Chintan Zalani
How to Grow My Legal Business: Ultimate Guide For 2025
Merely relying on referrals for new business and clients can be dangerous for the growth of your law firm. Once you start your law practice, you need a rock-solid growth strategy and tactics that work for attorneys in today’s competitive environment.
In this article, we’ll discuss the exact pathway you need to take to build a successful growth strategy for your law firm and the key areas you need to work on to get more clients and assist you in expanding your law firm.
Let’s dive right in.
Related reading: Top Tools for Lawyers
Craft a Growth Strategy for Your Law Firm
Before you create your law firm’s growth strategy, you must prepare for it. It’ll help you know what to do more of, what processes to improve, and which methods to eliminate.
Begin by determining the current position of your business and what you ultimately want to achieve.
Learn more about your existing and potential clients and figure out
- What methods have helped you win their businesses so far?
- What measures do you take to keep them happy?
- What went wrong with the clients who chose to go in another direction?
- Why have some of the leads never converted after the first demo call?
- Who are your top 10 clients, and the revenue do they bring? And what made them choose you over every other law firm?
Besides that, audit your current internal process and review how client communications work in your law firm. By adopting a client-centered approach to business development, you’ll be able to discover growth opportunities with a direct impact on your bottom line.
Seasoned attorneys like Andy Gillin, managing partner at GJEL Accident Attorneys, put clients at the center of their legal business development plan:
Emphasizing a client-first approach has been a game-changer for our firm’s growth. Instead of treating each case as just another file, we focus on genuinely understanding and addressing our clients’ needs. This personal touch not only builds trust but also leads to satisfied clients who are more likely to recommend us.
This isn’t just about settling cases but about forging real relationships that go beyond the courtroom.
Related reading: Future of Legal Marketing
Set SMART Goals Based on KPIs
While creating a growth strategy for your law firm, create SMART goals to improve your growth in specific markets, increase the number of referrals, the number of new and returning clients, and brand awareness.
Measuring performance helps you know the impact of your actions. Simply put, when you set goals based on Key Performance Indicators, you measure the output instead of the input.
For instance, rather than setting a goal like “Send 30 educational emails to potential clients this month,” determine your KPI, which is email marketing performance in this case. Then, set a SMART goal based on it: “Increase your email CTR by XX% by the end of this month.”
For inspiration, you can check out this sample law firm marketing plan.
Analyze Your Local Legal Industry Market
If you’re expanding your services to help your law firm grow, consider analyzing the local market. Here are a few things you would want to consider.
- Determine the size of the market.
- Understand the demand for your services.
- Identify your target audience and ideal clients.
- Study the approach your prospects take while seeking legal services.
- Analyze your competitors.
It helps you market your legal services to your audience effectively, make wiser decisions, land more business opportunities, and position your law firm better. For instance, knowing whether you’ll be one out of 1000 attorneys or one out of ten attorneys for a particular practice area in a specific geographic location can significantly impact your decision to have a branch of your law firm in that area.
Leverage Law Firm Marketing
The most important part of your growth strategy is law firm marketing.
Hence, begin with having a client-centric law firm website and a sound marketing growth strategy. You can invest in SEO to build brand awareness and generate leads using tactics like social media marketing, content marketing, PPC advertising, and email marketing.
They can significantly increase or decrease your chances of landing more clients.
Just remember to be strategic with your campaigns, rely on data for your decision-making, and prioritize your most profitable case types.
For your reference, here’s how Hirsch Law Group founder, Gordon Hirsch, structured their Google Ads campaign:
Instead of casting a wide net, we focused our budget on high-value case types like felony charges and DUIs, which had greater revenue potential. For instance, we allocated 60% of our budget to DUI lawyer in Cook County and felony defense attorney in Illinois, carefully writing ad copy that addressed the urgency of these situations.
We paired these ads with a call tracking system that allowed us to monitor which keywords and campaigns were converting into signed clients. Over a 12-month period, this strategy generated 40% more leads for felony and DUI cases and increased our revenue by $350,000.
Focus on Business Development
Business development is taking a proactive approach to growing your law firm and landing new businesses and clients. For instance, getting prospects that lead to more contact with new and existing clients, eventually assisting the expansion of your law firm.
Some of the major ways you’ll need to work on are:
- Building brand reputation and raising awareness.
- Delivering great client experience and services.
- Implementing effective systems and acquiring strategies for the regular growth of your law firm.
- Putting constant effort into developing new clients.
You can take a look at these ten steps process to create a business development strategy for inspiration.
Create a System to Handle Incoming Leads
Lead management is just as essential as lead generation. After all, it bridges the gap between law office marketing and sales and leads to conversions.
To successfully manage your leads, consider doing the following.
- Be highly responsive to your leads and answer within 10-15 minutes of receiving a query.
- Consider having a receptionist so that each call is answered on time.
- Use highly detailed trackable forums on your website to get detailed insights on your customer journey.
- Develop systems to classify highly qualified prospects.
- Use CRM software to track your leads.
