How to Prepare Your Law Firm for Uncertainty

Economists are predicting an economic downturn in the next twelve months. Whether this is true remains to be seen, but it’s always smart to stay ahead of the curve and prepare your law firm for a recession. Now is the time to evaluate your expenses, fine-tune your marketing strategy, and prepare your law firm to be stronger than ever.

Embrace the remote office

In recent weeks, working from home has transformed from an office perk to a normal working reality for many Americans. In the event of an economic downturn, embracing a remote office can help cut costs and maintain the health of your team.

• Telework & Office Costs: Assigning some or all of your staff to telework can allow you to lease a smaller office space, saving you hundreds or thousands of dollars every month.
• Paperless Solutions: The advent of remote work has underscored the importance of paperless legal work more than ever before. CASEpeer, for example, is a paperless case management software allowing you to navigate every stage of your personal injury law firm from any device and any location. By investing, in a cloud-based solution your firm can provide seamless, automated legal services while saving hundreds of dollars in paper and related costs.

Build up your social media presence

Heading into a recession, your law firm should evaluate how it is spending its marketing budget. With nearly two billion users on social media, this presents a large platform for your firm to capitalize on. Whether it be Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn, these platforms allow your firm to market its value to your community and build a reputation as strong personal injury attorneys.

• Establish your brand image: Social media provides users the capability to curate their brand image. By leveraging these tools to create a robust brand image your good reputation will follow with improved recognition, referrals, and revenue.
• Engage your community: Social media shouldn’t just be another medium for advertising. It is important to also add value to the news feeds of your followers. Sharing blog posts and advertising webinars on your thought leadership. Engage with your online community and ask them about topics they want to hear about. Doing so will build your credibility, and you can even begin to leverage referrals from your existing clients and colleagues.

Getting started on social media is free, outside of the labor. If your firm chooses to leverage paid promotions to increase awareness of your brand, the cost is nominal compared with other forms of advertising.

Adopt an email marketing strategy

Email marketing has an ROI of 4400%. Yes, you read that right – every time you invest $1.00 into your email marketing strategy, you can expect returns of close to $44.00. In addition, email marketing is inexpensive. Many email marketing services range from free to a few hundred dollars per month for more premium options. Mailchimp, for example, is a great free solution for new law firms with a growing email list.

The reason why email marketing works so well is that it keeps your law firm top of mind for prospects, clients, and other companies you may be in business with. You can build your brand recognition, leading to more referrals, repeat business, and good reviews.

Keep your innovators close

In times of economic uncertainty, it is vital to value and leverage team members with a track record of developing and executing bold and innovative strategies. In a recession when the competition is fierce, your firm needs to stand out from the pack.

1. WHO – If at a larger firm, identify your key leaders and innovators. For small firms, consider including your whole team.
2. WHAT – Prior to meeting with the team, as a business owner, decide what elements you want to workshop with them. Having clear goals will make discussions more fruitful.
3. WHEN – Plan weekly or monthly meetings to discuss. These could be done over lunch or over zoom. Try to come up with at least one action item to implement in the following weeks.

Foster an environment where bold ideas, contingency plans, and new areas of business can be formulated to make your firm recession-proof.

The future will always be uncertain. But as attorneys, the best thing you can do is perform your due diligence and formulate ways to remain one step ahead. We believe that CASEpeer can provide your firm the means to remain prepared, efficient, and organized moving forward. Preparing your firm to be resilient in the face of uncertainty will ensure that your practice is stronger than ever and here to stay.