Lawyers Using Facebook To Target Clients Facing Drug Charges

Lawyers: Tailored To Your Charge

In a new wave of Facebook advertisements that always seem to know you a bit better than you’d think, a Law Firm in Sydney is using Facebook targeted advertisement to acquire new clients.

The niche market they’re aiming for? First time drug offenders getting slapped with possession or intent to supply.

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The firm, LY Lawyers had the advert live on Facebook and it read: ‘Busted with possession or supply of drugs at Field Day? Call Sydney's best drug lawyers.’ 

With the ad they included a stock photo of someone cutting up, take a look:

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Field Day is a New Year’s Day festival in Australia. I wouldn't worry about it being cold in January out there; the weather was probably warm and sunny. (Keep it cold I say, let winter run on)

Field Day is normally heavily policed due to its well-known party and drug culture. Last year police made over 200 arrests for drug offences. Quite a shame really, it’s a festival after all. Policing within a festival should be handled with a touch more delicacy and grace than it seems to have been so far.

Principal lawyer at the firm, Adam Ly commented on their consistent use of online advertising and that this new campaign is nothing out of the ordinary for the law firm.

‘We consider ourselves a progressive law firm, who likes to think outside the square, but within the ethical boundaries. Everybody has the right to the best legal representation at an affordable price. These people have made a big mistake (and generally don’t make it again). They deserve to be given a second chance’

He was also clear to highlight that the firm obviously don’t promote drug use and that their average client is aged between 18-35, normally students and young professionals.

He went on to say:

‘Whilst a large portion of our work is serious crime from word of mouth sources, we understand that first offenders and the 'connected generation' spend so much time on social media. Particularly the younger generation who might find themselves in trouble with the law, and not know where to go to get a good lawyer.’

If you've liked the festival’s Facebook page or any related music pages such as the pages of artists performing at the festival, you've probably already seen the advert thanks to Facebook’s targeted advertisement systems.

I always found Facebook ads a bit creepy and completely redundant to be fair. More often than not, the ads that you end up seeing are click baits and scams. A few years ago my roommate and I found ourselves both broken up with our respective girlfriends. After changing our statuses to ‘Single’ we were immediately bombarded with all those typical ads of ‘SexyVixen69’ wanting to chat because they’re 7 miles away. It was a lie, there was no Sexy Vixen. Also, travelling 7 miles through London is a bloody mission.

Also, as an avid gamer and proud, the quantity of Free To Play freemium games that bombard my news feed is ridiculous.

There seems to be no quality control behind these advertisements and I strongly doubt that the people behind them are getting their promotion money’s worth. 

Tom Welby

Tom has just graduated from University of East London in Creative and Professional Writing. He loves writing and he currently manages, edits and writes for this blog. His other loves include Arnold Schwarzenegger films and his dog. Follow him @TomAtSMF

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