It also helps to be creative with your sales and client intake processes to improve your chances of winning more business.
Jimmy Lai, managing partner at Lai & Turner Law Firm PLLC, opens up about their go-to intake strategy:
We trained our intake team to focus on gathering key client information before disclosing service costs. This approach ensured we understood the client’s needs before discussing pricing, allowing us to emphasize value over cost. We also implemented a tiered consultation fee model, where potential clients who retained our services within 7-14 days would receive a portion or all of their consultation fee credited back toward legal fees. This created a sense of urgency and incentive for clients to commit to our services.
Automate Administrative Tasks and Hire Legal Assistants
Growth may bring more revenue, but it also means more responsibilities and high pressure. Hence, you need to be well-planned and highly prepared so that things don’t get too much and you can keep the system from falling apart.
Here are a few measures you should take.
Know When to Hire New Staff
In the second edition of Effectively Staffing Your Law Firm, Jennifer J Rose discusses a few signs that indicate that you need help and that it’s time to hire new staff.
- The non-billable hours take more of your time than billable hours.
- You find yourself doing paralegal or clerical work.
- You can’t get enough time on your schedule to draft the requested motions or documents.
- You’re distracted from your main work due to answering unsolicited calls from people looking for free legal advice.
You know what to do if that’s something you’re going through.
In addition to offloading non-legal work, assembling a reliable team is also a stepping stone to a more reputable legal brand in the future.
Yohanan Law business lawyer and corporate partner, Adam Yohanan, shares how the right talent can bring long-term marketing value to your firm:
You need to hire people who do good work and train them to be the best option in their market. The closer you get to that ideal, the faster you will grow. People will give you good reviews and expand your reputation if you do good work.
Once you have built up the underlying talent behind the product and proven your team’s effectiveness, you can use content marketing to remind people that your team exists. Instead of selling your quality to the public, they will be reminded of it because actual results and skills back up your content.
Of course, expanding your staff will also keep you from running your core legal team to the ground with tasks outside their expertise, like marketing or attending networking events.
Here’s what Matthew Davis, owner of Davis Business Law, has to say:
We grew our firm from $400k in revenue to almost $6,000,000 in eight years. First, we focused on providing great work-life balance for our lawyers and taking care of the marketing so they don’t have to waste their time at Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, or other networking events. We focused on running the firm with a keen eye toward measuring productivity and collection rates, driving those toward 95%. That led to cash in the bank that we could (and still do) use to drive expansion to new markets.
Create Financial Benchmarks
Hiring new staff can take time and effort. It takes time and money. You can’t just wake up one day, think about hiring some new employees and by the end of the day, have some awesome new people onboard.
So, first, make a financial benchmark. Depending on various factors – your firm’s location, background, history in the community, and marketing choices – the specifics may vary from firm to firm. But as per a guide from the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys, each person on the payroll should generate $150K – $175K per year.
To create this figure, divide your last year’s total amount of gross revenue by the number of employees you have and set a benchmark based on your requirements.
Besides that, revenue generated per attorney should be $500K per year as a standard. You can calculate this benchmark by dividing your law firm’s gross revenue by the number of attorneys you have on the staff.
Outsource When Needed
Hiring full-time employees can be costly. Plus, you may need extra resources to manage them as well. Hence, delegate tasks whenever you need extra time on your hands.
Some tasks you can consider delegating are document reviews, client interviews, information gathering, managing deadlines, drafting legal documents, or bookkeeping.
Collaborate With Strategic Partners
If you want to scale your law firm without a heavy investment, consider collaborating with partners to aid your clients better. It can help you manage client relationships better, provide them with better cross-functional services, and serve more than one practice area.
The key areas to collaborate with other law firms and professionals in relevant industries are pitching, marketing, and serving clients.
J&Y Law co-founder Jason Javaheri discusses how they leveraged partnerships with medical professionals to accelerate their personal injury and accident firm:
We focused on building strong referral relationships with medical professionals and rehabilitation centers. These trusted partnerships led to a steady stream of qualified personal injury clients. We maintained transparency with partners, emphasizing mutual benefit and patient-focused outcomes. Additionally, we offered educational workshops for healthcare providers about legal processes in injury claims.
Building referral partnerships with medical professionals increased revenue by approximately 40% in two years.
Get Referrals from Your Existing Clients
We kept this pointer towards the end, as you must’ve already read about it in almost every second law firm growth article. Yet, it’s worth mentioning because it’s one of the best ways to win more business for lawyers.
The best way to get good referrals is to proactively reach out to your clients and ask for good recommendations. Besides that, go for a clearer approach and describe to them the type of clients you’re looking for.
Suppose you’re a business lawyer. Consider mentioning you’re looking for a business person buying, selling, or managing a company, hiring or firing employees, or needing legal counseling. Do not vaguely mention, “bear me in mind if you know anyone who needs my services.”
Another great way to get more references is to create a client referral program. Here’s a checklist template that you can use to build your referral program.
