James Sokolove (born 1944) is an American attorney who pioneered legal television advertising allowing increased access to legal services. He was the largest legal advertiser in the United States in 2007, spending $20 million.[1]
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The son of a personal injury lawyer, Sokolove was raised in Revere, Massachusetts. He attended Lawrence Academy at Groton and then went on to Case Western Reserve University.[1] After receiving his B.A. in 1966 he attended Suffolk University Law School and earned a juris doctor in 1969. He also received a certificate in 1990 from Harvard Business School.[2]
Sokolove volunteered as a VISTA community organizer after graduation from law school. After his father was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, he took his father's place leading the family law firm. He initially handled divorces and personal injury lawsuits. After several years, the law firm began to face mounting debts and split up.[1] The troubles at the first law firm convinced Sokolove that he had to find a new way to gain clients. This led him to begin advertising his law firm on television, which was extremely rare at that time. Sokolove's first ad, which featured a car crash filmed in slow motion, aired in 1982.[1] He tries to make the commercials as simple as possible, to avoid confusing viewers. He advertising tactics were initially criticized by prominent Boston Lawyers.[1] The advertising succeeded, however, and gained him a large number of new clients. The amount of new cases quickly became more than he or the lawyers he hired could handle. He began referring clients to affiliate law firms for a portion of the legal fees they earned. His law office now has 80 employees and over 300 affiliate firms in the United State which currently have over 10,000 open cases.[1] Boston Business Journal ranked Sokolove one of “Greater Boston’s 100 Most Influential Business People of the 20th Century” and Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly ranked him one of the “Most Influential Attorneys of the Past 25 Years.”
Sokolove is a major supporter of the Democratic party, having donated over $250,000 in the past 10 years. During the 2008 presidential election he participated in door to door canvassing on behalf of Barack Obama.[1] Sokolove is also active in various non-profits in the Boston area, including Greater Boston Legal Services Corporation, Suffolk University Law School, North Shore Community College, Law Project for Multi-handicapped Children, Cycleline, and Special Young Visions Art Competition.[3]