Mineola attorney David Galison is taking a novel approach to promoting his practice as a traffic ticket defense attorney by posting videos on YouTube.
Galison’s most recent video was posted on YouTube last week.
He has posted other videos on the popular video Web site for the last two months in his latest tactic to draw clients.
“It’s an evolving way of doing business. YouTube is a large search engine and there is no cost involved and you can pass on good information,” Galison said.
In the three-minute video, Galison offers a free consultation to anyone with traffic violation issues and offers a brief primer on why drivers who receive traffic tickets should always have legal representation.
The video explains that points assessed due to traffic violations can result in suspension or loss of license and also trigger increases in a driver’s auto insurance rates.
So far, Galison said the response to his YouTube videos has been modest, prompting several calls each month.
“It’s an experiment. It’s not an avalanche of phone calls,” Galison said. “A lot of people are looking for information. They’re not looking for an attorney.”
But Galison said providing a free consultation is a way of establishing good relations with people who might eventually need legal representation.
He said he has used virtually every other cost-efficient medium to promote his practice over the years, including advertising in shoppers and local newspapers and inserting brochures in a publication aimed at drivers shopping for autos.
“Over the years, I’ve tried everything,” he said.
Gallison said he has also made appearances on local radio shows, but said radio and TV are just too expensive as advertising media for an attorney with an independent practice.
“It’d be a big loss,” he said.
The YouTube video and his consultations are also a way of providing people with background information about limiting their liability when they make a court appearance on a parking ticket.
“If you have good representation in any court, you’re going to probably be more successful in getting a better resolution,” he said.
Unlike neighboring counties of Queens and Suffolk, the court system in Nassau County permits plea bargaining, Galison said, and enables a driver with a traffic violation to get a more favorable result in court with a savvy attorney. He said Nassau County traffic courts are open to pleading cases out because of the sheer volume of cases and the cost of overtime attached to police officers making court appearances.
Over his 15 years of practice in the Mineola area, he said he’s seen people sustain fines and other penalties in court because they weren’t represented by attorneys, so he saw a need to be filled.
“It’s kind of a niche that I’ve fallen into,” said Galison, who also practices as a defense attorney in other types of cases.
His practice is centered in Nassau and Suffolk, and his office is located at 1539 Franklin Ave. in Mineola.
The YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWE8vo_3XNw) uses 2 Prospect Street address of traffic court in East Williston because he regularly represents clients there.
His Web site is david@galisonlaw.com and the YouTube video also provides his telephone number, 516-242-4477.
