How Law Firms Manage Their Reputation: 5 Strategies
As a lawyer, your reputation virtually makes or breaks your career.
We asked seven lawyers how they manage their online reputation, what strategies they use, and which tools led to real results.
Read on to learn reputation management tactics you can implement today as well as long-term strategies that bolster your reputation.
1. Earning Professional Endorsements on LinkedIn
A lot of lawyers use LinkedIn marketing to elevate their personal brand and attract leads from specific professional backgrounds.
That’s why Michael Farah, founder and managing attorney at The Farah Law Firm, P.C., focused on generating professional endorsements on LinkedIn where their ideal clients are—namely investors, businesses, and other real estate professionals.
We want to reach the people who care about their LinkedIn profiles because these are the people who are more likely to be our clients: professionals and businesses that need legal help. To incentivize more reviews, we built this process into our client follow-up. Once the case ends, we send the client a LinkedIn message thanking them for their business and asking if they are willing to endorse our skills or write a LinkedIn recommendation on our profiles.
2. Encouraging Reviews on Google Business Profile (and Other Review Platforms)
Optimizing your Google Business Profile lets you hit two birds in one stone: bolstering your local SEO efforts and improving your reputation among your target audience.
Remember, your Google Business Profile reviews will be shown in local search results and Google Maps. This will help you win the trust of potential clients who use these Google products to search for legal services.
Luke Smith, founder of LawSmith PLLC, shared that encouraging Google reviews is their bread and butter for reputation management.
Managing our reputation involves a focused approach to online reviews, with a strong emphasis on Google Reviews. We actively encourage clients to leave feedback on Google, as it has a significant impact on our online presence. Our strategy includes requesting reviews from satisfied clients shortly after their case concludes, making it easy for them to share their positive experiences.
Plenty of other lawyers who responded also built a presence on other lawyer directories to boost their reputation.
Rock Rocheleau, managing attorney at Right Lawyers, recommends the following sites:
We primarily focus on platforms like Google, Yelp, and Avvo, as these are the most commonly visited review sites for legal services. Google, in particular, has been the most effective for us in terms of generating visibility and client inquiries.
3. Sending Personalized Review Requests
Law firms strive through close professional relationships with clients.
After closing a winning case, Andrew Pickett of Andrew Pickett Law sends personalized review requests not just to bolster his firm’s reputation, but also learn from feedback.
Effectively managing an online reputation is essential for law firm owners and attorneys. Our strategy includes proactively contacting clients after their cases to encourage them to leave feedback with clear guidance.
Andy Gillin, managing partner at GJEL Accident Attorneys, shares a simple advice for creating effective review request messages.
To encourage reviews, we make it a point to ask satisfied clients directly at the end of their case. A simple, heartfelt request goes a long way.
4. Automating Review Requests
While sending personalized review requests tend to work better, automating the whole process is also an effective alternative—not to mention it frees up a huge chunk of your team’s time.
Mia Mancinelli, founder of Cloud Law Firm, uses reputation management tools to automate review requests. This allows her to funnel her team’s time and focus into more meaningful tasks.
We use tools like BirdEye and Trustpilot to streamline review management and encourage satisfied clients to leave feedback. These tools automate review requests and track our online reputation across various sites, making it easier to manage and respond to reviews.
You can also automate requests by embedding review guidelines and instructions into your products.
5. Addressing Negative Reviews
Negative reviews are a reality of reputation management, regardless if they come from unsatisfied clients or prospects who were unhappy with your intake process.
For Las Vegas attorney Ramzy Ladah, negative reviews must be acknowledged publicly while aiming to resolve issues directly and privately. Done right, even negative reviews can be flipped and turned into something positive for your law firm.
Handling negative reviews is all about transparency and empathy. I always address any concerns publicly, acknowledging the client’s feelings and offering to resolve any misunderstandings offline. We must show that we genuinely care about our clients’ experiences.
One memorable instance was when a client felt I hadn’t communicated enough. I reached out personally, clarified our process, and offered additional support. Not only did the client update their review, but they also referred others to my firm.
Since negative reviews will be most likely handled by your internal team or a third-party agency, make sure you have clear guidelines that preserve your integrity and uphold your values.
Ed Hones shows the way:
When it comes to handling negative reviews, we have a clear policy: respond promptly, professionally, and constructively.
We never engage in arguments or defensiveness; instead, we acknowledge the concern, express regret for any dissatisfaction, and offer a direct line of communication to resolve the issue privately. This approach has helped us turn potentially damaging situations into opportunities to build trust and show our dedication to fairness and transparency.
Rock Rocheleau also imparts one last piece of advice for handling reviews:
In some cases, negative reviews come from misunderstandings or situations beyond our control, so it’s important to clarify our side of the story without being defensive. For example, if a client expected an unrealistic outcome, we might explain that legal outcomes can be unpredictable, but we did everything within our power to advocate for their case.
Final Thoughts
Want to take better control of your reputation management efforts?
According to Andy Gillin, reputation management tools helped them “stay on top of new reviews and respond promptly.”
Here are some suggestions:
- ReviewTrackers — “We use tools like ReviewTrackers to monitor and manage reviews across multiple sites.” – Ed Hones
- BirdEye — “These platforms make it easy to send review requests via text or email right after a successful case.” – Rock Rocheleau
- Podium — “This tool encourages our satisfied clients to post their positive experiences online right after their case is resolved.” – Mark Hirsch
You can also hire online reputation management services if you’re looking for a more holistic approach to improving your firm’s online presence.
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