Produce news about your firm
Solicitors may find it hard to believe but they enjoy a privileged status when it comes to getting publicity in their local press.
It stems from the dark ages when law firms weren’t allowed to advertise and had to think of other ways of getting their names in front of the public. One solution was to identify developments within the practice and produce a news release for the local paper.
The story could be the appointment of a new partner or a new head of department. Or perhaps it might the opening of a new office or the introduction of a new legal service.
The reason these stories were given such prominence by local papers in the past is that law firms faced very little competition from other local businesses.
Most of those other businesses could advertise and so didn’t need to find roundabout ways to get themselves noticed.
Times have changed of course and now law firms can promote themselves. However, the tradition of getting free news coverage continues and shows no signs of slowing down.
Check inside your local evening paper. You’ll find there’s hardly a week goes by with some firm announcing some snippet of company news. There’s no particular reason why law firms should have this privileged position except that it’s become custom and practice over many years.
So when you read your evening paper you’ll find very few stories announcing new appointments in other professions and industries, but lots about the comings and goings within law firms.
These stories are a valuable source of publicity. And it doesn’t even have to be a major event such as the appointment of a new partner. Firms get an amazing amount of coverage from seemingly trivial events.
For example a Leeds firm got valuable publicity with a story that three members of staff were expecting babies at the same time. Obviously, such a story does nothing to say what a fine firm you are but it does put your name before the public and it does help you come across as caring and approachable.
That’s not a bad return for a story out of so little.
When approaching such stories firms nearly always take the opportunity to stress the services they offer and the qualities they possess.
For example, a story about a new solicitor is very rarely treated as a simple statement of fact. Instead, the senior partner will be quoted saying what a coup it is for the firm to attract such a strong candidate.
Perhaps the newcomer was tempted away from a top firm in London, or maybe the firm claims it had to fight off stiff competition before finally winning through and securing the appointment.
In turn, the new arrival will be complimentary about his new firm saying how he is looking forward to working with such a strong team. Perhaps he might point out that the firm is already recognised as the leader in its field and now he’s determined to take it on to even greater strengths.
Lawyers attending my courses are often surprised to see just how much self-promotion firms are allowed to get away with but the fact is that such stories are appearing all the time.
And they don’t have to be about something as important as the appointment of a new partner or associate. A member of staff gaining a new qualification is another way of getting easy publicity. Regional papers are full of them.
The Birmingham Post recently carried a story about a partner at law firm Glaisyers obtaining higher rights of audience. The fact that the partner in question was the fourth member of the firm’s criminal department to obtain such an award didn’t deter the paper from considering this to be a newsworthy event.
In fact, it seems nothing could deter the Birmingham Post’s enthusiasm for such snippets because a few weeks after the Glaisyers story it published an article saying that a solicitor-advocate at law firm Needham & James had also been granted the same Higher Courts qualification.
It’s quite likely that very soon the same paper will carry a similar story about another lawyer from another firm doing exactly the same thing.
Once you start looking for these stories you see them everywhere. Some firms manage to provide a slightly different angle just to keep the interest alive. Newcastle firm Dickinson Dees provided a personal touch when it announced the appointment of a new solicitor by giving details about how he was a quiz show fanatic.
It makes the new man seem more rounded and approachable.
Shoosmiths provided a very inspiring story about how one its new solicitors had battled against adversity and temporary loss of income to qualify as a solicitor later in life after a career in banking.
Given the distrust many solicitors have for the press it’s ironic to think just how far local newspapers will bend to allow law firms to promote themselves in this way for free.
In spite of this, few firms bother to take advantage. That is why the same handful of law firms keep cropping up time and time again in your local paper.
Other firms who look on enviously often assume this is because those chosen few have some kind of hold on the local paper or are paying out vast amounts of money in advertising.
This is rarely the case. The successful firms get the publicity because they take the trouble to look for it.
The good news for everyone else is that there is nothing to stop them doing the same.
back to Solicitors Journal articles
This article first appeared in the Solicitors Journal.
Nick Kehoe is a former News Editor with ITV. He now runs Media Coverage, a company offering CPD accredited media courses and providing press releases and newsletters for law firms.
Contact Media Coverage, Suites 1-13, Imex Business Park, Shobnall Road, Burton on Trent, DE 14 2AZ.
www.media-coverage.co.uk Email: nk@media-coverage.co.uk.
Phone 01283 566270.
Media Coverage Ltd
Media Coverage Ltd is a leading provider of editorial and design services for law firms.
We produce high quality print newsletters, email newsletters, press releases and website articles for law firms across England and Wales.
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