers bring to their communities. The initiative uses the three key
qualities the public values most about lawyers – expert advice,
problem-solving skills, and community service - in communications
to the public.
For more information about the branding initiative,
contact Teresa
Weidemann-Smith at (800) 444-9404, ext. 6025, or (608) 250-6025.
More information
on Branding and nomination criteria.
