There are some really funny and weird lawyers videos out there. And there are good reasons for that.
Most trial and courtroom lawyers have a flair for the dramatic. After all, courtrooms are often filled with the drama and spectacle of the human experience. Delivering the right question or the smart argument in just the right manner requires some affectation. As a lawyer you may not care so much that John Biggs always carried a knife in his left pocket, but when you want to show that Mr. Biggs was the one who stabbed the victim, in the best interest of your client, the accused Mr. Doe, you must make a big dramatic fuss about Mr. Biggs’ proclivity to carry around that knife.
Good taste is a funny thing. Either you have it or you’re so damn sophisticated that you mock it.
Sometimes we’re acting. We know that. But lawyers do it to represent their clients. Because we become fairly skilled as actors, it makes sense that we make videos for fun and to promote legal services.
YouTube is filled with funny lawyer videos. We find out about them usually through our friends. We keep track of some of the more notorious ones out there. Here is a short list of the ones we think are worthy of your attention.
6. Justin McShane eats a loaf of bread
This one is almost a decade old now but it’s still worth watching because it’s quite funny. In the video, DUI lawyer Justin McShane of Harrisburg Pennsylvania, eats a loaf of bread and then immediately blows into an AlcoSensor FST (the same roadside breath tester we use in BC) generating a false positive result for alcohol. It’s accurate. It’s true that you can get false positives from bread, bananas, Kikkoman soy sauce and other substances. But who eats this much bread just before blowing? Aside from Justin McShane?
Justin looks weird. And the video is way too long. But it’s funny.
Justin is an effective DUI lawyer and really nice guy. Acumen Lawyers met him at a conference about a decade ago and it’s clear he knows how to defend his clients.
5. The Law Hawk
We were told that Bryan Wilson was an unknown young lawyer with little experience and stalled in his career before he put up his first Law Hawk ad. By now he probably doesn’t care what people say of him. We were also told that he has become an effective lawyer in the very competitive Texas DUI market. There is a certain clientele who probably find his videos hilarious, as do we. Some clients probably miss the joke altogether and take the message that he’s a semi-insane lawyer. Oh well. In any event, we like his videos. Still, if we needed a DUI lawyer in Texas we’d likely hire Deandra M. Grant, who is one of those super skilled lawyers like Kyla Lee who is as the top of her game and recognized by other lawyers for that reason.
4. Over the top – Adam Reposa – a true patriot
Adam Reposa is funny. Adam Reposa is an effective DUI lawyer. Adam Reposa has pushed it beyond what many would consider good taste.
Good taste is a funny thing. Either you have it or you’re so damn sophisticated that you mock it. Of course, the problem is if you’re cutting edge, people will hate you for it. As David Bowie is said to have said, wait until the concept is about to be popular, then copy it. Adam Reposa might be waiting for a while to see his ideas copied. We think his videos are funny and creative (because we’re so damned sophisticated) but he got into a load of trouble for his first video. He also got into a load of trouble for making a simulated masturbation gesture in response to a comment in court. He also got in trouble for calling himself the DUI King, that is until he changed his middle name to King.
To keep us temporally in check, we include his two most controversial videos in the order in which they were released. The first will entertain you. The second will disturb you.
Enjoy!
3. Adam Reposa Freaks You Out!
2. Thanks Dan
We’re glad to see that you’re still with us. The next in our list of funny and weird lawyer videos is more funny and less weird. Daniel Muessig, like the Law Hawk, was a novice lawyer when he created his video but it’s surprisingly effective. He got in trouble for it. The regulators thought it was undermining the perception of lawyers in the view of the public, so the version you see below is the edited version with disclaimers and it’s slightly cleaned up from the first version we recall seeing. But it’s hilarious and effective and in a very real way it’s a step above good taste. Because we think this is so well made, we are proud present “Thanks Dan.”
1. Acumen Law Talk Like a Pirate Day Videos
Our videos for Talk Like a Pirate Day were not so shocking, they were made for a general audience and they were designed to make the public understand that lawyers are accessible and approachable. As far as pirates are concerned, I guess we’re a little goodie two-shoes. Still, we have the cutting edge aspect of mixing romanticized 18th century pirates with the idea of modern day defence lawyers. There is a link. We’ll wait for the scholars to dissect it for an academic audience before we nod in approval of how history judges us. For now we’re thankful for the 100% positive feedback. For the naysayer (who we haven’t yet met) go watch something else. If you want to have a laugh watching Marauding Mary Maritime the mutineer take over the Good Ship Acumen Law and become the new captain, start with the first video. The story continues from video to video before the thrilling sword fight.
We promise, unlike this year, next year we won’t convert our entire website to pirate theme on Talk Like a Pirate Day. We’ve had our pirate fun. And unlike some of the lawyers who made some the more creative videos on our list, we’ve been defence lawyers for a long time. We did this for fun. Our throats are sore from talking like pirates. But now that we have a taste for it, we can’t promise we won’t create some other funny and weird lawyer videos in the years to come. Cheers!