You can also generate referrals organically by focusing on providing exemplary legal services to your clients.
Joshua Offenhartz, managing partner at Kahana Feld, mentions how forging long-term client relationships can lead to a consistent stream of referrals:
Our firm’s growth has been driven by word-of-mouth referrals and strategic community engagement, which have consistently positioned us as a trusted resource. By exceeding client expectations with clear communication and results-oriented legal strategies, we’ve cultivated lasting relationships.
These satisfied clients often refer colleagues and business partners, creating a reliable pipeline of new opportunities.
If you haven’t been paying attention to lasting client relationships, there are plenty of ways to engage past clients who had positive outcomes with your firm.
Personal injury law firm owner, Alex Freeburg, chips in with a simple strategy to keep client connections open even after cases are concluded:
Instead of trying to simply close the case and win a favorable outcome, our focus shifted more toward keeping the door open for future business. We made it a point to check in after cases wrapped up—just a quick call or a coffee.
When you continuously check in and keep the lines of communication open, it keeps you fresh in their minds when someone else needs legal help. The referrals come in a lot faster, too.
Request Reviews for Your Legal Services
84% of the people trust reviews and personal recommendations, and about 70% of those looking for legal services say that they would consider a law firm far from their convenient location if it has better reviews than the one nearby.
Hence, reviews matter.
The best way to get positive client feedback is to provide exceptional services and ask them to leave a review for your law firm when they’re the happiest. Some of the platforms on which every small law firm should have a page are Google Business Profile. Bing places, Avvo, Yelp, and Facebook.
You can also offer incentives in return for reviews. Additionally, ensure to respond to all client reviews across all platforms and monitor them regularly. It shows your diligence and helps you address the negative reviews quickly, as one bad review can cost you as many as 30 clients.
Refine Your Case Management System
With a growing business, you need a better case management system to provide timely and excellent services and ensure client satisfaction.
To save yourself time, consider investing in legal case management software instead of working with papers. It enables you to monitor and manage everything from a dashboard and improves coordination leading to happy clients.
However, while making a purchase, opt for the LCMS that’s easy to operate, ensures data safety, provides mobile access, and has good reviews.
Network with Fellow Attorneys
Reliable connections and networking with other legal professionals can bring more clients. However, it’s more than merely attending the events and engaging in small talk.
If you’re attending a networking event for lawyers of a specific practice area, consider preparing a bit about the topics discussed there. Furthermore, always follow up on the new connections you made there.
Here are some of the best ways to start meeting new attorneys.
- Attend industry conferences.
- Organize business brunches.
- Partner with non-profit organizations.
- Participate in webinars.
Networking with lawyers can also drive growth in terms of revenue, usually by opening up new referral pipelines.
That’s why successful law firm founders like Andrew Pickett include legal professionals in his targeted referral marketing strategy:
By building strong relationships with clients, fellow attorneys, and related professionals, we’ve generated a steady stream of high-quality referrals. This not only grows our client base but also builds trust, as clients often rely on recommendations.
As a result, our revenue has increased by 30% in the past year.
Position Yourself as a Thought Leader
Claiming thought leadership in your legal practice should be the long-term goal of any attorney looking to build, grow, and maintain their reputation.
It’s not an easy feat, but it’s achievable with consistent steps like actively seeking out speaking engagements and publishing content that addresses your market’s needs. This leads to even more growth opportunities in terms of your law firm’s reputation and revenue.
Since the legal industry is oppressively competitive, no marketing material and channel should be off the table.
Edward Hones, owner of Hones Law Employment Lawyers PLLC, talks about how thought leadership requires an omnichannel approach to marketing:
We began publishing insightful articles, hosting webinars, and sharing practical legal advice on platforms where workers seek answers-social media, employment forums, and industry publications. By addressing common issues like workplace discrimination, wage disputes, and wrongful termination, we not only educated the public but also showcased our deep understanding of employment law.
Within a year of focusing on thought leadership, we saw a 35% increase in inbound inquiries and client referrals.
Being always present and available to answer questions also goes a long way in cementing your law firm’s authority.
Hillary Johns, managing partner at Hillary Johns, Trial Lawyer, shares how this tactic impacted their firm’s image:
One of the most important things is to let the clients or customers and potential referral sources know that you’re there and available to provide assistance. Whether that be in the form of advice, a consultation, a presentation, or a resource, I’ve found that this leads to demonstrable results not only in an increase in business but in enhancing your reputation as a reliable, knowledgeable source. And be friendly—it matters.
Small Law Firms Need More Clients to Build a Sustainable Law Practice!
And for that, you need to create a strategic growth plan. Create systems and outsource tedious and administrative tasks. Then prioritize law firm marketing, so you get new leads regularly and nurture your existing relationships. On The Map Marketing can help you to grow at a desirable pace. Contact us today for a free custom audit.
Table of Contents
Related Articles
Dominate Your Market with Digital Marketing Services That Deliver
Talk to a certified professional today, and we will design a strategy specific to your case.
