Every profession has advertising conventions. Law has rules of professional conduct that reach the marketing directly, vary by state, and carry consequences for the lawyer rather than the agency. What may be claimed, whether a testimonial may be used, how specialisation may be described, what a referral arrangement may look like and whether a marketing company may be paid a share of fees are all governed. A plan that does not start there produces work the firm has to withdraw.
The rules are the brief, and they are state by state
Claims about results, comparisons with other firms, superlatives, the word specialist, testimonials, required disclaimers and how a firm may describe its practice differ between jurisdictions, and a multi-state firm may face several sets at once. Establish which apply, with the firm's ethics counsel, before anything is written. It takes one conversation and prevents most of the expensive mistakes in this sector.
Who may be paid, and for what, is constrained
Paying a non-lawyer for a referral, sharing fees, or buying leads on an arrangement that amounts to either, runs into conduct rules in most jurisdictions, and the structure of many lead-generation products sits close to that line. Before signing with any lead vendor, have somebody read what is actually being bought: a cost per lead, a cost per signed case and a share of the fee are three different things with three different answers.
Practice area and geography beat the general firm page
Nobody searches for a law firm in the abstract. They search for their problem, usually with a place attached, and often in the language they are most comfortable with. Pages built around a practice area and a market, written by or with the lawyer who does that work, reach people with a live matter. A general services page reaches people who were going to call you anyway.
Intake is where legal marketing budgets are lost
Legal click prices are among the highest anywhere, and a large share of enquiries arrive outside office hours from people in distress who will call the next firm within minutes. Before any budget increase, establish who answers, how fast, what happens at the weekend, and whether the person answering can actually book a consultation. It is the cheapest improvement available and the most often skipped.
The lawyer has to be involved and that is the constraint
Material that is accurate, useful and defensible about the law has to come from somebody qualified, and it also has to be reviewed before publication. That makes the content plan a plan for a lawyer's hours, and it is why so many firms' content programs stall. Agree the hours, from whom, and what happens in a trial month, before agreeing a publishing schedule.
Questions people ask about legal marketing
What makes legal marketing different?
Rules of professional conduct reach the marketing itself, vary by state, and carry consequences for the lawyer rather than the agency. They cover claims, testimonials, specialisation language and who may be paid.
Can we buy legal leads?
It depends on the structure. Paying a non-lawyer for a referral or sharing fees runs into conduct rules in most jurisdictions, and many lead products sit close to that line. Have somebody read what is actually being bought.
What content actually brings cases?
Pages about a specific practice area in a specific market, written by or with the lawyer who does that work. General firm pages reach people who were going to call you anyway.
What should we fix before spending more?
Intake. Legal click prices are among the highest anywhere and enquiries arrive out of hours from people who will call the next firm within minutes. Answering is cheaper than advertising.