While the name James Helm may be unfamiliar, his face is a fixture for anyone in the Philadelphia area. Grinning from billboards and SEPTA buses against a yellow background, Helm is often seen holding an inflatable phone or a sack of cash, surrounded by the words “CALL TOP DOG.”
Helm symbolizes a growing phenomenon: the proliferation of personal-injury attorney advertisements across the region. This has led many to wonder why these ads are so common and whether there is enough business to support so many firms.
The trend is not just an impression. In 2023, a WHYY Billy Penn analysis found that attorneys accounted for 20% of the billboards along a stretch of I-95. A similar 2025 review by Philadelphia Magazine counted 63 attorney ads between the airport and Cottman Avenue, a section it dubbed “Personal Injury Alley.” This advertising boom extends to public transit, with SEPTA projecting its ad revenue from law firms will quadruple from just under $400,000 in fiscal year 2021 to $1.6 million in its 2025 budget.
This pattern is mirrored nationwide. The American Tort Reform Association, a group advocating for limits on civil lawsuits, estimates that law firms will spend $2.5 billion on advertising across all platforms in 2024. The Philadelphia media market ranks in the top 10 for spending on both digital and radio legal ads. Among the top national spenders are familiar local names: Morgan & Morgan, known for its “Jawn Morgan” campaign, spent $218 million in 2024, while TopDog ranked eighth with $27 million.
This advertising landscape is a relatively recent development. For decades, ethical rules banned lawyers from advertising, with opponents arguing it would damage professionalism and mislead the public. However, a 1977 Supreme Court decision overturned the ban, ruling it violated attorneys’ First Amendment rights.
Even then, many lawyers were hesitant to advertise until John Morgan, of Morgan & Morgan, pioneered a more aggressive approach. After law school in the 1980s, Morgan bought the back-cover ad of the Orlando Yellow Pages. The response was overwhelming. He began advertising heavily in 1989, saturating one market after another, including Philadelphia. His firm grew to over 1,200 attorneys nationwide, making him a billionaire.
“Morgan & Morgan is somewhat of a playbook,” said Kyle Hebenstreit, CEO of the legal advertising firm Practice Made Perfect. “You can build a national practice if you’re just really aggressive about it.”
Billboards and bus ads are strategic choices for personal injury lawyers. Since anyone can be injured in an accident, there is no specific demographic to target, making mass-market advertising a cost-effective way to build name recognition. Some firms, however, avoid this approach. Shanin Specter, co-founder of Kline & Specter, says his firm prefers television spots to convey a more nuanced message about what makes them different, something “not susceptible to a quick billboard message.”
Despite the advertising blitz, the number of personal injury lawsuits filed in Philadelphia’s Court of Common Pleas has declined in key areas. Motor-vehicle accident cases dropped from 10,218 in 2017 to 8,300 in 2024, while slip-and-fall lawsuits fell from 4,049 to 2,938 in the same period. Medical malpractice cases, however, rose by 50% following a rule change allowing more lawsuits to be filed in the city.
The effectiveness of these ads is also uncertain. “Half of my advertising is working,” Morgan admitted. “I just don’t know what half.”
Furthermore, not all advertised firms handle cases directly. The fine print on TopDog billboards, for example, notes that James Helm is the “advertising attorney” and that the firm, based in Arizona, refers consumers to “local counsel” while maintaining joint responsibility.
Opinions on the practice’s impact are divided. Specter believes the ads increase access to justice, providing a necessary gateway to the legal system for those who don’t have a lawyer.
Conversely, Curt Schroder, executive director of the Pennsylvania Coalition for Civil Justice Reform, argues the ads create a more litigious society. He contends that by “dangling the possibility of riches,” attorneys lure people into suing who otherwise might not. “Nowhere is it written in the law,” Schroder said, “that every injury or every wrong has to result in a lawsuit.”
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