I regularly write about the many great lawyers and legal professionals we have in Buffalo and how I think the profession all-too-often gets a bum rap from people who see attorneys as a bunch of ambulance-chasing, greedy bloodsuckers, a stereotype I have yet to see any significant substance to my three years interviewing countless of them throughout Western New York.

Then a press release arrived in my inbox the other day that reminded me that most stereotypes are based in some portion of reality.

The release came from a law firm in Los Angeles (which should have been my first sign to be wary of it) and it was offering a "Cyber Monday" sale on its legal defense of those accused of driving drunk. You did not read that wrong, a law firm decided they were tired of Wal-Mart and Best Buy getting all of the Cyber Monday business, and they wanted in on the action.

I think the following excerpt from the release offers the best flavor of the icky promotion:

The week of Thanksgiving is a great time for eaters, drinkers, retailers and deal hunters - and a Los Angeles criminal defense lawyer is looking to capitalize on the revelry by offering a Cyber Monday deal unlike any other before. Starting Monday morning at 9 AM, the SLG Criminal Law Group will offer a $99 DUI defense sale to (alleged) drunk drivers in the Los Angeles area.

Give them credit for one thing — brutal honesty in admitting that they are, "looking to capitalize on the revelry."

"The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is the biggest drinking day of the year for Americans," said Los Angeles criminal attorney Matthew Spiegel, founder of SLG Criminal Law Group. "With Cyber Monday right around the corner, we thought it would make sense to offer a deal like e-tailers do. Apparently, we're the first."

Most of the time, being first is an indication that you are cutting edge, ahead of the curve, a fresh thinker. But offering discount DUI defense to kick off the holiday season seems in poor taste at best and well, I'll leave it to you to decide what it is at its worst.

In a line that will sound quite familiar to you if you watch any late night television in Buffalo and see a former judge who runs a series of commercials about DUI defense, the release went on to say: "Sometimes good people do bad things and this sale gives them the opportunity to have solid representation at a rate anyone can afford."

I agree entirely with the first part of the statement: Sometimes good people make an honest mistake, have a few too many drinks at dinner and get behind the wheel of a car. Every drunk driver isn't some evil two-headed monster worthy of being locked away from society. But there is just something tasteless about suggesting that they deserve a legal defense for under a hundred bucks. Good people make mistakes - and they should pay steeply for them as a deterrent to not make the same mistake twice.

According to a report issued by the Center for Disease Control, the average person arrested for DUI has driven drunk 80 times before their first arrest.

Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that nearly 11,000 people died in alcohol-related crashes in the United States in 2009 — a number that spikes during the holidays. Good people do make mistakes ... but so do a lot of bad, dangerous people, and the idea of a law firm attaching itself to the festive tradition of holiday shopping to get its name out there and make a few extra bucks makes it that much easier to buy into the typical stereotype of an attorney.

Let's hope this sort of business model stays out in California where it began. The last thing we need to see dotting the skyline of Buffalo are (more) attorney billboards - especially ones offering discounted drunk driving defense.