How To Find New Clients Online: Tips from a Lawyer

Getting fired from my big law job was not what I envisioned for myself when I graduated from law school. It happened less than a year after crossing the stage and being admitted to the bar. So, you can imagine how much stress I got.

I had my son, who had just turned a year old, and my family had minimal savings. I experienced the pressure of knowing I was the primary breadwinner of my family since my husband was staying home with our son at the time. As I packed up the trinkets and files in my office on that final Friday, I knew I had work to do as soon as I got home. And work I did. 

However, instead of looking for a new job like most would have expected, I spent my evening and much of my weekend commenting on social media posts. There was a reason for that. In this article, I will share tips on how to get clients as a lawyer if you’re not a part of a huge law firm anymore.

I had owned a successful clothing boutique before starting my associate position. As a result, I was part of numerous Facebook communities for entrepreneurs. These were communities I had readily engaged with as a business owner and law student. I have posted and commented hundreds of times over the years, developing relationships rooted in trust, understanding, and camaraderie.

But this time, my comments were different. I was no longer sharing business wins or asking questions about social media structure — now, I was an attorney with specialized information in high demand. I had a resource I was willing to freely share in the hopes that one of the comments would lead to a potential new client. I knew people were reading the posts and that I was speaking with individuals who were serious about their business.

The response was outstanding. So much so that a few weeks later, I was able to launch a law firm that would grow into a 7-figure business in less than two years. So, how to get law clients? Honestly, Facebook. 

Had it not been for that first weekend of engagement with small business owners and offering free legal information, I don’t know where I’d be right now. If I had to guess, I’d say I would have probably ended up working for another firm and daydreaming about what could have happened had I just decided to go for it and launch my own law firm.

Social media and digital spaces are powerful tools that help us self-actualize, but only if we know how to get legal clients by using these platforms properly. It’s one of the reasons I regularly urge small law firms to establish a substantial presence online and invest in social media literacy or marketing. Here’s how lawyers get clients: 

There is a client for every lawyer, and sometimes, what’s stopping you from attracting the right client is your commitment to being something you’re not. The power of owning your own firm and bringing in your clients is that you get to decide who you want to work with. Be multifaceted. Be dynamic and authentic. Be you. Because you’re so much more than just a lawyer.

Clients are everywhere, and that mindset prompted me to look for clients online. We live in a digital world. It’s time to do away with ideas on the traditional way of business and start accepting that we are not the law firms of the 90s or early 2000s. While there’s a “traditional” way of building out a legal practice, those traditions no longer comply with the way our world is currently set up. It’s time to do away with thoughts on how things should be and start acknowledging how things are.

Your website and social media give off the first impressions of your company. You must show up in a way that attracts the right clients for you and your law firm. That means hiring someone to build your website, manage your social media, and enhance your online footprint.

It’s time that we, as lawyers and as business owners, start thinking of social media and other digital spaces as our new business cards. While wondering how to get clients, lawyers should remember that their professional success and longevity depend on how hard they are ready to work on promoting their business. It’s necessary to embrace the changing environment in the profession and, even more, become an innovator to achieve great success.