Today’s *face palm* award goes to a US lawyer in Maryland — but, hands up, it could happen to any of us …
US criminal defence lawyer John Turnbull III’s venture into Facebook advertising hasn’t gone well.
And before we go any further, our own mea culpa. Anyone in the writing business can make a balls up, as Legal Cheek‘s readers kindly and consistently point out to the editing team.
However, when a lawyer is diving into the murky world of online advertising, it is perhaps best to splurge a spot of cash on a proofreader — or ask a your secretary, friend, mum to cast an eye over the copy before, in this instance, pressing the publish button.
The “primary attorney” at Baltimore-based The Law Offices of John Grason Turnbull III has dropped a major social media clanger, omitting a key piece of information from his sponsored Facebook advertisement.
Of course, the Maryland city was the setting for cult television drugs and rozzers drama, The Wire, so you never know. But the actual story seems to be that the attorney — who specialises in criminal defence, personal injury, and workers’ compensation — simply failed to mention he was actually a lawyer on his social media ad. Opting instead for:
“Let Baltimore criminal John Grason Turnbull III fight to protect your rights.”
Turnbull presumably hoped the mistake would go unnoticed. But unfortunately for him, it was spotted by our friends over at US legal news website Above the Law. Still, at least the advert was noticed.