How To PR a Law Firm

I am not a PR professional, but after reading this book I can see that I need to become more PR-minded or to work with a PR professional to guide me.  

I am an accredited mediator and solicitor specialising in family law. However, whether I like it or not everything I do, write, post on social media or say to the press is PR.

My online and other behaviours show who I am and what I might offer to clients and potential clients. The book encourages me to consider ‘What is it I want to be known for?’ and ‘Who am I?’. These might sound like existential questions but they are how I can differentiate myself from a crowded and ever more competitive market.  

How to PR a Law Firm is an essential guide and quick read on what is, for me, another world. I have learned so much from it, even taking a few sharp intakes of breath at past mistakes. But this book will help me avoid future errors and create a strategy to guide how I present myself to the world.  

When was the last time you, if you are a practitioner or a partner in a large firm, really thought about what your values are? Knowing your values really helps you focus. For me and for Davis, who runs her own PR agency, authenticity is like gold dust.

The book gives handy tips on writing, dealing with the press, legal directories and awards. And so much more.

PR at a law firm is different to PR at other businesses, as this book points out. It seems likely that if you do hire a PR person, they need to know about law firms and our role in the maintenance of a civil society; and the dangers of getting it wrong.

I had thought PR was only about crisis management. So as not to disappoint, there is a whole chapter on this very subject and what to do if the worst happens to you or your firm.

The truth is, though, that there is so much more to PR than the catastrophe. PR is everyday and it’s everything that we do that isn’t the actual legal work. I can now see that there is so much more to do (and be) than just being a good lawyer.

I think all legal professionals will get so much from reading this book. And there is the added bonus that any profits from sales go to support those with autism.  Not bad for £20.

Jo O’Sullivan of O’Sullivan Family Law Ltd is an accredited mediator and author of (Almost) Anything But Family Court (www.osullivanfamilylaw.com)