LinkedIn for Lawyers: 10 Profile Tips to Build Your Brand

LinkedIn is one of the most beneficial tools a lawyer can use when developing their brand and building their business. A quick look at the most recent statistics show that 87% of lawyers are on LinkedIn, and 81% of law firms use social media regularly. 

These numbers aren’t a passing trend. They continue to rise and illustrate the importance of incorporating social media in your branding and marketing strategies. With many colleagues and potential clients turning to LinkedIn, not implementing this platform can actually hurt your business. 

Therefore, it is essential to develop a strong LinkedIn profile that creates a positive, lasting impact and helps you maximize all the benefits that this tool has to offer.

Want to further improve your firm’s online presence? Google’s Local Services Ads for Clio helps you attract new, high-intent clients in your area without breaking your advertising budget. Book a demo to see it in action.

Social Media Marketing for Lawyers

The average time an individual person spends on social media platforms has been on a fluctuating but upward trajectory for over a decade. Research shows that individuals spend an average time of 2 hours and 23 minutes on social media every day. Social media usage is so prevalent it is now a must for legal professionals. 

Don’t wait to integrate this tool! Begin establishing and investing in your own professional social media presence so your brand can start to grow. LinkedIn offers lawyers simple and effective ways to focus your marketing efforts.

Like any social media tool, actively posting and engaging with others will provide the best results. As such, lawyers and law firms should be using LinkedIn to produce content that starts conversations by educating their target audience. This will boost engagement, establish the value of their law firm’s brand, and attract new clients.

To set you up for success as you build your Linkedin profile, we have curated the best tips and practices that will help you grow your firm’s social media presence and increase its visibility. You can also use it to expand your reach and personal brand, as well as network and be hired by larger firms if that’s your goal. 

Think of it this way: The more you network, the more likely you are to receive referrals. LinkedIn helps you create an environment of thriving professional legal connections, with minimal financial investment.

1. Use updated, professional headshots and background photos

Linkedin may be a social media platform, but unlike Facebook or Instagram its purpose is to make professional connections and nurture relationships. Avoid posting pictures of your food, vacation, or musings on this platform. Your professional connections are not interested in this content. The emphasis should always be on business opportunities and professionalism.

Your LinkedIn profile picture and header image are your first impression online. Make the most of it by using professional photos that communicate what you want your target audience and professional contacts to think of you. No vacation pictures here!

Ideally, your contacts should see a profile photo of you dressed in professional attire, with a simple background and a friendly smile. Avoid using filters, as less is more. Your background photo can offer a bit more personality, but be mindful that the subject matter still fits with your professional persona.

Tip: Social media platforms are always making changes to their sites. Be sure to periodically check to see if their image specifications or profile layouts have changed. Avoid distorted images at all costs.

2. Write a compelling headline

After your photo, your profile’s headline is the second thing that people see when searching your name on LinkedIn. LinkedIn will default to showing your current job title and company as your tagline. However, you can do so much better than this!

The purpose of the headline is to entice someone to click on your profile rather than on one of the other 1 billion member profiles on the site. If you give them a reason to, the searcher will choose your profile when it appears in the search results. 

Use your tagline to speak to the searcher directly. Whether you’re looking to connect with clients or potential employers, tell them what to expect when they land on your profile. 

Tip: To boost the amount of searches your personal profile generates, and to get your profile in front of the right people, include legal industry related search terms to your tagline, e.g. ‘family lawyer’ or ‘personal injury attorney’.

3. When it comes to LinkedIn for lawyers, only list experience relevant to your current practice

A good marketing strategy always keeps its branding and messaging on point, and attorneys should apply the same principles to their LinkedIn profiles. If you’ve changed practice areas, or if you had a varied professional history prior to focusing on law, be sure to curate your profile accordingly.

If you’re trying to build a personal brand around being a top criminal defense attorney, no one will be interested in reading about your early-career stints working in estate planning, or the classes you took in law school. If your experience doesn’t endorse your current skills or serve to facilitate trust with your connections or target audience, then the experience will just come across as noise on your profile.

You should choose career highlights that have directly led to your current practice and business focus, and make sure everything that appears in your professional history reflects your current experience and goals.

4. Invest time in writing your summary

A properly written summary will showcase your skills and experiences  as a confident attorney. Since you’re creating a high level overview of yourself as a lawyer, consider highlighting your achievements, values, passions, and what sets you apart.

Keep your summary clear and concise. Only the first 200 or so characters of your summary will be visible to someone who’s using a desktop or laptop computer to view your profile (to see the rest, they will need to click “See more”). Think of this as your elevator pitch—make sure to include pertinent milestones, minimize buzzwords, and be sincere. If you’re not confident in writing your summary on your own, you can choose to pay a writer with biography experience to draft one for you.

5. Write concise, yet meaningful descriptions of your professional experiences

Think of your LinkedIn profile as an online résumé or business development tool. Anyone who’s considering working with you is going to be interested in your professional background, because they want to ensure they’re going to be in capable hands.

Use the career history section of your profile to reassure potential new clients. As we mentioned earlier in the article, it’s important to keep your skill set focused, but it’s also important to provide a general and digestible description of what you can do. Avoid confusing potential clients with densely written legal jargon that will make them leave your profile and search for legal counsel that feels more approachable.

