Fighting an image problem is a lot like trying to tackle a ghost -- something hard to get one's hands around.

But New York State Bar Association President Lorraine Power Tharp, who is eager to fight that battle, Thursday took what she described as one of a series of "baby steps" toward the long-term goal of making lawyers better understood and respected by the general public.

In a letter to the membership, Tharp outlined the efforts the State Bar will immediately undertake to cast attorneys in a more positive light. Her public relations campaign seeks to:

Tharp, a partner at Whiteman Osterman & Hanna in Albany, took office last spring with a goal of improving both internal and external communications.

"Sometimes people have a negative view of the term 'public relations,'" she said. "But I think that where we have gone wrong is we have not shared the truth enough. We have not shown attorneys really solving problems for people. We have not shown the pro bono that attorneys do. And we have not told the public what the association's mission is, which is to help promote justice, to help reform the laws and to do the public good."

Tharp said an initial step is to respond promptly yet not in a confrontational manner to inaccurate or misleading characterizations of attorneys or cases.

"I am a big believer in education, and I don't think it needs to be a vociferous or argumentative battle as much as a factual one," she said. "So you write letters to the editor, you meet with editorial boards and try to get them to understand the point of view."

In addition, Tharp stressed the need to appeal to elementary and high school students, and promised to expand the Law, Youth and Citizenship program.

She suggested that attorneys should "go into the classroom and engage students in dialogue and tell them what it means to be a part of the legal profession and what the judicial system stands for." Additionally, Tharp proposed a program in which attorneys would "go on a media blitz" to coincide with the beginning of each U.S. Supreme Court term.

"Each day, an attorney could talk about a different U.S. Supreme Court case that impacts a person's life," she said.

Tharp stressed that the public relations effort is an "ongoing commitment" and acknowledged that "every time something negative occurs, we take a step backwards. When there is a negative, we need to show that it involves a small percentage [of attorneys]."