1. Demand For Legal Services Remains

In 2019, revenue for legal services was up about 6% over the prior year. However, the revenue growth was driven largely by increases in fees, rather than increased demand. It may grow in 2020 due to a predicted increase in business litigation demand. 

In 2019, revenue for legal services was up about 6% over the prior year. However, the revenue growth was driven largely by increases in fees, rather than increased demand. It may grow in 2020 due to a predicted increase in business litigation demand. 

2. Flexible Schedules and Part Time Attorneys

The 9-5 is becoming outdated in many industries, and the legal industry is no exception. This is changing the dynamics of how law firms operate and forcing many managing partners to re-think their approach to how attorneys work. The ability to offer flexible working conditions can go a long way in attracting young talent to your law firm, so it’s important to consider if your firm is growing and looking to hire talent over the next few years.

If you don’t already, you should ensure you have a policy on how flexible your firm can be when it comes to working remotely, working non-traditional hours or part-time. In one report, more than half of respondents from medium to large firms reported being offered some form of flexible working options.

If you cannot attract or retain the right talent, your firm’s business will have a difficult time growing its business. If it’s not already, consider re-examining your benefit offerings and perks to ensure you’re keeping up with the changing needs of attorneys.

3. Competition is Tougher...

When a potential client is researching law firms, it’s extremely easy to compare different firms through online research. In a few clicks, people have access to read online reviews and attorney biographies and accolades of your firm as well as your competitors.

This means the client is in the driver’s seat, and it’s not enough to simply have a strong differentiating factor. Law firms need to ensure that differentiating factor is clearly communicated whenever potential clients are conducting research, which is largely going to be online.

4....and consumers expect more.

Think about how Amazon changed consumer expectations by offering both competitive pricing and speed of delivery. Other retailers were forced to keep up in order to save their business in the increasingly challenging retail industry.

Retail isn’t the only industry facing pressure from a change in consumer expectation. As technology has enabled consumers to research legal services more thoroughly, people are becoming more price sensitive to legal services. Research shows that for more specialized, “unique” legal expertise, there is less price sensitivity. But if your firm offers legal services in a more saturated market like family law or criminal defense, price will continue to drive potential clients’ decisions on which firm to hire.

This doesn’t mean you have to be the cheapest firm in town. It just means you have to understand how your fees compare and make sure potential clients are well-informed. Transparency goes a long way, and providing fee transparency to your clients is a great way to build trust.

It also means you should look for ways to retain profit margin in an increasingly price-competitive industry. Are there things you can automate at your firm that will save time and money? Focusing on efficiencies will help ensure you’re maximizing profitability. 

5. Diversifying Business Models

Law firms have long-been a business with one task; legal services. However, the emergence of technology is resulting in some firms expanding their business offerings. Many law firms are expanding to include legal technology and consulting services.

This may work better for certain areas of law. For example, law firms with business clientele may benefit from expanding their service offerings to clients. It warrants some thought for managing partners of firms who have grown their practice and could benefit from expanding into related areas. What other needs do your clients have that you may be able to help them solve?

This trend will likely lead to an increase in people who pursue “legal adjacent” careers. These are roles like project managers, compliance and risk professionals or legal operations specialists. As law firms expand their business offerings, the mix of lawyers vs non-lawyers employed by firms will shift.

TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING TRENDS

6. Local Television

Tune into a local television station and you’re likely to see a few commercials for law firms. If you spend money on TV ads for your law firm, it’s important to understand two key trends. First, 2020 is an election year, and it’s predicted to be a record year for political advertising spend. This means small businesses may get crowded out as ad space becomes a scarcity.

Secondly, traditional television viewership continues to decrease as “cord cutters” opt for streaming services. Even local news has seen sharp declines in viewership.

Does this mean law firms should cut their spending on television advertising? First, we recommend taking a hard look at how you’re spending your advertising dollars and what you can track. If TV ads are helping bring business to your firm, it may still be a good investment. But if viewership continues to decline, there may be better ways to reach your target clients, such as online advertising.

7. Direct Mail

Does law firm direct mail still have a place in a world that’s increasingly digital? Do you still check your mailbox? Unlike email which can be easily deleted or filtered to an inbox you rarely see, physical mail will hit the hands of the recipient.

