Arguably, very few industries are more competitive and fragmented than the American legal industry. Among hundreds of thousands of players in countless regionally subdivided markets, law firms must set themselves apart from their competitors to generate new leads and grow.
James Helm, the founder of the Philadelphia-based law firm TopDog Law, has opted for a more people-oriented approach to connecting with prospective clients. He opposes the traditional notion of lawyers as part of an elite section of society. Instead, this Philadelphia-native attorney believes that the key to attracting new clients is to close the bridge between attorneys and ordinary people.
“I think what makes [TopDog Law] stand out is just being relatable,” said Helm during a recent interview. “It’s simply a matter of being different, being friends with our clients, and being part of the communities we serve, rather than being on a pedestal.”
Nowadays, TopDog Law is one of Philadelphia’s fastest-growing and most recognizable injury law brands. After only three years in the market, TopDog Law has expanded into a multi-seven-figure law firm with two offices in Philadelphia and one in Baltimore. Over the past years, Helm and his team have maintained a firm commitment to providing top-quality representation to their clients, helping them obtain maximum compensation.
During a fraction of Helm’s early adulthood, he struggled with addiction to prescription painkillers. His experience with substance dependence made this 31-year-old law firm owner realize the hollowness in the hyper-idealized social view of lawyers.
Today, in his role as the head of TopDog Law, Helm wants to defy the traditional standards of marketing for law firms and humanize the figure of lawyers as a way to connect with his clients.
In an interview back in May, Helm connected via Zoom to discuss how he has set TopDog Law apart by building genuine connections with the communities he serves across Philadelphia.
For decades, the image of lawyers in full suits has dominated the canon of marketing in the legal industry. This elitist perception of attorneys has been amplified through billboards and traditional media, becoming part of the American mind.
Helm opposes the notion of lawyers’ hierarchical superiority. As he explains, this narrative alienates attorneys and creates gaps that prevent them from connecting with their clients.
“In the past,” said Helm, “most lawyers conducted their marketing with billboards or on television with their stuffy suits, projecting this air that they were better than the clients they served.”
When Helm opened TopDog Law in 2019, he decided to break this standard and take a different approach.
Having worked selling marketing services for law firms during his years in law school, Helm recognized that many firms fail to connect with everyday people. Using social media as the central pillar of TopDog Law’s marketing strategy, he presented himself as someone relatable who understands the realities of day-to-day people in Philadelphia.
At TopDog Law, “we’ve decided to go out with a different message,” said Helm. “We always try to communicate to clients, ‘hey, we are one of you.’”
During his early adulthood, Helm fought a years-long battle against substance dependence. As a freshman wrestler at Penncrest High School, he tore his right rotator cuff, an injury that led to him being prescribed highly addictive painkillers and eventually struggling with substance abuse during his college career.
Today, as the owner of a prestigious, multi-seven-figure law firm, Helm is reluctant to erase his past. In multiple interviews, he has embraced his past addiction and talked about the difficulties of his rehabilitation process.
“I’m not afraid of telling my clients, ‘I’ve been through my own personal struggles; here they are, so you know I’m no different,” explained Helm. “I didn’t grow up with a spoon in my mouth; I also had to battle my own demons.”
Over the past years, Helm has built a strong bond with his clients in communities across the Philadelphia metropolitan area.
Today, members of the Philadelphia community can better recognize Helm for the entertaining law-related videos that he creates for the social media platform Instagram. He is not hesitant to mock himself in his law-related videos on Instagram or talk about his past addiction. He believes that this genuineness has been a critical factor in the success of TopDog Law.
Helm exhorts other law firm owners to humanize themselves as a way to create more genuine connections with the clients they serve.
“Overall, the key to differentiating yourself in the legal industry is to be relatable with the client you serve,” concluded Helm. “It creates a level of comfort that translates into more leads and referrals.”
By Juan Sebastian Restrepo,
With Artistic Initiative Agency