For those who have held similar positions throughout their career, avoid copying and pasting descriptions. It’s important to show as much professional growth as possible. Include links to firm pages, especially for your current firm. Ensure all work experiences are updated, and include contact details so they can connect with you about your services. 

6. Be careful about labeling yourself a specialist

In many jurisdictions lawyers are not permitted to label themselves as a specialist. Certain states have very specific protocols for becoming a specialist within an area of law, and the advertising rules surrounding specialization extend to every social network site.

LinkedIn’s recommendations feature can be of great value to lawyers. LinkedIn offers your connections the chance to write you a recommendation for you that you can then approve before allowing it to be publicly displayed on your profile. However, you need to monitor the language they use. Lawyers are responsible for meeting advertising requirements in their jurisdiction, so you cannot allow other LinkedIn users to label you as a specialist, no matter how tempting it may be. Keep an eye on the language that is used in your profile recommendations, as well as in your skills and endorsements sections.

7. Import professional contacts from your email

Importing your connections from your email is a fast and easy way to find connections you have already made. Once you give permission, LinkedIn will search your email account for addresses associated with accounts on LinkedIn, and then give you the option of importing each contact at that time. It’s always good to aim for that magic number of 500 connections as it provides your account with an extra layer of credibility and authority.

Also, the great thing about social media in general is how it uncovers connections to people that you may not have realized you had. LinkedIn has taken this concept and applied it to your professional life.

Through 2nd and 3rd degree connections, you can see who is linked with connections you would like to meet, e.g.hiring managers, law school alums, or colleagues in a similar practice area. From there, you can reach out to your connection and ask them to set up an introduction or business lunch.

8. Install the LinkedIn app on your phone.

It’s all about mobility. With the LinkedIn app, you can respond to InMail (LinkedIn’s version of email) and reply to comments in a timely manner, all while being on the go. You never know what kind of connection will come from a LinkedIn conversation or posted content, so take the app with you, and don’t be afraid to add people to your network.

Bonus tip: Set up a LinkedIn company page for your law firm. If you have time to keep up with a company page in addition to your personal profile, you should create one. A LinkedIn company page is especially helpful if you want to showcase each member of your firm, communicate your practice areas, and build a brand around your firm.

9. Join relevant groups and Bar Associations

LinkedIn groups can be great networking opportunities for lawyers. They can also provide sources for peer knowledge content, and can keep you up to date on legal trends. Since groups are specialized communities, try to give as much as you take. You’ll get more out of interacting with your fellow group members when you engage with them, no matter what the topic of discussion.

10. Publish your blog posts and other published articles to your profile.

LinkedIn articles are a great tool to incorporate into your marketing efforts. They add an extra dimension to your account, shine another spotlight on your expertise, and show professional focus. Additionally, when you publish articles or blog content to your LinkedIn profile, you can take advantage of a multitude of benefits.

One of the primary benefits of sharing blog posts and articles is that it establishes you as a thought leader. You can do this by writing and sharing insightful articles on current trends, relevant legal topics, and updates to legal guidance. Building credibility through published articles will only benefit you and your personal brand.

Another benefit is that your connections can easily share the posts you publish on LinkedIn. Creating useful content can help you attract the attention of your target audience, or help you uncover professional opportunities like speaking engagements. You never know where your next client will come from, and providing value to potential clients through posts and articles builds trust and loyalty before you ever meet.  

Lastly, consider the SEO benefit to your law firm or partner website. SEO statistics show that 46% of new clients were the result of blog content, and regular updates resulted in a 400% increase in traffic—which is remarkable in the age of TikTok and AI overviews! By including a link to your website within your LinkedIn article content, you can create an extra stream of traffic to your website.

How lawyers can build and maximize their brands effectively

A solid profile is only one part of the equation when it comes to using LinkedIn. If you stop there you will be missing out on all that LinkedIn has to offer.

In addition to all the tips above, LinkedIn can support law firms and lawyers in many ways as they brand and market their business. LinkedIn can be used to watch trends and competitors, promote employee advocacy and events, advertise with LinkedIn ads, recruit new lawyers for your team, and monitor engagement data. LinkedIn’s capabilities allow you to take your firm’s business to the next level

Conclusion: What the best lawyer LinkedIn profiles do

An effective LinkedIn profile is a powerful tool that you can use to build your brand, develop professional relationships, and drive traffic to your law firm’s website. With thoughtful, intentional, and regular engagement you can increase conversations around relevant topics and build your business and/or your legal career at the same time.  

The best LinkedIn profiles incite action, create value, establish credibility, develop networks, and generate business. To get the most out of your LinkedIn profile, define the purpose and goal of your page from the very beginning and stick with it as you build and use this platform. 

Once your LinkedIn profile has begun to generate a buzz, monitor conversations around your law firm and engage your followers. By searching for regular brand mentions you’ll get powerful insight into how you are perceived in the industry. Also, don’t be shy about following other law firms using LinkedIn in your niche and observing what they’re doing. Keep learning and read our article on how law firms get clients. 

Want to further improve your firm’s online presence? Google’s Local Services Ads for Clio helps you attract new, high-intent clients in your area without breaking your advertising budget. Book a demo to see it in action.

We published this blog post in February 2017. Last updated: November 22, 2024.

Categorized in: Marketing