Think about how you check your mailbox. Chances are, you browse through the envelopes and separate them into two piles; mail that you’ll open and mail that you won’t. If your law firm can get its letter into the “open” pile, your chances of getting their business increases.

We’ve come full circle on print advertising. As consumers are bombarded with digital ads, there is something special about receiving a piece of physical mail. Most industries that engage in direct mail marketing project increased volume in the years to come.

When done right, direct mail is highly targeted and can be very cost effective, which makes it a staple in many law firms’ marketing strategies. 

8. Radio

If there’s an industry that has struggled in the face of increased streaming use more than television, it’s radio. But local radio has evolved with the industry, and is capitalizing on the increased digital ad spending. Radio advertising can still be a viable option for law firms, as long as you’re following best practices and have a way to understand how radio advertising is affecting your firm’s business.

With radio, you don’t have the benefit of fine-tuning your targeting to reach your intended audience. That’s why it’s important to understand the demographics of the listeners for the local stations you’re considering. The demographics should closely align with your law firm’s target client.

Many law firms use radio advertising as a way to combat the competitive nature of digital advertising. There is also the advantage of trust. Loyal radio listeners often have built trust with radio personalities, so an advertisement coming from them is more influential than other forms of advertising.

If your firm has a limited budget and is looking to build a diversified marketing strategy, we still believe direct mail is an option, how we believe digital marketing offers the best ROI and results, since you can hyper target your desired audience on Google and Social, as well as track 100% of your campaign results. Radio advertising is certainly not dead, and you may want to consider testing into it if your marketing budget allows.

9. Print Advertising

Print advertising generally entails things like newspaper and magazine ads. It’s hard to justify spending money on print advertising for most types of law firms, given the decline in readership of print publications. All other things being equal, digital advertising for a criminal defense attorney will net far more business than print ads.

However, that doesn’t mean every law firm should rule it out. There are some practice areas where print advertising may make sense. If you specialize in business litigation or represent professionals like doctors, there are many trade publications that may make sense.

Print publications have also had to adapt their advertising sales models as behavior has shifted. Many offer packages that entail a combination of ad space in a print publication and on the publication’s website or e-mail distribution list. 

10. Billboards, Buses and Benches

Outdoor advertising is more about building your brand’s presence and recognizability, and it’s often done to supplement other forms of local advertising. It’s rare that someone passes a personal injury attorney’s billboard advertisement and calls right away.

However, if a need arises in the future, someone may do online research. They perform a Google search and recognize that law firm from billboards, radio and TV ads they’ve seen. At this point, they’ve already built some familiarity, which can influence the decision to hire that firm.

This is exactly why traditional forms of advertising like billboards, buses and benches are difficult. They influence decisions, but it’s very hard to track how many cases come in because of them. In the above example, online search would typically get the “credit” for bringing that client to your firm.

Over the years, the cost of this type of advertising has gotten cheaper, especially in smaller cities and towns. Depending on the location, it does give your law firm a large reach and may make sense if you struggle with very limited brand recognizability. For example, a law firm opening a new office location may want to consider outdoor advertising as a way to generate awareness in the new market.

Change is inevitable, and law firms need to adapt accordingly. While it’s true that marketing is becoming increasingly digital, it doesn’t necessarily mean that traditional means of advertising are dead. It means they’re changing, and you should carefully vet how you use your firm’s marketing budget and how things like TV, radio and direct mail fit (or don’t fit) into your strategy.

SEO TRENDS

11. Voice Search

The use of voice assistants like Google Home, Amazon Alexa or smartphone voice assistants like Siri shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, 55% of teenagers use voice search on a daily basis. While teenagers may not be your law firm’s clientele, it’s indicative of where the future of search is going. Law firms who get in front of optimizing for voice search will have a clear advantage as its use increases.

This means that the visual element of the consumer journey is completely removed. Someone may ask a voice assistant for information about local law firms and start the process of making a decision before even researching their website.

Currently, voice search behavior is very task related. It’s used mainly for directions, dictating texts, making calls or checking the time. Expect this to change as people become more comfortable with voice search.

Your SEO strategy should entail optimizing for voice search through a combination of local SEO for your law firm and website content strategy. These two are foundational and will poise your firm’s website for success in voice search results.

12. BERT and Algorithm Updates

SEO is not a one-time project. It requires consistent work through optimization, content strategy and technical website improvements – especially in the competitive legal industry. One of the reasons you can’t simply do some SEO work and move on is that Google’s algorithm is constantly changing.

