Virginia State Bar Contact: Rodney Coggin, Publications & Public Information Director 707 East Main Street, Suite 1500 Richmond, VA 23219-2800 E-mail: coggin@vsb.org Website: www.vsb.org Activity Summary: On April 27, 2000 the Virginia State Bar began a two-week public education campaign across Virginia. It featured examples of how Virginia attorneys protect individual rights, using newspaper and radio advertisements and poster distribution. The Virginia State Bar Committee for Publications and Public Information developed five public education advertisements on how lawyers protect the rights of individuals. It also produced radio spots using the ad copy. Beginning just before Law Day 2000 the USB placed quarter page newspaper ads in major metropolitan newspapers, ran radio spots state-wide, and distributed posters of the ads in communities in the Commonwealth. Activity Narrative: The ABA declared Law Day 2000 as a time to urge all Americans to become more aware of how legal professionals protect the rights of individuals in a diverse society. In keeping with the ABA theme of “Democracy and Diversity,” on April 27, 2000 the Virginia Bar began a two-week public education campaign across Virginia. It featured examples of how Virginia attorneys protect individual rights, using newspaper and radio advertisements and poster distribution. Outreach and Media Coverage Beginning just before Law Day 2000 the VSB newspaper ads reached over one half million readers; radio spots aired on the 48 stations of the Virginia Radio Network, with an audience of nearly one million. Partnerships It accomplished additional outreach by having members of the Young Lawyers Conference and the Conference of Local Bars distribute 1,000 posters to community centers, libraries, and shopping malls. Funding The Virginia State Bar received a grant of $10,000 from the Fellows of the Virginia Law Foundation. It also received $11,500 from its Litigation Section. It raised additional funds from private firms, through solicitations from members of the Conference of Local Bars. Funds were also raised when the campaign was licensed to bars in Oregon, Vermont, and the Canadian Bar Association in behalf of itself and its 12 provincial and territorial branches. Innovation The ad campaign was a bronze medal winner in the National Newspaper Association’s ATHENA awards competition, honoring the best newspaper advertising in the country. The citation read, in part: “Shining a favorable light on lawyers is not exactly the easiest creative assignment in the world, but these ads by the Virginia State Bar pull it off convincingly.” Sample Programs Home | By Audience | By Location | By Sponsoring Organization