How to Announce Your New Law Firm

You’ve put in the work, you’ve made plans, and you’ve started a law firm. Now, it’s time to let the world (and your new firm’s future clients) know you’re ready to open for business. You need a new law firm announcement.

If you’re preparing to launch a new law firm, you need a plan to announce it, build buzz, and attract clients—the following guide can help. Read on to learn how to announce a new law firm, and how your announcement can align with your existing law firm marketing plan. We’ve also included a press release template and sample new law firm announcement letter to help you get started. 

How to announce a new law firm

The most effective way to announce a new law firm is to create a multi-pronged strategy featuring formal and informal approaches. You also need to design a strategy to reach as many potential clients and audiences as possible.

Remember: The goal of your announcement is to bring business and clients to your law firm. You need to find ways to let existing clients know about your new law firm and make new potential clients aware of your firm’s existence. 

Note: Before you advertise or announce your new law firm, ensure that you’re up-to-date on the rules for advertising for lawyers in your area. 

Start with these strategies:

1. Reach out to existing clients 

The first step in a new law firm announcement is to contact your existing clients and let them know that you have a new law firm. If you’re leaving a firm to start your own firm, your clients have the option to stay with your old firm, or become clients at your new firm. 

The ABA advises that you (as the departing lawyer) and your firm should “jointly” communicate the news to all clients and give them time to decide.

For those clients who make the move with you, communicate clearly about your new firm. They want reassurance that their needs are being taken care of. To maintain professional relationships that you’ve invested time and effort in, reach out to these clients. Informing them about your new firm also offers them a personalized touch that sets the tone for a client-centered experience at your new firm. After hearing about your new firm, your existing clients may also spread the news through word of mouth on your behalf.

2. Create a press release

A press release may seem like an overly formal way to announce a new law firm, but it’s a relatively small endeavor that can deliver big rewards. 

When done strategically (you can find tips for how to optimize a law firm press release here), a press release announcing a new law firm can:

• Reach wide and targeted audiences
• Attract media attention
• Help establish your brand
• Drive traffic to your law firm’s website (through social media posts and by potentially boosting SEO)

Once written, you have multiple options for getting the press release out into the world. You can:

• Pay to publish the release on newswires (such as BusinessWire or the Law.com Legal Newswire)
• Send it to local media outlets, journalists, and bloggers who may want to write about your firm’s opening (for example, your area’s local newspaper)
• Publish the release on your website

By posting the press release on your law firm website, you can link any social media posts to the press release page. This gives interested parties a place to find all pertinent details about your new firm.

Basic components of a law firm press release

If you’re planning to create the press release, this guide on how to write a law firm press release can help. Remember that a press release should be timely, informative (the information should be new and interesting), and structured. Write your press release from a third-person point of view—and include these essential components:

• Header/Contact Information. Include all relevant contact information for the firm. This includes the firm’s physical address, phone number, website, and social media handles. Also, state that the following is for immediate release.
• Headline. Your headline is your chance to grab readers’ attention, tell them what the press release is about, and entice them to read the release. Try to incorporate keywords, but keep the headline concise. A subhead can add more key information below the headline.
• Lead. The first paragraph must convey the essential details of the release. It should answer the 5Ws (who, what, when, where, and why). 
• Body. Use the body paragraphs to elaborate further on your new law firm announcement. Include any interesting or unique points, your firm’s professional focus, key partners, or other facts that add to the release, which may include: 
  • Quotes: This is also the place to include a quote from a member of your firm. Be sure to look for a quote that adds something interesting or informative to the release—but check that any quotes are correct, properly attributed, and truthful. 
  • Call to action: What do you want readers to do next? You can, for example, add a call to action for readers to get in touch with your firm.

• Boilerplate. At the end of the release, add a brief paragraph about the law firm.

Later in this post, you’ll find a new law firm announcement press release template as a guide.

3. Social media

Social media has emerged as a valuable and inexpensive marketing tool for lawyers. The ABA 2020 Legal Technology Survey Report notes that 29% of respondents report getting a client from using social media for professional purposes. Social media channels are a great way to promote and increase the reach of your law firm opening announcement. 

While it’s, again, important to follow the ethics and advertising rules for your area, posting about your firm’s opening on your law firm’s social media channels is free, and it’s a great way to drive traffic to your law firm’s website. You can post the press release on your website, then have any social media posts link back to that for more information. 

To learn more about social media for lawyers, be sure to read out online guide. 

4. Google Ads

Another way to drive potential clients to your website to learn about your new law firm announcement is with Google Ads. 

Google Ads are a type of “Pay Per Click” (PPC) advertising. PPC ads don’t require a monthly fee, but they do charge you when your ad shows up in online search results and someone clicks on that ad to go to your website. 

PPC ads are targeted (i.e. for you to pay, someone has to search keywords relevant to your firm, see your ad in the results, and then click on your link). That’s why the prospects they generate are highly qualified—precisely what a new law firm may need when starting out. On the other hand, these ads can be expensive, which may not factor well into a new law firm starting. 

Note that Google Ads may not be the best fit for all practice areas. This includes practice areas that are largely referral and relationship-driven—such as international law or business litigation. But Google Ads can be an effective way for some firms to drive online traffic to their website. This online traffic can be especially valuable when you’re announcing a new law firm and need to boost awareness of your business.

To learn more about Google advertising for lawyers, read our online guide here.

