The COVID-19 pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges and opportunities for the legal profession. While some practice areas and sectors have suffered from the economic slowdown, others have seen increased demand for legal services. Law firms that want to survive and thrive in the post-pandemic world need to adapt to the changing needs of their clients and society. In this article, we will discuss some of the steps that law firms can take to achieve law firm growth after COVID-19, such as leveraging technology, diversifying their offerings, enhancing their social responsibility, and investing in their talent.
Law Firms Growth and Scalability during Coronavirus
1. Will Focus on Lead Processing and Marketing Strategies
Brian Pendergraft, The Realest Real Estate Attorney
In the pre-COVID-19 time, most of my firm’s revenue came from initiating and defending actions that resulted in an eviction, such as failure to pay rent or tax lien foreclosure action. So, I have lost my primary source of income beginning on March 16 until at least July 25th, when the eviction moratoriums are scheduled to be lifted. In the meantime, I’ve actually been getting more calls for my Legal Support Services than usual due to landlord-tenant issues exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first order of business will be to hire an additional intake coordinator to process the sheer volume of leads that I anticipate I will have shortly after the eviction moratorium is lifted. I’ll probably spend the rest of the year in rent court alone being of service to both landlords and tenants.
The second part of my firm’s growth plan is to increase my marketing efforts for legal services that do not require going to court in order to future-proof my firm’s revenue. In particular, I want to grow my business organizations and real estate transactions practices. These practices have been holding me over since the court closings, but I did not market them as aggressively as I did my litigation practice. But I need to grow them so I can thrive in the event the courts are closed for an extended period of time again in the future.
2. Will Cross Boundaries for More Remote Work Exposure
Russell Knight, Attorney at Law Office of Russell D Knight
My family law firm has always focused on one county in Illinois, Cook. In fact, we don’t even take cases from the suburbs of Chicago as they have their own courthouses. It just wasn’t worth the drive.
All of our branding was “Chicago, Chicago, and Chicago.” Now, because of the new policies courts have implemented in the wake of COVID-19, such as remote hearings, it doesn’t matter where we practice.
All of our branding will switch to “Illinois,” and we’ll be prepared to practice in any of the 102 counties in the state.
3. A Need for Bankruptcy Services will be on the Rise
Patrick J. Best, Tax Planning Attorney Helping Small Business Owners Nationwide to Save Money on Their Taxes
COVID-19 has changed the legal landscape (at least temporarily). While some areas of law have seen a downward trend (criminal, personal injury, workers’ compensation), we are anticipating a large shift in the market towards services such as bankruptcy, social security disability, and tax resolution.
The need for these services tends to increase when unemployment rates are high or when the economy has a downward turn. Businesses will need Chapter 11 bankruptcy to stay alive. Others may need Chapter 7 bankruptcy to close. Individuals will need Chapter 13 bankruptcy to repay their late mortgages or late rents.
Some people will never go back to work. Many times, those people turn to social security disability as an income replacement. The legal services industry always fluctuates with the economy. As a result, our firm intends to shift our marketing focus toward these areas.
Moreover, we will be shifting our resources to where our clients need us the most. If we receive an influx of bankruptcy clients, for example, we intend to shift our firm resources to properly service those clients.
4. Communicating with Present Clients About Reopening
The first thing all firms should do is reach out to their current client base and let them know that they are now back to regular business. Your current clientele is your strongest asset as a law firm and the catalyst to your firm’s growth after the pandemic. In addition, you can ask this current client base for any referrals they might have for people in need of legal services.
5. Need to Streamline the Remote Working Process
Andrew Taylor, Director at Net Lawman
What we are going to do and what I recommend other law firms to do across the globe, and in particular, America, is to be current. What I think many law firms have had the luxury of doing up until now is that we sit back and let clients come to us.
Now, we should actively campaign issues that are close to home to us or that we want to offer our support and guidance.
Our legal knowledge gives us a foot in the door in allowing people to have their voices heard, and this is our duty as professionals.
I have always been capable of offering a remote service, but with law firms that are not, then these will surely struggle. So, by ensuring that processes are implemented to allow for a completely online experience to occur – this includes rigorous safety and security measures to be put in place then you are setting yourself up for success.
6. Future Lies in Digitalization
Ted Kaplun, Personal Injury Lawyer at kaplunmarx.com
The COVID-19 pandemic has had widespread negative effects on most businesses and has not spared the personal injury law space. Our personal injury law firm just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is no different. We have witnessed a sharp downturn in new case inquiries, which coincides with people being quarantined at homes. Auto insurance companies do not gift premium dollars back because people are driving more.
Times of crisis are also times of opportunity. We have used the work-from-home period to streamline our marketing plan as follows:
(1) Reach out to our current clients to check on them during this time of crisis, allowing us to stay top of mind should they or loved ones need an accident lawyer.
(2) ramping up our online content creation and publishing
(3) preparing more video content for our YouTube channel
(4) working hard on getting more reviews of our services.
(5) maintaining a positive outlook for when we get back to really come out of the gates strong.
7. Adopting Technology for Customer Satisfaction
Cade Parian, Personal Injury Lawyer
As we all know, Covid-19 has caused our economy to plummet, leaving many businesses in all fields to find ways to rebuild their companies from the ground up. One particular field drastically affected by COVID-19 has been legal firms, more specifically, personal injury firms. When COVID-19 struck, causing many offices to work remotely, our office established goals to ensure productivity and client satisfaction.
