You’ve decided that your law firm needs a regular blog, but what do you write about? Your readers aren’t lawyers or law students; they’re clients and prospective clients. They’re not interested in case law commentary or legislation analysis. They’ve already decided that any kind of legal writing is dull and tedious. But, this is where you can make your firm stand out. Legal blog posts can be relevant, interesting and informative. They just need some thought. These three topics may be a good place to begin.
1. Answer common questions.
Clients often have similar concerns and queries. Be proactive and give them answers in your blog post. Often, the issue isn’t particularly complicated and as a lawyer, you may be able to explain it in your sleep (‘How do I sign this document?’ or ‘Is it market practice to limit my liability?, for example) but for a client or prospective client, it may cause confusion. Writing about issues that are relevant to them and their business will encourage them to read your posts.
2. Comment on new stories.
Commenting on news stories from a legal point of view shows that your law firm is up-to-date and commercially-focussed. You can provide a different perspective to the general news commentary and show how your clients’ businesses could be affected. Discussing financial news or business-related stories, such as a merger or a household name’s insolvency, will grab your readers’ attention and be more interesting than a random case report.
3. Explain changes in the law.
Don’t go back to being a law student and write in-depth analyses of the legal position. Write pragmatic and simple guides to explain what the changes mean for your clients. Using case studies or examples can be extremely helpful and make the topic more readable and easier to understand, especially for complex issues, such as tax.
By talking to the intended reader, your legal blog posts can be accessible and engaging to non-lawyers; they may be quicker to write than you originally thought, and you might also have fun creating them.
Read other useful legal marketing tips here.
