5 Tips to Pandemic-Proof Your Law Firm

COVID-19 has impacted everyone, including lawyers from across the United States. With the challenges of unemployment rising and the courts operating on a limited basis, many law firms have been experiencing tremendously uncertain times. Law firms across the nation have reduced staff, closed their physical offices, and some have even closed down due to the pandemic. 

While this is the new reality for many lawyers, it doesn’t have to be your future. The most underrated attribute of a law firm (or any business) is its ability to adapt and change. That couldn’t be more true right now. 

By taking a proactive approach to attracting new clients and implementing the steps in this article, you can set up your law practice to prosper. Check out our five tips to pandemic-proof your law firm below.

1. Get Flexible and Adapt 

Flexibility and adaptability are key to your law firm surviving this crisis and thriving through the next, and right now  is the time to amend your playbook so that it is better suited for today’s environment. Here are some of the operational changes that smart lawyers  should consider implementing in their practice:

• Conducting consultations via video conferencing platforms like Zoom or Google Meet
• Focusing on a niche within your practice area
• Starting a social media group to address problems your clients face
• Conducting regular live informational sessions online 
• Leveraging legal technology and better efficiencies to increase your effective hourly rate
• Aligning with services that will help you attract clients 
• Offering your clients more affordable services
  
  

Being flexible also means taking a hard look at parts of your law practice that are unnecessary and/or impractical at the moment. Many of your potential clients are going through a financial hardship right now, so marketing them services that are too expensive can be problematic. 

Offering your clients unbundled legal services is a great way to help your customers save money while generating excellent income for your law practice at the same time. And when you couple this with some of the other steps above, you can build a wildly profitable law practice.

2. Keep in Touch With Your Clients And Potential Clients and Become Their Trusted Advisor

New and recurring customers have always been the lifeline of any successful legal practice. Regularly reaching out to your clients via e-mails, newsletters, social media posts, blog posts, etc. can help to keep you top of mind. Even if your clients do not currently need your services, they are more likely to refer a law firm that stays in contact with them. 

While keeping in touch with clients is necessary, it is important to not over do it. People are thinking about how they will pay rent, stay employed, and keep safe. Sending them too many emails and/or updates is a sure way to end up in the spam folder. 

The type of posting schedule that works best for you will depend on your practice area and the type of clients that you service. Creating value through weekly emails, social media posts, or Youtube videos can pay dividends right now and in the future for your law firm because this positions you as their trusted advisor, making you their top-of-mind choice when it comes to hiring a lawyer when they need one.

3. Unleash Your Creativity

The things that you did before the pandemic to attract new clients, retain former clients, and garner referrals may no longer be useful – this is the time to think outside of the box. Doing so can be beneficial to your bottom line, as well as team morale if you have one. 

Using your creativity to help your law firm thrive during and after the pandemic does not mean blowing your marketing budget on a hunch. You can mind your budget and take actions that are proven to work while still being creative. Examples of creative solutions can include:

• Creating a video series online
• Providing website visitors with legal resources such as e-books and guides
• Answering legal questions on popular legal sites 
• Guest appearing on podcasts
  
  

4. Digitize Your Law Firm

Social distancing is good for health, but not necessarily a friend of in-person business. It’s not hard to notice that everything is starting to go online. Not only is this true for law firms, but many court systems are also adopting new technologies and software to adapt to the changing times. 

Streamlining your client intake and practice management practices and software can help to ensure that your law firm can compete, stay compatible with the court system, and remain relevant. Furthermore, it can help to save you a lot of time and money. 

Upgrades that many lawyers are making in the face of the pandemic to keep their firms competitive include:

• Adopting legal practice management software like Clio
• Eliminating the need for in-person client intake by utilizing software
• Making use of marketing automation platforms 
• Using online services for E-signature and document automation 

If learning, installing and operating all of these types of new software scares you, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. We deliver leads directly into the legal platforms you already use, and give you access to a dedicated support lawyer (yes, an actual lawyer) who will help you integrate these types of services into your practice. We integrate and partner with platforms that make premium lead generation, client conversion, and effective practice management easier and more streamlined for the hundreds of lawyers we work with. 

5. Work With a Reputable Lawyer Lead Generation Company

You have likely received more calls and emails from lawyer lead generation companies than you can remember. It can become somewhat second nature to send them to the spam folder or ignore their calls with skeptical resolve. However, if you are feeling the pain of a downturn in your business, want to insulate yourself from it, or just want to grow your law firm with predictable, high-quality client leads, now may be the perfect time to partner with a reputable client lead generation service like Unbundled Attorney. 

While effective lawyer lead generation is an important facet of any successful law firm, it is important to partner with the right type of lead generation company. We take pride in the fact that our lawyers rate us as having the highest converting leads in the industry. A few benefits of working with us include:

• Our leads are exclusive. We don’t send your leads to anyone else.
• We do not make you sign a contract
• There is no sign up fee
• You’ll receive a dedicated support lawyer
• For family law leads, we remove financial risk with our Money-Back Guarantee*

Our attorneys stay signed up with our service for a reason: we deliver the highest quality leads in the industry. 

Want to learn more about how our lead generation service can help you grow your practice? Click here and fill out the contact form and schedule a call with us to learn more and find out if leads are still available in your area.