Jimmy was now in charge of client communications, but he noticed that the legal letters sent to elderly clients usually went unanswered—only a handful of people replied. This might be because the seniors couldn’t understand the legal jargon in the letters, or because staff at Sandpiper Crossing were interfering. Whatever the reason, Jimmy had to find a solution.
This time, Jimmy received a reply from Ms. Alma at the Sandpiper Crossing nursing home in Amarillo, Texas—the only response among hundreds of legal letters. Due to staff obstruction, Jimmy couldn’t enter the nursing home to visit her. So he bribed the driver and waited on the road where the seniors were taken for outings and meals. Once on the bus, Jimmy used a gentle tone, simple language, and occasional jokes to help Alma and the other elderly passengers understand their situation. In just a few minutes, he gained more than 20 new clients.
At the regular joint meeting, Clifford spoke highly of Jimmy’s work—he had secured over 200 new clients in just three weeks. Currently, Jimmy was searching for clients in the Southwest, including Phoenix and Colorado Springs, with the goal of signing another 200 by the end of the month. If things went smoothly, they would reach the number of plaintiffs needed for class-action lawsuits in various districts. His achievements were recognized by Clifford and Howard, but Charles, who was also at the meeting, raised doubts. Taking Jimmy’s Texas trip as an example, he pointed out that only Ms. Alma had replied to the letter, yet Jimmy had signed over 20 clients. This, Charles argued, might make defense lawyers suspect solicitation.
Charles’ doubt was somewhat far-fetched. Howard tried to speak up for Jimmy, but Charles stopped him. Jimmy had to explain that the 20-odd seniors had voluntarily asked to sign the authorization forms after hearing his explanation to Alma—there was no solicitation involved. Of course, to completely eliminate such concerns and avoid giving defense lawyers any leverage, Jimmy agreed to stop using similar methods and find another way to gain the seniors’ support.
Jimmy’s job was secured by Kim, who had vouched for him with her own position. Every move Jimmy made was tied to Kim’s career. So after much thought, Jimmy finally came up with a new idea: TV commercials. He had been dealing with the seniors at Sandpiper Crossing for months and knew they had a fixed daily routine—they watched TV dramas every afternoon around 3 or 4 o’clock. Inserting an ad between drama episodes would have the same effect as in-person meetings.
He told his idea to Clifford, but Clifford was in a hurry to go on a business trip and didn’t have time for a detailed discussion. Moreover, a few years ago, Davis & Main had run ads for a class-action lawsuit over mesothelioma caused by asbestos exposure, with little success. For this reason, Clifford wasn’t optimistic about Jimmy’s idea and planned to discuss it after returning from his trip next week.
Jimmy dug up the ad Clifford had mentioned and immediately understood why it had failed. The entire ad was like a legal document—nothing but text and a voiceover, filled with legal and medical jargon. No one would be interested in watching it. He once again recruited film students from the state university and decided to shoot an ad himself, with Mrs. Strauss—his first client who had asked him to draft a will—as the lead.
The ad used a vintage black-and-white film style, paired with Mrs. Strauss’ melancholy expression, a voiceover, and a single drop of eye drops rolling down her cheek—it was extremely emotive. The ad ended with Davis & Main’s logo and phone number, and Jimmy was sure the seniors would want to know what was wrong with their pensions after watching it.
After finishing the ad, Jimmy invited Kim to his apartment to watch it. Kim was surprised that Jimmy had made such a professional ad, and it didn’t violate any bar association rules. All they needed now was approval from Clifford and his partners to air it on media. But Clifford wouldn’t be back until next week. Staring at the tape on his desk, Jimmy was too eager to wait—he decided to test the ad first in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to see how it performed.
The ad was an unprecedented success. In just over ten minutes, the law firm’s phones were ringing off the hook, and all associate lawyers were busy registering the names and addresses of elderly people asking to file cases. There were nearly 200 calls in one afternoon, and more seniors kept calling for inquiries. Jimmy, elated by this initial victory, wanted to share the good news with Kim. But then he received a call from Clifford—and Clifford was furious, leaving Jimmy with a vague sense of foreboding.