Law Society Continuing to Scrutinize Legal Marketing Practices
Groups such as the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association (OTLA) have spoken out and mentioned that they would like to “start to see the rules strengthened to eliminate false and misleading advertising that takes good thing about consumers”.
Meanwhile, regulations Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) is continuing its investigation into legal marketing and advertising over the province, with investigators currently considering 90 complaints involving advertising and referral fee issues.
The LSUC’s Advertising and Fee Arrangements Working Group is likely to report back with the final tips later this month, following release of the initial interim report last June. We will continue steadily to follow developments in this area and can provide updates as they become available.
Lawyers wanting to market their services shouldn’t be dissuaded from doing this, particularly since having a dynamic presence on social media (including by using a regularly maintained blog as well as use of Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, and other platforms) is becoming increasingly important, and for that reason highly advisable. However, legal representatives should be cautious to maintain a web presence and market their services within the ethical parameters established by the LSUC, and must be sure that their marketing and advertising practices, both traditional and via social media, adhere to the standards of the legal profession.
Ensuring you Adhere to the Rules of Professional Conduct
As former practitioners, and today social media and marketing gurus, we understand the needs of the legal market, the ethical and practice standards that govern the profession, and the way to marry these unique demands with the realities of marketing in the social media and online age.
We’ve been following a progress of the LSUC’s investigation and any advice stemming from it and are ready to counsel our clients on guidelines that will permit them to maximize their existence in the legal market while complying with all necessary principles.
What’s the difference between legal professionals who are successful and the ones who aren’t?
Generally it comes down to the actual fact that successful legal representatives have mastered the art of rainmaking, marketing and client development skills, while those who are unsuccessful never have. The importance of learning how to advertise your law business cannot be overstated.
It goes without saying that professional people, including attorneys, must market to survive.
If you’re in private practice, you are in a small business and go on sales. If you cannot or won’t figure out how to market then perhaps you should think about finding employment with a corporation or the federal government where marketing is not needed. Certainly, junior associates most importantly organizations don’t market much but later, on the way up the ladder, they are expected to generate clients.
HOW EXACTLY TO MARKET YOUR LAW FIRM:
Learn the overall principles of marketing. The Lawyer’s Life Blog has lots of posts about legal professional marketing that should be beneficial to you.
Customize them to match you personally as well as your law practice. You should be clear about your unique law practice; what areas you practice in, or want to apply in, how much business you have now in each area and exactly how much business you want in each area.
Produce a written marketing plan. It doesn’t need to be complicated or fancy. It can be a Word document, a spreadsheet, prepared using project management software or create via a web task management website. The main thing is the fact you lay out clear legal marketing goals with the specific action steps essential to reach each goal. Additionally you are required to follow a timeline for completing each action step.
Follow the marketing plan consistently. It is tempting never to market when you yourself have plenty of legal business. That is clearly a mistake. Some types of legal marking, such as networking, need a significant amount of time to build up prospects. Weekly that goes on without marketing is weekly lost forever. A poor marketing plan followed constantly will outperform the best marketing plan followed inconsistently.
THE MOST IMPORTANT WHAT TO UNDERSTAND ARE:
What your location is in marketing your law practice. If you are with a firm, just how much business could you take with you if you left?
What marketing tools you should use. Whether it’s networking, speaking, writing and submitting articles, joining professional associations… the various tools you use to build up law clients should fit you. In the event the fit isn’t right, it is very hard to be consistent.
You’ll want an in depth written marketing plan. In preparing the plan you should be clear about your ideal law practice; what percent of money do you anticipate and what percent of your energy you want to spend on each practice area. Additionally you need clarity about who is your ideal client. Be specific.
You need to follow your marketing plan consistently. Client development must turn into a habit; an intrinsic art of your law practice.
Our coaching can help you learn how to market your personal law practice or your lawyer. Through effective legal marketing you can form your law practice, advance your legal career and, because of this, balance your professional and personal life. Coaching from a skilled attorney and Professional Coach is the most effective coaching you ca
