Communication Tools

The fundamental rule that guides law firm PR in the aftermath of a law firm merger should guide law firm PR at all times. Law firm public relations communications must deliver value, which means substantive commentary on legal and business trends and issues. Law firm PR is all about branding specific partners and practice groups by providing them the opportunity to talk about things that reporters actually want to write about and that clients and prospects actually want to read.

Effective law firm PR builds up a critical mass of such commentary in specific areas targeting specific audiences. For the law firm itself, that process generates institutional credibility. There’s depth and breadth. It is truly “earned media,” the result of which is that, over time, the voluminous public relations-based commentary does finally send an indelible message about the law firm itself. Law firm  and legal services communications thus moves effectively from the specific to the general, from multiple messages to a culminating single message about the firm itself.

Law firm PR can serve a dual purpose of advancing both the firm’s reputation and the client’s interest at the same time. Plaintiffs’ counsel know all about law firm PR – how to affect public perception in such a way as to positively affect the outcome of a case, while reminding the world who achieved that positive outcome. Litigation really underscores why public relations, in the form of legal PR and marketing is a win-win for lawyers and clients.