It’s important to stay up-to-date on Google’s algorithm so you understand any updates and how they may potentially affect your website’s rankings. Algorithm updates happen daily. Some are small, while others are more significant.

Google’s recent BERT update was noteworthy. BERT stands for Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers. Simply put, it helps Google better understand the context behind search queries by analyzing the relationship between words.

While Google will say there is no action website owners can take to prepare or react to the BERT update, it’s incredibly important to understand and monitor because it showcase’s Google’s constant effort to provide highly relevant results to searchers’ queries. Remember our first point about the rise of voice search? BERT is all about understanding natural language, which has to be related to the rise of voice search. This means websites with poorly-written and low-quality content will continue to struggle with SEO rankings.

BERT released in 2019 but its impacts will continue to be analyzed through 2020 and beyond. There will also be more notable algorithm updates that may affect your firm’s rankings. The key is to stay well-informed and understand if and how you should alter your website and SEO strategy to minimize negative impacts of algorithm updates.

13. Local SEO

Google searches are becoming increasingly local. Search queries containing “near me” have increased across nearly every category, according to Google’s 2019 data. “Near me” searches have increased over 500% in the last several years, and we’d expect that to continue to increase.

Attorneys need to continue to increase their focus on local SEO; the act of optimizing your business for presence in Google’s local map pack. When a local pack is present in search results, they command a large percentage of clicks, so it’s important real estate for your law firm to acquire. The local map pack is also what Google’s voice assistants use to return queries, so it’s a crucial piece of your strategy to capitalize in voice search.

WEBSITE DESIGN TRENDS

14. Web Content Accessibility

Effective website design is all about understanding your law firm’s audience and creating a visually appealing design that’s easy-to-use and provides your website visitors with relevant, useful information. There are a lot of considerations as you build or update your law firm’s website design, but web content accessibility should be an important one.

Web content accessibility is the practice of designing a website that people will disabilities can access. Web content accessibility (WCAG) guidelines provide direction on things like text color and size or how to ensure that screen readers can understand your website’s content.

There aren’t clear legal requirements for a website to meet these standards (aside from certain industries like federal agency websites.) However, it’s becoming more and more common for websites across all industries to prioritize efforts to ensure their websites adhere to accessibility standards. While the legality is a murky area, as the Americans with Disabilities Act doesn’t specify websites as a public domain, there have been cases where a website has been sued for failing to comply with the ADA.

Is someone going to sue your law firm website for not being accessible? It’s unlikely. The reason it’s becoming more and more common isn’t necessarily for fear of legal action, but because it’s simply the right thing to do. Website developers are becoming more familiar with how to design websites to comply with accessibility guidelines, and it’s something they can gradually chip away at on your website.



It’s worth having a conversation with your law firm’s website developers and designers about what you can do to improve your website’s accessibility.

15. Mobile

This really shouldn’t classify as a 2020 website design trend, as the need to design your website for mobile devices is not new. However, we still see law firms get this wrong.

For most attorney websites, the percentage of website traffic coming from mobile devices has increased tremendously, and it may even have surpassed your desktop traffic. Yet many law firms either neglect to deign their website in a mobile-friendly manner or they build a website design to fit a desktop and then modify it to be mobile-optimized.

Many web designers are taking a mobile-first approach. This means starting out your website design to be optimized for smartphone screens, rather than design for desktop and hope it looks okay on mobile. This requires a thoughtful approach to how you will lay out your content, if and how you’ll use video and how you’ll design calls-to-action to make sure they’re prevalent but not overbearing on a small screen.

But the visual elements are only half the battle. People expect websites to load quickly, and your page load speed will affect your website’s SEO rankings. Even law firms who nail the visual design of their website often fail to consider these technical elements. In order to design a great mobile experience, you have to focus both on the design and achieving a fast load speed.

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

16. Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) is used to describe any technology that uses computers to make decisions and predictions by learning from data, known as machine learning. While it sounds complex, A.I. is often present in our everyday life. Google’s algorithm uses machine learning to better understand queries and provide search results. Uber and Lyft use A.I. to determine pricing and minimize detours.

A.I. and machine learning are transforming the way law firms operate as well, and we expect this to continue. It’s being used to automate tasks like filling out forms, finding terms in documents, legal research and submitting paperwork. A.I.-powered chatbots are also being used on law firm websites to help automate the client intake process or answer basic questions.

