Lawyer’s Come-On Draws Business, Criticism

This is definitely not something they teach in law school.

Mortgage lawyer Rosalie Osias’ firm has gone from five closings a week to 40 or 50 since she began appearing in provocative ads in trade publications.

In one ad, the slender Osias, wearing a pantsuit, vest and sunglasses, is lying on her side and toying with a golf club, her long blond hair draped over her shoulders. The ads reads: “We don’t play golf. We’re too busy closing your loans.”

In another ad, Osias is spread across her desk in a micro-miniskirt, wearing a flirtatious grin. “Try this non-conforming law firm” says the ad.

“I was soliciting a male market,” Osias said Tuesday. “Mortgage banking is an old-boy network. I needed something sexual to get them to notice.”

“I feel this type of advertising is in bad taste,” said Thomas Liotti, a former member of the Professional Ethics Committee of the Nassau County Bar Association. “It creates a bad image for lawyers who are already getting a bad rap.”