Ontario’s lawyers launch a PR campaign to show that they’re human

The Ontario Bar Association launched a slick ad campaign today aimed at shaking the prevailing image of lawyers as greedy prevaricators. According to Brian Howlett of ad firm Agency59, the multi-platform offensive is designed to “humanize the lawyer” by telling the stories of why some of them went to law school. (Presumably, the testimonials steer away from answers like “I wanted to put off getting a job for another few years” or “lawyers make a ton of dough.”) Asked to explain why they’re so disliked in the first place, some lawyers told the Globe and Mail it came down to the adversarial nature of litigation and a general lack of awareness of their social, political and charitable contributions. Howlett, however, has another explanation, one that, ironically, echoes the stereotypically arrogant lawyer: “There is probably a bit of envy...There may also be that insecurity you get when there is someone in the room who is smarter than you.” [Globe and Mail]