The rise of A.I. has instilled some fear that technology will eventually replace the role of humans in the legal field, especially roles like legal secretaries or even entry-level lawyers. In reality, that’s probably not the case. A.I. should be used to create efficiencies and automate recurring, time-consuming tasks so that the people employed at law firms can focus their time and energy into more meaningful work.

17. Legal Tech

Software as a Service

Every attorney should have taken notice that the legal technology industry is growing. In 2020, investments in legal tech reached $1.2 billion for the first time. Law firms have always been known to be a bit behind when it comes to adoption of technology. But as legal tech continues to find innovative solutions to help law firms create efficiencies, those who find the right way to incorporate technology into their firm operations will be at a significant advantage.

This means your law firm should establish processes for how to handle the rapidly-changing world of legal tech. How will you evaluate new technology? What areas of your firm could benefit? It will also force law firms to face some tough decisions about how to balance human resources with investments in legal technology.

DIGITAL ADVERTISING TRENDS

18. Growth of Social Media

It’s no surprise that the legal industry has largely been slow to adopt social media. Social media marketing requires time and resources, and it can be difficult for law firms to justify the investment. 

Is it really helping your firm drive business?

If not, what is the real benefit of establishing a social media presence for your firm? 

What kind of content would a law firm even produce anyway?

If you haven’t already, it’s important that your law firm establishes a point-of-view and strategy behind social media. In one recent survey among attorneys, 70% of respondents said that social media is part of their law firm’s marketing strategy, although their goals seem to center more around brand awareness and engagement rather than driving new business.

Remember that social media entails more than just Facebook. YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram are also common platforms that law firms use. It may benefit your firm to focus more on certain platforms depending on your goals. For example, LinkedIn can be a great tool for lawyers to establish thought leadership and create referral relationships with other attorneys.

Even if resources are slim at your firm, there are ways you can test into social media marketing with a limited time commitment. Your digital marketing consultant or agency can help you understand if paid social media advertising is a viable option for your law firm. You can also use platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn to re-share work you’re already doing, such as posting to your legal blog.

19. Influencer Marketing

We’ll admit that influencer marketing isn’t usually on the top of the list of tactics that law firms should prioritize, but that may change. As social media grew, retailers and other industries began leveraging influencer marketing by partnering with social media “influencers” with large followings to help promote their products or services.

These influencers with thousands, or sometimes millions, of followers are known as “macro influencers” due to their extremely large reach. However, influencer marketing is changing. Brands have begun to realize that “micro influencers” – social media personalities with smaller followings, are often a better fit. They may not have as large of reach, but their followers tend to be more loyal and more engaged. Brands are also building long-term relationships with influencers, rather than using them for a one-time product or service promotion.

This trend has been especially helpful for local businesses, as they can find local influencers to help build their brand. Local influencers often have a great deal of trust build with their audience, so an endorsement from an influencer can be a very effective way to promote your law firm. There are many creative ways for law firms to leverage influencer marketing.

It’s sort of like using a local celebrity in a commercial for your law firm. For example, a personal injury attorney could partner with an influencer to create a content series about winter driving safety tips. Influencer marketing is also a great supplement to law firms who are working to increase their content marketing and social media reach, as they go hand-in-hand.

20. Video Content

Content marketing has been one of the most effective ways for businesses, especially law firms, to increase their online presence. However, content marketing no longer just means blog posts or written content on your website.

Online video will continue to become an increasingly important medium for law firms to use. In one survey, 72% of businesses reported that creating video content improved their conversion rate. Creating effective law firm video content will benefit your firm in a number of ways.

Video is a great way for prospective clients to interact with the attorneys at your firm. Whether it’s a promotional video or a Q & A style short video, it’s a chance to showcase your attorneys’ expertise in a more engaging way. This can build confidence and trust, and it makes your website visitors feel like they’re getting to know the firm in a way that written content can seldom accomplish.

In 2020, you should take time to evaluate your content marketing mix and determine the best way to incorporate more video content.

CONCLUSION

2020 is a new decade, and attorneys who want to grow their business will need to embrace the change the legal industry is experiencing, especially when it comes to COVID-19. The key is to keep learning, and don’t be afraid to test and try new things with your law firm’s approach to marketing or technology. 

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