Marketing Rules for Lawyers: Do’s and Don’ts


Written by Abby Hill
4 mins, 24 secs Read
Updated On August 25, 2023

Any legal firm’s success relies heavily on new business. That’s why finding new ways to contact prospective new clients is important. When it comes to marketing as a lawyer, you must follow rules and regulations. It’s not only a good idea to follow the lawyer advertising standards in your area: it’s a must if you want to prevent improper legal advertising and the associated consequences.

In today’s digital world, knowing the legal marketing standards that apply to you is particularly essential. Marketing digitally to engage with clients is becoming more common for lawyers, from social media to law practice websites. And, as more business is done online, the terms of attracting customers through digital marketing methods are more crucial than ever.

No matter what platform you choose to promote, the first step in any marketing or promotional strategy is to understand and observe the legal advertising standards and duties that apply to you. There are pieces of content that will provide you with a general grasp of guiding principles and marketing regulations for lawyers, but it’s crucial that you research the legislation in your specific region.

Don’t Make Misleading Statements

When it comes to advertising your law company, outright lying is a big no-no. But it’s not just outright lies that might be construed as unethical lawyer marketing. False, misleading, or deceptive representations about the services you provide, the results you’ve obtained, or even the rates you charge can all be considered violations of legal advertising guidelines.


When promoting, using superlatives such as “the best,” “the most,” or “the lowest” could be viewed as dishonest. While you may believe your firm is the finest, expressing something that can’t be measured may mislead potential clients—and violate legal advertising restrictions. For instance, claiming on your law firm’s website that you have “the lowest fees anywhere” is deceptive. However, if your organization accepts credit and debit cards and payment plans, you might add that you offer clients a variety of payment alternatives.

Make sure you don’t make assertions that are technically correct but contain information that could lead to confusion. For example, advertising-free consultations when you only offer five-minute consultations and demand a price for anything longer is deceptive.

Do Find a focus or a niche

You want potential clients to look at your firm when they think of legal services. A substantial percentage of the content in your marketing plan will be driven by your specialty. People, for example, usually go through a lot of anxiety before declaring bankruptcy. If your organization’s focus is as a personal injury lawyer in Richmond Hill, you may position yourself as the leading expert in “tailored solutions” that alleviate the stress associated with “your” legal difficulties.

You could demonstrate your firm’s authority in your specialization with articles, white papers, and videos on the ins and outs of the legal matters that go on within your field, as well as the ways that your firm’s personalized solutions help your clients recover after the legal ordeal, in keeping with the concept of “marketing the evidence.” 

Do Build a website 

Building the correct website for your law practice is one of the most basic and successful ways to advertise it. A lawyer must have an online presence, so the first step in developing your web presence is to create a strong website.

Your company’s image is reflected on your website.  If your webpage is simply “okay,” it sends the message to the rest of the world that your firm is just “okay.” Your website allows you to stand out from the crowd.

Using a modern and sophisticated design, well-organized material, clearly defined messaging, and a plethora of information and resources to create a fantastic user experience reinforces your brand as the go-to authoritative person in your community.

Don’t Forget to Cater to Your Past Clients

Even though your contractual arrangement has been terminated, don’t forget about your existing clients. If you practice in sectors other than bankruptcy, personal injury, taxation, and the like, keeping in touch with these clients keeps you top-of-mind in case they or someone they know needs your services in the future.

Send Christmas cards, birthday wishes, and handwritten personal notes on a regular basis. Keep in mind that referral fees are subject to professional conduct standards, however, some states may enable you to pay people an advertising charge for selling your services.

Do Maintain Strong Professional Relationships

Make connections and look into referral agreements with other lawyers whose clients can benefit from your area of expertise. Litigators who specialize in other legal specialties, for example, are excellent candidates; as cases become more complicated, a timely consult can afford the client time to prevent a bad verdict.

It would also help not only to maintain good professional relationships with legal professionals who may have different specializations but rather maintain relationships with those that are in the same niche as you. If you specialize in personal injury in one region, you could cultivate relationships with personal injury lawyers in Vaughan for example. This widens your professional prospects.

Do Publish Engaging Content

Diversify not only the content you create but also the methods through which you distribute it. Your material should be written (in the form of blog entries), visual (in the form of video), and interactive (like podcasts and webinars). Not everyone consumes information in the same manner; some people would rather read than watch television (and vice versa).

Expanding your content channels also entails uploading videos to YouTube, your homepage, social media, and an email newsletter. Put your blogs on your homepage, social media, and other places in the same way. 

Some lawyers are more concerned with the “quality” of traffic than with the number of individuals who visit their site. Significance helps you target the proper audience to generate higher-quality traffic (possible clientele who already qualify to deal with you), but blogging can help you filter your content for more targeted leads if you have too many potential clients.

Don’t Shy Away from Hiring an SEO agency

When most people hear “SEO,” they immediately think “keywords.” However, without new content, you won’t be able to improve your organic rankings. The most successful way to acquire a consistent influx of clientele to your site via content is to hire a

marketing agency in Burlington to create articles on your behalf while still having the power to evaluate, language edit, and approve content.

That means that your ghostwriter will assist you in creating effective, specialized, and original content that you can authorize and publish under your firm’s name.

Author: Abby Hill
error:
×