First and foremost, we wanted to continue to be able to provide our clients with the same care and accessibility that we had prior to Covid-19. Secondly, we wanted to be able to provide access to new clients who were seeking assistance with personal injury cases.
Our office’s main focus is to ensure client satisfaction; therefore, we have adapted to the new norms brought on by COVID-19 by offering to conduct Zoom calls with our clients, after-hour lines to provide answers to any and all questions, and safe social distance in-person meetings to distribute client funds.
In addition to maintaining client satisfaction with established clients, we are also establishing new ways to market to various types of personal injury cases, such as trailer-tractor cases and senior living communities, to assist those who have been affected during this time. We are taking the time to research these cases, the laws, and the mechanisms to provide for these clients.
Lastly, we are planning to offer educational and awareness tools to the public by creating informational videos to post on our website and other forums to allow insight to potential clients and established clients on the following: how personal injury cases are resolved, what makes a case, and what we can do to help them receive the justice they deserve in the best possible way.
In addition to these informational video sessions, we plan to provide a quick facts page on our website to help those who have never had to deal with legal matters understand the process. We want our current and potential clients to feel as comfortable as possible without being misguided and confused by the difficulty of understanding legal jargon.
As an owner of a personal injury firm, there were obstacles to climb in order to keep our firm growing, but thankfully, we have been able to persevere and adapt to these unprecedented times. We believe that by establishing these changes, we will be able to expand our client base, establish better bonds with our clients, and provide increased client satisfaction”.
8. Use of the Latest Digital Marketing Strategies
Jonathan Melmed, Class Action Labor & Employment Lawyer
Our employment law firm has done well via word of mouth in the past. However, with COVID-19, it seems like fewer people are talking about us to their friends simply because of fewer organic opportunities for people to engage in social interaction.
- Google Ads on Keywords with increasing demand.
- Review our conversion rate for these keywords and invest in a long-term campaign for keywords that convert into good cases
- Run Facebook Advertisement for general information that can potentially bring in leads
- Revamp the website and practice effective SEO strategies
9. Will Distribute a Free Last Will & Testament
Alex Hargrove, Online Estate Planning Reimagined – The NetLaw Platform
I like to think of us as being in the “peace of mind” business. We think barriers to ensuring that your wishes are respected posthumously do create latent anxiety. Our goal is to remove those barriers. The majority of families with children under 18 do not have documents naming basic guardianship of their minor children.
This is not something you should have to go pay an attorney to accomplish if you can’t afford the luxury (or simply don’t want to deal with an attorney or the expense). Nor, moreover, do we think you should have to pay us for that privilege. To that end, we will soon be announcing a major partnership that is going to allow us to distribute a free Last Will & Testament (the same one of which we’ve sold millions of dollars worth) through partnerships with companies across a variety of market channels, from financial services to nonprofits.
As mentioned above, we see huge opportunities in the remote notary space. If we are successful in our efforts, we will see a huge demand for online notarization. COVID-19 has made this a headline issue as states seek to accommodate remote protocols with their Wills acts. There’s a lot of unnecessary complexity. It is a reason why no one has yet been able to offer a fully online digital Will. We hope to be that company soon.
We’ve been fortunate that we responded to the demand for our products and services over the past few months. We have been very busy with estate planning because of the pandemic. We have also made new partners and used online tools to overcome the difficulties.
Remote online notarization represents the future. It is necessary to increase the number of people with valid Wills. The current offline process is cumbersome and hampers testamentary freedom.
We hope that the renewed focus will help us realize a world where you can complete and execute your plan. Importantly, we believe that the processes we are developing will be more secure than existing offline processes.
I think a lot of attorneys have had to adopt new technologies to continue functioning quickly. I know companies like Clio have done a lot to educate law firms and attorneys on best practices and tools. Hopefully, the rapid adoption of these technologies will inspire further efforts to improve client experience.
I sincerely encourage others to embrace remote work and focus on building a remote work culture. My team and I take pride in the culture we’ve created across time zones using tools like Slack and Zoom.
10. Focus on Marketing and Branding Our Firm
Justin Hill, San Antonio Injury Attorney, Podcaster, and Chicken Farmer
We have already begun implementing the steps we plan to take post-Covid-19 to grow our law firm. Many of our competitors were waiting for this to pass. We used the downtime to pivot into marketing, branding, and growth strategies.
Many businesses are direct with B2B or referral, so we are planning to market directly to our potential clients. To that end, we used the shutdown as an opportunity to start new marketing and branding efforts. Our multimedia approach to our firm’s PR and marketing efforts includes audio and video.
Internally, we have crafted a plan to utilize interns from the local law school for assistance. Finally, this experience has jarred us and made us realize how much we should give back.
Conclusion
This gives us a clear idea of what legal professionals have in their minds during the COVID-19 period. Most of them have understood the benefits that come with remote working and technology. It will be looking to continue using the same to reap the associated benefits. However, there are some tasks like handling back-office chores that are always challenging for lawyers. It is because these are not productive tasks for the growth of the company.
The best solution is to outsource the back-office burden to a top legal outsourcing provider like Legal Support World. It has been providing top-notch Legal process outsourcing services to firms throughout the world for more than 12 years now. You may start your free trial by getting in touch today!
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