Anyone who's driven on the highway or watched daytime television has likely seen one: an ad, complete with a toll-free number and maybe a catchphrase or a jingle, plugging a lawyer who can help someone who's been hurt in a slip-and-fall incident or by something more serious, like asbestos exposure.

The lawyers in the ads—often suited and bespectacled—implore their audience to give them a call. “Injured in a car accident? Don't wait, call eight!”; “Attention! If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with mesothelioma, you may be entitled to financial compensation.”

Or maybe they take an edgier approach, wielding a sledge hammer while clad in a leather jacket and sunglasses, saying, “I speak for innocent victims who cannot speak for themselves.”