Lawyers! Get Your Phones to Ring More in 2021: Part Three
How Attorneys Can Connect with Other Lawyers
*Disclaimer: We practice law in California where attorney referral fees are allowed. Make sure you follow the code of professional conduct for your own jurisdiction.
Why Attorney Referrals Are Critical For Your Law Practice
At our law firm, Case Barnett Law , we have never paid for advertising. Almost all of our clients come from word of mouth referrals. When we first started our personal injury firm we had every intention of digging into SEO, blogging, pay-per-click and Facebook ads. It never happened.
Before we focused on those things we put our time and energy into building up word of mouth referrals. It went so well for us that we ended up becoming so busy we didn’t even have time to think about marketing. Great problem to have right?
Not only do most of our clients come from word of mouth referrals, they come from referrals from other attorneys. Our entire practice is almost built solely on cases referred to us by other lawyers. This costs us nothing and requires very little time and effort.
It’s great to not be spending thousands (or millions) of dollars each year on advertising. It’s also wonderful because, we all know, the best clients are clients who are referred to you by someone you know and trust. Why is this? Well, when someone who already knows you, sends a client your way, they are sending you someone who they think is a good fit for your law firm. They know the type of law you practice, and if you are doing a good job building your brand, they know the type of client you want to work for. This built-in filtering system brings only the best clients to your door which also allows you to stop wasting time on intake for people who don’t have the type of case you want to work on.
Additionally, when a client is referred to you, much of the “sales” process has already been done for you. The referring attorney has already vouched for you and told the potential client that they trust you…therefore, the client can also trust you. When the client comes to you, all you have to do is back up the promises the referring attorney made to them. You will do this by sharing positive reviews from past clients, sharing case results from legal matters similar to theirs and providing them any free information and resources you can make available to them to help them out.
It’s obvious that every law firm needs to focus on getting more referrals for their law practice. How is this best done?
How To Actually Get More Referrals For Your Law Practice
Lots of attorneys (my husband included) think that if they go to trial and get a huge verdict, they will all of a sudden become inundated with new clients and amazing cases to work on. There is nothing further from the truth. After many years of fighting me on this, Case finally realizes that the best methods are found in a more direct relationship building approach.
Of course, your success in trial or in your practice, is extremely important. After all, no one wants to refer cases to someone who doesn’t have experience winning or serving their clients in an exceptional manner. Your success as a lawyer serves as the proof needed to convince both clients and other attorneys that you are a trust-worthy person for them to send clients to. That is pretty much all it does. It isn’t going to cause people to come rushing to you with cases.
You need to build credibility through experience and success but then you need to leverage that to get more referrals for your firm. You need to focus your time and energy on building a consistent stream of cases coming your way, through attorney referrals.
This is what we have done at our firm and it has helped us grow tremendously each year:
Educate, inspire and mentor- This was not something we planned to do and we got lucky and stumbled into it. It is just Case’s personality to help out anyone who has a question. He is extremely friendly and approachable and people feel safe coming to him when they need help. He has done this long before he was in private practice and it certainly isn’t a “marketing” angle. When you are kind to others, especially in this super-competitive industry, you stand out.
Case never hesitates to jump on a call and help someone before their first trial or if they need help preparing for a deposition. He has spoken to high school and college students who his past teachers send his way. He absolutely loves helping people out and sometimes a young kid who he inspired at a confusing time in their life comes back as a new attorney who has a case they need to refer out. Other times attorneys find that they are in over their heads and ask us to take the case over for them. Sometimes a lawyer doesn’t have trial experience and they can’t put the case on so they bring it to us.
By making himself available to mentor and help people out, Case has built up a network of attorneys who want to give something back to him in return… usually in the form of a client referral.
Let other attorneys know that you are the best person for them to refer clients to- All attorneys know they can get referral fees by referring a case out in California. However, it’s your job to let them know why you are the best man or woman for the job. For us, our systems and procedures along with our stellar client care assure attorneys that anyone they send our way will be treated exceptionally well. We are also transparent about what we pay our referral partners and we ensure that the rules of professional conduct are being followed in regards to paying out attorney referral fees. We also share our past victories so potential referral partners can see what type of referral fee they may get when they send a case our way.
There are many ways you can let people know they should come to you when they have a case they need to refer out. You can try using LinkedIn to reach out to attorneys in other practice areas. You can create an email campaign to wow them and show them how easy it is to work with you. You can also give them a call. There is no better way to establish a referral partner relationship than by creating a personal relationship with the attorney.
You can also use social media to remind other attorneys who follow you that you are a qualified person to refer cases to. Let them know what you will give them back in return (other than the referral fee). Remember, you can also receive referral fees. Set up a two way relationship. For example, our law firm gets a lot of medical malpractice calls but we typically don’t take these types of cases. We want to be able to help anyone who calls us so we have made sure to have at least one trusted attorney in each area of law for which we get calls. We don’t like just telling people we can’t help them. We want to be able to send them to someone we know and trust, aka our referral partners.
Share what it’s like to work with you - If you have created systems and procedures for your firm (we hope you have!) share that with potential referral partners. You need to show them that they (and the clients they send your way), can trust you. When an attorney refers a case out they are putting their own reputation on the line. Give them no reason to feel worried about sending a potential client to you.
Make sure you tell them how often you will update them on the status of the case and how your firm handles the disbursement of money at the end. Make sure you share the laws and rules about referral fees in your jurisdiction and provide details explaining how you ensure those rules are being met.
Don’t Forget About Client Referrals For Your Law Firm
Let current and past clients know that you appreciate their referrals- However you communicate with your current and past clients (emails, newsletter, holiday cards, etc.) should be examined. Is there a way you can give thanks to clients who have referred you a new case? Have you educated your clients, friends and family on how they can refer someone to your firm?
Conclusion
Like with everything in life, we believe in the law of attraction when it comes to getting more referrals for your law firm. The more you pay attention to this area of your marketing, the more energy you put into it, the more you talk about it with current clients and other attorneys; the more cases will come your way.
Other Blog Posts in This Series
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Disclaimer: When collecting or paying referral fees, be sure to follow the Rules of Professional Conduct for your state. This blog is made available by the legal consulting firm, Law Prophet, LLC, for educational purposes. It provides general information and a general understanding of the law and business practices, but does not provide specific legal advice. By using this site, commenting on posts, or sending inquiries through the site or contact email, you confirm that there is no attorney-client or business relationship between you and the Law Prophet blog publisher. The blog should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction.This blog is informational in nature and is not a substitute for legal research or a consultation on specific matters pertaining to you or your clients. Due to the dynamic nature of legal doctrines, what might be accurate one day may be inaccurate the next. As such, the contents of this blog must not be relied upon as a basis for arguments to a court or for your advice to clients and other attorneys without, again, further research or a consultation with a professional.
