The accident came without warning.

Now you're injured. What you do next could cost you tens of thousands of dollars.

That's William Shatner, one of television's most recognizable actors.

He was Captain Kirk in Star Trek. He's won two Emmy Awards. He has a star on

the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But in this commercial, he's playing a different role, spokesman for a

personal injury law firm. Don't risk your family's future. You want more? All the money you deserve? Get it done. Call free right now.

And tell the insurance company, you mean business. In many cities, ads for personal injury lawyers have become a part of the landscape.

Attorneys deliver cheesy one-liners in daytime TV spots.

Their faces loom over us on billboards and bus stops.

They hold up wads of cash and give themselves nicknames like The Hammer and Tarzan

the Lawman.

These ads might be funny or annoying, but in the personal injury business, they've become a necessity.

If you're going to be successful as a personal injury lawyer on a big time scale in today's

market, and it really is a marketing circus, we have a seven-figure budget for sure.

For the Free Economics Radio Network, this is the economics of everyday things. I'm Zachary

Crocket. Today, personal injury lawyers. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more

lawyery lawyer than Jason Abraham.

My grandfather and father were both lawyers, and I said from a very young age that I wanted to be a lawyer,

and I really didn't know what that meant, but I followed that dream.

Today, Abraham is the managing partner of Hupy and Abraham, the largest personal injury law firm in the Midwest.

He oversees 11 offices across Wisconsin, Iowa, and Illinois.

And over the past 30 years, he and his team have recovered more than a billion dollars in settlements for 70,000 clients.

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