How To Build A Law Firm’s Reputation To Garner New Business

5 Ways to Attract New Clients to Your Law Firm

The legal profession is under considerable strain. From an overwhelming mass of lawyers to highly cost-sensitive clientele to technology eating away at profits, law firms must focus on building their reputations if they are to survive let alone thrive. While the cornerstone of a law firm’s reputation is its legal expertise, other components come into play. Thought leadership and exceptional interpersonal relationships are two of them.

According to Frank Carone, executive partner at Abrams Fensterman and a renowned personal advisor to business owners and the wealthy, “The traditional focus on all the things that can go wrong is not going to be enough for law firms to be successful in today’s hyper-competitive environment. It’s becoming essential for law firms to be thinking ahead to show the way. The most successful law firms are thought, leaders. They need to be proactively looking for ways to help their clients become more successful. While this does involve solid risk mitigation, it also often entails combining state-of-the-art legal thinking with a strong understanding of business issues. Lawyers need to be creative and innovative in order to identify ways for their clients to excel.”

What Potential Clients Look for When They Visit Your Legal Site - Law  Technology Today

Thought leadership is increasingly important to the success of lawyers and their firms. It is essential for the content to be meaningful and insightful to the intended audiences. Problematically, most law firms fail to deliver high-value content. Moreover, in many law firms thought leadership initiatives are more regurgitation of other people’s ideas and are a form of thought fellowship.

Law firm reputations are also built in the trenches. The ability of lawyers to work effectively with clients is often paramount to building a sterling reputation. “Solid interpersonal skills are essential for lawyers today,” says Jeffrey Chiesa, co-chair of Chiesa, Shahinian & Giantomasi. “Lawyers must build trust with their clients. This is only possible when they are able to prove their expertise, when everything is transparent to clients, and when they are demonstrably efficient and reliable. It’s essential to not just meet client expectations but to exceed them. By building trust, lawyers at the law firm are building the law firm’s reputation.”

A law firm’s reputation is increasingly important in sourcing new business. So much so that it might very well be a mistake to not take steps to foster a powerful reputation. A number of factors play into this with legal expertise being primary. Meanwhile, being a thought leader and having lawyers with excellent interpersonal skills can be very effective in building the law firm’s reputation and consequently garnering new business.