Prospective clients looking for a new law firm want to know answers to obvious law firm marketing questions like, “Who are you and what can you do for me?”

How to Give your Law Firm a Competitive Edge

Here are several practical ways that your law firm can distinguish itself as part of a strategic law firm marketing communications program.

• Credentials. The number of board certified attorneys, along with recognition by Martindale-Hubbell, Super Lawyers, Chambers, U.S. News, or Best Lawyers rankings can all be helpful. Seniority, as measured by number of years of service, can also serve as a distinguishing characteristic.
• Leadership Roles. If your lawyers are active in bar associations, industry organizations, or non-profit entities, describe their service prominently. Continuing education seminars are also a good way to get your foot in the door.
• Representative Cases. A description of favorable outcomes in the past three to five years clearly demonstrates your firm’s capabilities. You can even give the number of wins, as long as you follow relevant attorney advertising guidelines.
• Courts and Admissions. Highlight all the states where your attorneys are licensed, along with the year of admission. Also identify federal, appellate, or other special courts where attorneys are admitted. One way to easily communicate this information is visually with a map.
• Metrics. Being able to say that you close almost 50% of your cases within six months carries weight. You can also give the number of cases you have handled (be as specific as possible). When you offer meaningful metrics, you are speaking directly to client interests.
• Diversity. Clients are often looking for legal counsel with a fresh perspective across cultures, nationalities, gender, and language. Communicate that this a priority for your firm.
• Cybersecurity. Privacy and data security is growing in importance. Take the time to explain the cyber practices and industry standards followed within your law firm.

Once you have developed your strategic law firm marketing communications, create a “law firm resume” that captures all this information in a visually appealing document. (Note: We can provide a sample law firm resume on request.)

Negotiate on Quality rather than Price

When making a presentation to a prospective law firm client, emphasize the benefits your firm offers. Focus your selling points on three factors: 1) credentials, 2) experience, and 3) billing rates as a reflection of the value that your law firm offers. Simply trying to offer a low rate can be a race to the bottom.

Another consideration in pricing is that the rate you accept may be in place for a long time, even years in some cases like the insurance defense market.

Law firm pricing is ultimately a business decision. There may be some cases / clients where you offer a lower rate because you want to give associates experience in handling litigation matters, for example. You also want to consider the likelihood that your bills might be challenged by a third party auditor if your client base includes insurance companies or corporate clients.

When billable hourly rates are too low, either initially or as a result of inflation, you might decide to decline to make an offer of service or choose to let go of an old client with low rates. While this is a difficult decision, it is part of a healthy business development plan.

Motivated Law Firms Get the Business

The law firms that make a concerted effort to develop and maintain a finely tuned business development process have the best chances of getting new clients.

It takes time to get a new client, so the best time to start looking for new accounts is when you are busy, not when you are desperate. Business development is a numbers game; the more prospects you have, the better your chances of opening a new account.

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The “Courting Your Clients” Legal Marketing Agency

We want to serve as your outsourced law firm marketing department! Courting Your Clients is offered exclusively by Legal Expert Connections, Inc., a national law firm marketing agency. We have helped more than 250 law firms in 40+ states pursue new client opportunities as of late 2023. Our focus is on the business-to-business market, including but not limited to business law, insurance defense, employment defense, commercial litigation, and immigration law.

We are experienced in many lines of legal liability and regulatory requirements, including auto, business, construction, cybersecurity, elder law, employment law, ERISA, homeowners, immigration, insurance, intellectual property, premises, products, professional liability, tax, transportation and trucking, trusts and estates, whistleblower, and workers’ compensation.

Our industry knowledge includes education, environmental, forensic accounting, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, municipal, professional services, real estate, restaurants, and retail.

Legal Expert Connections, Inc. offers three key benefits to law firms nationwide:

1. We serve as your outsourced legal marketing department. You get the equivalent of a “Chief Marketing Officer” level professional team for an affordable monthly investment. Our ideal client is a small law firm—from a solo practitioner to a 25-attorney firm—that needs marketing assistance but does not want to incur the cost and management time needed to maintain in-house staffing.
2. You get a structured business development process. We accelerate your growth with a multi-step legal marketing campaign that brings discipline, focus, and productivity to your marketing efforts.
3. Increase revenue with Bar-compliant legal marketing campaigns. We understand attorney advertising campaigns and can provide guidance in this regard. Ultimate compliance responsibility rests with the law firm.

Contact Margaret Grisdela, a legal marketing consultant, at 561-266-1030 or via email. Connect with Margaret Grisdela on LinkedIn.