Lawyer is a profession of public trust. The road to obtaining this title is long and arduous, but in the long run it can provide prestige and a high standard of living. Therefore, it is not surprising that more and more people decide to start legal studies and later work or run their own law firm. Therefore, the legal services market is saturated with law firms. A private or business client looking for one-off or permanent assistance and legal services can choose from many different law firms.
So how is a law firm to stand out in such a competitive market, being limited by the Code of Professional Ethics prohibiting the use of open advertising? Is any form of marketing incompatible with the professional ethics of advocates? How to promote a law firm among the target group in order not to break the rules?
§ 23 of the Code of Professional Ethics: "An advocate is forbidden to use advertising, as well as to solicit clients in a manner contrary to the dignity of the profession and to cooperate with entities acquiring clients in violation of the law or principles of social coexistence."
The breach of the above rule will not be sharing knowledge (legal blog, articles on legal issues, mentions of won trials) or informing about your activities (a business card in Google My Business or other legal catalogs).
§ 23b of the Code of Professional Ethics, Point 1: "An attorney is not allowed to propose services to potential clients in the form of an offer addressed to persons who have not previously expressed such an express request."
It should be noted that e.g. sending a newsletter to people who previously consented to receive this type of message cannot be treated as a breach of the above-mentioned rule.
§ 23a of the Code of Professional Ethics, Point 2: "An attorney may inform about the provided legal assistance in a manner consistent with the rules of this" Collectibles "by: f) placing information on websites and placing data about this website in catalogs and search engines."
Interpreting the above principle, it can be seen that the mere fact of standard and internet marketing is not prohibited, if its form is not intrusive advertising services.
Nowadays and with a lot of competition on the legal market, it would be difficult to break out of a newly established law firm without using internet marketing. Even law firms that have been operating for many years and have a good reputation must take advantage of Internet marketing opportunities. While the Code of Bar Ethics prohibits open advertising, it is allowed to post information on the operation of the law firm in the Internet space.
What online tools can a law firm use?
Despite the fact that various forms of internet marketing are very popular nowadays, in order to reach more people, it is not worth forgetting about standard marketing activities. What offline activities can a law firm take to promote itself among the target group of people interested in legal services?
The Code of Bar Ethics indicates that advertising the services of a law firm is inconsistent with professional ethics. However, nowadays, with so much competition on the legal services market, it is impossible to completely abandon the possibility of offline and online marketing. The law firm should therefore undertake marketing activities in such a form that they do not take the form of intrusive advertising while reducing the knowledge and competences of the competition. Properly informing the target group about the services of the law firm, its achievements or daily activities may prove professionalism more than any praise of its services.
Izabela Praska
Editor of Saleswizard.pl, specialist in legal marketing. Specialist in LegallyCRM, FooDeliver, OrderEngine and Bookable products.