Business of Law

Criminal defense lawyer goes viral with 'Texas Law Hawk' ads

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Bryan Wilson is not lacking in qualifications to practice law. His law firm bio page says he graduated near the top of his law school class at Texas Tech University, earning multiple academic honors. Plus, he interned for criminal court judges and worked under experienced prosecutors and public defenders before going out on his own as a young attorney.

But instead of these qualifications, it is his nickname that is front and center in the viral ad that has won him Internet fame.

“Bryan Wilson! Texas Law Hawk!” he roars repeatedly in a throaty growl amidst bursts of flame as the American flag waves and an apparent hawk shrieks shrilly in the background. The 29-year-old attorney says he was called Texas Law Hawk by law school classmates, due to his aggressive advocacy.

His latest ad, which starts out with Wilson popping a wheelie in front of the stars and stripes, features an educational scenario at the end in which costumed Halloween characters do battle with an overzealous cop determined to force them to take a breath test on a bogus machine in the home in which they are celebrating the holiday.

Wilson saves the day, bursting through a garage door on his motorbike almost instantaneously after he is apparently called on a red hotline. “That’s why you don’t blow!” he shouts.

Within days of being posted on YouTube, that ad had gotten more than half a million views. An earlier ad, which was posted in May, has topped 100,000 views.

The earlier ad begins with a business-suited Wilson sprinting along a street holding the American flag and concludes as he leaps from a moving vehicle to promote his law firm. At one point, Wilson breaks into a giggle as he attempts to proclaim himself “Texas Law Hawk!”

The bad cop in the vignette near the conclusion of this ad attempts to intrude, without a warrant, into a group of young men gleefully playing a board game within a home. Again, Wilson appears with superhuman speed within seconds of being called on a smartphone.

“You know you need a warrant for that!” he tells the officer, after bursting through the entry door on which the cop has been pounding and apparently knocking him to the ground. “Call Bryan Wilson, the Texas Law Hawk, today!” Wilson tells the audience, pointing repeatedly at the screen.

Despite requests that potential clients call him, Wilson’s number is not featured prominently in the ads, if at all. However, he has already received hundreds of phone calls and voicemails, he told WFAA.

He also took a low-key approach to the production. “All of the other people in there are just friends—not paid actors or anything,” he notes.

Related coverage:

Huffington Post: “Texas Lawyer Makes His Case For Best, Loudest Ad Ever”

Across America Patch: “Bryan Wilson, ‘Texas Law Hawk,’ Is Your New Favorite Lawyer”

Texas Monthly: “The Texas Law Hawk Is The Internet’s New Favorite Lawyer”

See also:

ABAJournal.com: “Lawyer’s new Super Bowl ad: Fire, religion, claimed political corruption and anti-bullying message”

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