Writing for a law firm is unlike most commercial content work in one decisive respect: the firm is professionally responsible for what appears under its name. An inaccurate statement of law on a practice-area page is not a quality problem, it is advice a reader may act on. That makes accuracy, sourcing and a real review step the core of the engagement, and it makes the cheapest writers the most expensive option available.
Conduct rules apply to marketing copy
Professional conduct rules prohibit false or misleading communications about a lawyer's services, restrict specialist and expert claims in many jurisdictions, and constrain how past results and testimonials may be presented. Give the writer the permitted vocabulary and the rules on results at the briefing stage. Most rewrites in legal content are caused by copy that was fine as marketing and impermissible as a professional communication.
Insist on a named attorney review and build the time in
Every substantive page should be read by a lawyer in that practice area before it publishes, and the schedule should include that time rather than assuming it. Where the firm wants a named reviewer displayed, keep a record of who reviewed what and when. This is also what distinguishes a firm's content from the generic pages a directory can produce in bulk.
Jurisdiction is a content requirement, not a detail
Procedure, deadlines and remedies differ by state and sometimes by county, and a page written generically is wrong nearly everywhere. Brief the writer on the jurisdictions you practise in and require that the page says which one it describes. Pages that could apply anywhere are the least useful and the most likely to mislead.
What to look for in a writer
Samples in your practice area, a demonstrated habit of citing statutes and court sources rather than other firms' blogs, and a willingness to say when a question needs a lawyer's input. Ask how they handle a topic they do not understand, because the honest answer, that they ask, is exactly the behavior you need.
Questions people ask about law firm content writer
Should a law firm use generative tools for content?
As a drafting aid under supervision, with the same attorney review as any other draft, and never as a source of legal statements. The failure mode is confident, plausible, wrong text, and the firm carries the consequences of publishing it under its name.
How much does legal content cost?
More per piece than general commercial writing, because the research and the review are real. Judge the price against the attorney hours it saves and the risk it avoids; the cheapest per-word options generally transfer the whole burden of correction to a fee earner.
Practice-area pages or blog posts?
Practice-area pages first, because they answer what a potential client is searching for at the moment they need a lawyer. Blog content is useful where it answers real questions in your jurisdiction, and close to worthless when it restates general law that a hundred other firms have also published.
Can we publish past case results?
Usually, with care: disclaimers that results depend on the facts, presentation that does not imply a predictive value, and consent where confidentiality applies. Check your state's specific requirements, since they differ in what must be disclosed alongside a result.