Today we’d like to introduce you to Lori Murray.
Hi Lori, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I graduated from law school in 1996 from the University of South Carolina. I clerked for Judge C. Victor Pyle, Jr. for a year afterwards. Within the next six months, I got married and my father was diagnosed with cancer. While my father was sick, I worked part-time for an insurance defense firm and then for a collections firm. Neither of these were the right fit for me which was good because my main focus was on my dad. After he passed away, I went to work for a defense firm handling medical malpractice defense cases. After 2 years there, I knew this also wasn’t my path. I’d always wanted to practice criminal defense so I left that job and waited for a position to open in the Richland County Solicitor’s office. I worked for 2 and a half years as a prosecutor gaining criminal and trial experience. In 2002, I left the solicitor’s office and started The Law Offices of Lori S. Murray, LLC. I worked as counsel to the Todd Rutherford Law Firm for the next five years. Since that time, I’ve been on my own completely and handling criminal defense and personal injury cases. In this, my 15th year of complete private practice, I finally bought my own building. After completely gutting the building, we now have a newly renovated home for the Law Offices of Lori S. Murray, LLC at 2016 Lincoln Street, Columbia, SC 29206.
In 2019, just before covid hit, my kids (both teenagers at the time) were very active watching TikTok videos. I’ve always enjoyed finding a way to embarrass those kids so sitting in my car, having just come from the farmers’ market, I made my first Tiktok video. I’ve always loved to make people laugh. There can be no higher compliment than someone telling me I made them laugh. So I put that to use on TikTok. I started to tell stories of the people and things I saw in the course of a day in the life of a lawyer.
One day a potential client came into the office and the case involved a search of her vehicle to which she consented. I thought – hmmm – people don’t know you don’t have to consent to the search. So I made a video explaining your legal right to refuse a search of your vehicle. Overnight I gained about 15k followers. So now we’re onto something. People want legal advice. The next wave of videos were all about legal advice.
Then the Murdaugh case hit and I did a video. My first legal analysis video. As you know, the Murdaugh case grew and people, including me, were and are fascinated by it. And it just became a natural segway for my account. The everyday reader can read a news article about a legal case and not fully understand the legal aspects. So I took the time to explain and people began to look for and anticipate those videos. The breakdown of what’s actually happening in the court case. A lot of my videos are now analysis videos to explain the legal process. And I’m currently sitting at 429k followers.
I never sought out to use Tiktok to market my services. And I still don’t. For me, Tiktok is a way to communicate and connect with people from all over the country and even the world. When I became an empty nester, my followers became my friends. They’re always there for me even though we’ve never met in person. Tiktok has also become a way of exposing injustice and corruption in our government and helping people get the justice they seek in cases that affect them personally. Tiktok gives me a place to be myself. To talk about things that matter to me, things that matter to others, things that should matter to others and the insanity that is sometimes my life.
I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity Tiktok has afforded me and for each and every person who chooses to hit that follow button.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
When my account was in its initial growth state at about 200k followers, I made a video that people really really didn’t like. Now I can never prove this was the cause, but at some point my account glitched and all of my videos disappeared and I couldn’t post new ones. I emailed Tiktok over and over again. I had my followers email them. Nothing seemed to work. I was off and out of commission for over four months. I started a backup account, but I just didn’t have the energy to put the work that I had already done back into it. And then one day – it was like – poof – you’re back and a very short apology from Tiktok for the problem.
I’m also known for my directness, my honesty and my lack of filter. Sometimes that bluntness and openness will get you into trouble both in my profession and on Tiktok. For a while, I lived having this little Tiktok secret. I didn’t tell my friends or my colleagues or even my family because I thought they would think less of me. I thought they would see the videos and find them unprofessional. And then I realized – I have this great platform and I can use it for good. It’s still sometimes a struggle within my own self but each time I realize the good I can do far outweighs the bad. For example, my followers donated $2500 to help me adopt two families at Christmas.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m a lawyer. But I’m also on Tiktok. I’m not sure that qualifies as professional or creative. But I make videos about the law, about my life, and about legal analysis of cases. That’s what I’m known for – being Lawyerlori. Which, by the way, had I known this account would take off, I certainly would have chosen a better username. 🙂
What am I most proud of? That’s a difficult question. I’m proud that I’m able to spread awareness of issues people haven’t seen. I’m proud to realize my voice matters. I’m proud that in a deeply divided country, I can show people that through tact and open-mindedness there is still a way to reach both sides and to have that conversation. I’m proud that I can help people even if it’s just by answering a question nobody else will take the time to answer for them. I’m proud of where I’ve been, where I am, and where I’m going.
What sets me apart is probably a question best asked of my followers but I think they would tell you my honesty, directness and realness are what set me apart. When we do live sessions, it’s just a conversation. I don’t think people feel heard anymore. But I hear them. I listen. And we talk. And at the end of each live, I’m so grateful for them making me feel heard and appreciated.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I don’t know how to be anybody but me. My followers would tell you that’s my realness factor. My mother would tell you I speak my mind too much. All I know is, I don’t know how to be anybody but me and for the longest time, I thought everybody was like me. I was wrong. They button that up and hold it in. I would explode. I just can’t do it.
I am my father’s daughter. When I was about ten years old, he sent me to get a Christmas present wrapped at Belk while he paid for something. When he got there – he asked me what was taking so long. I told him the man in front of me cut in line. My dad looked at ten-year-old me and said – “if you let people run over you now, they’ll run over you the rest of your life.” Were he here today, he would get the biggest kick out of this.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lorimurraylaw.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/?next=%2F
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LoriSMurrayLaw/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Da9z0_-4K8OGba5kUla_Q
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawyerlori?lang=en