Law firm announcements example

While these are samples only, you can use the following examples as a starting point for crafting a new law firm announcement letter (for email) and a press release announcing a new law firm. 

New law firm announcement letter for email

If you’re sending a new law firm announcement via email, be sure to keep your message concise, but include key details like:

• Your law firm name, location and practice areas
• The date the firm will be open for business
• Contact details
• Partners/key staff members
• Interesting or unique details about the firm

Hi [NAME],

I’m happy to announce that my new practice—Amazing Super Legal—will be welcoming intellectual property law clients via both traditional and subscription-based service models as of August 1, 2021.

The new office will be conveniently located downton at 555 Pretend Street, Smalltown, New York.

After 23 years of practicing intellectual property law, I’m passionate about what this new law firm can offer to clients in the Smalltown community. By offering legal services on a subscription basis, my hope is to deliver important legal advice and services to clients in an ongoing, and cost-manageable, way. 

If you’d like to learn more about my legal services, please feel free to call or email me at 555-555-1234 or [email protected]. You can also learn more on our website at www.amazingsuperlegal.com.

Sincerely,

Lion Z. Hutz

Founder, Amazing Super Legal

New law firm announcement press release template

Before creating a press release for your firm (or working with an external vendor to create one for you), it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with press release styles. For example, here is a press release announcing Clio’s annual Clio Cloud Conference. Legal newswires are a good place to find examples announcing new firm offices, or you can search specific law firm websites to find press releases for the firm. 

Here is a template (followed by an example] to use as a starting point to create your own press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[HEADER/CONTACT]

[HEADLINE]

[SUBHEAD]

[CITY, STATE, DATE] – [LEAD PARAGRAPH]

[BODY PARAGRAPHS]

[QUOTE]

[CALL TO ACTION]

[BOILERPLATE PARAGRAPH]

Here is an example of a press release announcing a new law firm, using our template:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Amazing Super Legal

Lion Z. Hutz

555-555-1234

[email protected]

www.amazingsuperlegal.com

LinkedIn: Amazing Super Legal

AMAZING SUPER LEGAL BRINGS SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW

A new Smalltown law firm offers a non-traditional approach to legal services for intellectual property clients.

SMALLTOWN, NY, July 15, 2021 – Opening for business on August 1, 2021, Amazing Super Legal will provide intellectual property clients with legal services using a subscription-style model. Clients will pay a monthly fee to subscribe for ongoing legal services.

The solo firm will be run by attorney Lion Z. Hutz, who has 23 years of experience practicing intellectual property law. While the firm will also offer traditional-model legal services, it will be the first to offer subscription services in the city.

According to Mr. Hutz, “The goal at Amazing Legal is to deliver an exceptional level of service to clients, which is why it’s so important to give customers a new and—I believe—more manageable and affordable way to acquire quality legal advice and services.”

Contact Lion at 555-555-1234 or visit Amazing Super Legal online at www.amazingsuperlegal.com for more information.

About Amazing Super Legal: 

Helmed by founding attorney Lion Z. Hutz, Amazing Super Legal is a subscription-based intellectual law firm. 

Marketing basics for a new law firm

Before you make your new law firm announcement, it’s important to ensure you have all of your marketing elements and your marketing tactics and plan in place. Your law firm should have a clear brand that is easy to find and looks professional online. That way, when your law firm announcement works, it can effectively translate into new business right away. 

While this guide covers the essentials of law firm marketing in more detail, these are the marketing basics you should have prepared before you start your announcement:

Law firm branding

Your law firm’s brand—that is, the way it’s perceived by consumers and the expectations that clients have when they think of your firm—is its identity. It should be clear, consistent, and easy to recognize. Once you’ve figured out your brand’s unique selling proposition and core messaging, you can use tools like a logo and online presence to help convey your brand.

Law firm website

Your law firm’s website will be the first place potential clients visit when they hear about you. Thus, having a law firm website is essential.—

Simply having a website is just the beginning. Make sure your law firm website is SEO-friendly, well-designed, and has effective copy and high-quality images. It should—of course—be easy to navigate and highlight your firm’s contact information. It should also clearly state the services you provide and practice areas your firm covers.

Legal Directories

Listing your law firm on legal directories is a key step to making it easier for potential clients to find you online. This guide covers the benefits of using lawyer directories as an online marketing tool.

Social media

Most of the potential clients you want to reach use social media, so a solid social media presence is key for your new law firm. As we mentioned previously, social media can be a great way to post your new law firm announcement—but you can also use it to build your new brand and attract potential clients by:

• Engaging in thoughtful conversation with legal leaders on Twitter;
• Creating a law firm LinkedIn page to cultivate your professional presence among peers and potential clients;
• Using Facebook advertising to bring in new clients.

Tell the world about your new law firm

From writing your business plan to building a budget and beyond, so much work goes into opening a new law firm—so you don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to let people know (and be excited) when you’re open for business.

When making a law firm opening announcement, customize your approach to your unique law firm brand, services, and situation. It should work with the marketing plan you’ve crafted to bring ongoing attention to your firm. It’s also important to follow your jurisdiction’s rules for advertising so that you can start your firm on the right foot.

Whether you write a press release, engage social media, or use other tactics, the key to a successful new law firm announcement is to have a strategy. Done right, you can attract the attention—and new business—that your firm deserves.

We published this blog post in June 2021. Last updated: August 29, 2023.

Categorized in: Business