Some marketing topics are complex and require a lengthy discussion.  Other times, res ipsa loquitur (“the thing speaks for itself”) applies. We think today’s discussion of lawyer website biography photos might be one of those.

In the early-2000s, lawyer website photos were stiff and formal.  Suits, ties, and plain-gray backgrounds.  Over time, attorneys grew willing to soften these formal website photos. To make them more casual. Less rigid.

For example, we like the friendlier “environmental” pictures shot for litigation powerhouse Hedrick Gardner.  Increasingly, lawyers with a more casual style have eschewed suits and ties in favor of business-casual attire.

Winston-Salem’s J. Clark Fischer, for example.  Photos can help provide information that plain text cannot — “a picture is worth 1000 words” and all that.  And Mr. Fischer’s “head shot”?  I’ve never met Mr. Fischer, but suddenly I know a lot about him.  I mean, like, an awful lot.

He sprayed on a tan and made an intentional and relatively hard choice in going this direction.

The fundamental question is:  Are you more or less likely to hire him after seeing this photo?