Public Relations For Law Firms – Be Proactive Not Reactive

< continued from page two

...concentrate on targeting legal clients. The traditional image that many law firms portray will have to change if these firms are to stay afloat. Even those law firms who have always invested in strong marketing and business development teams, will need to step up a gear to ensure they have in place communications strategies that work in a post-LSA environment.

Whilst many see the LSA as introducing new and wonderful opportunities to legal services others seem unaware of the important changes occurring. The current economic climate has been extremely difficult and the professional services...

...sector been particularly badly affected. We have seen a large number of redundancies, not only in the smaller firms but across the spectrum. Firms currently find themselves chasing less work and the outlook remains difficult. Internal and external communications have become essential in countering the negative publicity accompanying such news. When announcing redundancies or the closing of departments careful media relations planning is necessary. Inactivity, or worse, ignoring the media is not an option - reputation management does not work like that. As Benjamin Franklin once said "it takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it."

With the legal world facing challenging economic times and a new set of regulations that promise to revolutionise the entire industry, how should law firms be looking to the future? Marketing, business development, branding and communications, both internal and external, will become crucial assets which need to be increasingly tailored to the individual firm.

There is no arguing against the fact that a proactive approach to public relations is more beneficial in terms of promoting good news (new business, cases, promotions, lateral hires, award nominations, Chambers and Legal 500 rankings, etc...)... continued on page four >

 

 

Advertisement

Advertisement