What's in a name? For Phila. lawyer, jury's still out

If you are looking for a pop-star tween heartthrob with sweeping hair, sparkly teeth, and a baby face who sings songs in which most of the words are "baby," then Justin Bieber is your guy.

And if you are looking for a lawyer specializing in personal injury cases to represent you in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, then Justin Bieber is your guy.

He's just not that Justin Bieber.

This Bieber, a graduate of Widener Law School, started practicing in Center City in 2006 and, like any young lawyer, he set about building a business and making a name for himself. And then last summer, the name he was making for himself no longer seemed to be his.

"I started getting 50 to 60 friend requests a week on Facebook, and all of these messages that said, 'I love you' or 'I love it when you sing' or 'You're not Justin Bieber,' " he says.

But he is Justin Bieber - and he has been since his parents signed the birth certificate in a Tacoma, Wash., hospital in May 1978. It's just that this Bieber played soccer at Drexel University, works for Clearfield, Kofsky & Penneys in Philadelphia, has 171 friends on Facebook, and drives a 2002 Subaru. The other Justin Bieber gave up soccer at age 13, moved to Atlanta to sign a record deal, has more than 4.5 million fans on Facebook, and drives a Range Rover he got as a 16th birthday present from the singer Usher. Oh yeah, and he's got his own "swagger coach" and a bodyguard named Kenny.

The name hijacking started when Bieber the lawyer was planning his marketing campaign. He had set up his own website last July, www.justin-bieber-law.com, and was preparing to embark on the advertising phase.

And then the year of Bieber Fever hit, striking Bieber Nation and its millions of Bieberettes and Beliebers. The pop-singing sensation who signed a record deal at age 14 released his debut platinum album at 15. And just after he turned 16 in March, the crooner's baby face graced People magazine's April cover, labeled "World's Biggest Pop Star."

That left Bieber Esq. in a quandary. Here he was, trying to build a law practice under a name that attracts more people interested in lip gloss than legal advice.

"It's a really unusual name, and people used to always misspell it and pronounce it wrong," says Bieber, whose parents wanted a "J" name after his father, James Bieber Jr.

"Justin," a Latin name meaning just, true and righteous, was climbing the ranks of popularity in the 1970s - squeezing out Chad, Shawn, and Larry to break into the top 50 most popular boy names, according to the Social Security Administration.

Justin continued to rise in the naming game, ranking 12th by 1981 (the year Justin Timberlake was born) and dropping a bit to 20th in 1994 (the year of Justin Bieber pop star).

But when Justin Bieber pop star gained household-name status in the last year, the experts charged with carrying out Justin Bieber Esq.'s marketing campaign became very concerned about using that special JB combo known for making tweens swoon.

"At first they wanted me to use my middle name, but I don't go by Matte Bieber, so that would be even stranger," he explained. "So, we went with Justin Matte Bieber."

So, have the ads that began appearing in Friday editions of the Daily News created any legal Bieber fever since their debut in early May?

"I've gotten several phone calls each week since the ads came out, and I've already picked up a few clients," Bieber says, although he is dubious that the interest is attributable to his now-famous name.

Patti Williams, associate professor of marketing at the Wharton School, is not so sure.

"Branding is a function of two things - building awareness and then building meaning behind that awareness.

"And very often, just awareness can be enough," Williams said.

And when it comes to the name Justin Bieber, that seems inevitable. Even if you aren't the parent of a pre-teen or you don't listen to pop radio's seemingly endless loop of Bieber's "Baby," "U Smile," and "Eenie Meenie," it would be difficult not to know the boy with the multimillion-dollar hair sweep. He's been on Saturday Night Live, American Idol, and in the White House.

That makes sharing the name with a pop star a not-so-bad thing for a lawyer fighting for attention in a town that has more than its fair share of legal counsel.

"Many people do not know the name of a lawyer, so to have a name like his come to mind so quickly could potentially be very helpful," Williams said.

Bieber has won a number of cases representing minors in personal injury lawsuits: car accidents, slip-and-fall cases, escalator accidents - even shopping mall incidents. Which, for a singer continually facing crowd control crises, might signal its own golden opportunity. (You may recall last November when more than 3,000 fans jostled for the chance to see Bieber at a Long Island shopping mall, shutting down the concert before it even began.) Perhaps the two Justins could cross-market?

And too bad singer Bieber didn't use lawyer Bieber's services when he suffered a broken foot that same month performing at London's Wembley Arena with Taylor Swift.

The question remains though: Are two Justin Biebers too much of a good thing?

"Brand awareness for Justin Bieber is going to be very high," says Williams. "But it could cause a little eye-rolling, 'Just what I need, more Justin Bieber.' "

Perhaps it's all right then, that when Bieber Fever strikes Sun National Bank Center in Trenton later this month, the lawyer will not be in attendance.