The Need for a Legal Copywriter in Law Firms Today

The Role of the Legal Copywriter

A legal copywriter is a specialized breed and needs to be very knowledgeable about law firm marketing for one reason alone, they will be producing the majority or all of your law firm marketing messages. What sets this professional apart from the rest of your marketing team? Legal copywriters are responsible for developing the content for your law firm websites, brochures or any emails that may be deployed to your leads. In most cases, that also entails producing blogs, articles or reports for your law firm. For all intents and purposes, your legal copywriter is responsible for writing all the words your law firm will use to motivate, persuade and compel visitors and prospects to take action. The difference between a legal copywriter and other writing professionals may be best understood as the difference between a report writer and a resume writer — both have far more writing ability than technical writers but neither of their skill sets will serve the needs of your law firm . The primary focus of a report writer is "information" — writing produced by report writers must be efficient and geared to educating the target audience. By contrast, legal copywriter focuses on using the right words (based on proper advertising psychology) to make a sale. Regardless of the end medium -— website, emails, blog, or report, the legal copywriter’s goals are to (1) compel the target audience to read what they have written and (2) compel the reader to take the desired action. An effective legal copywriter is much more than a writer; they have to have some understanding of law firm marketing, otherwise the copy or messaging won’t be effective or compelling enough to get your law practice more clients.

Legal Copywriter Key Skills

When looking for a legal copywriter, or graphic designer to create a legal landing page, here are some skills and qualifications you should consider:

• Writing – This is an obvious one, and yet we see so many ill-written pieces of content that we wonder where common sense and attention to detail have gone. If you are hiring a freelance writer, ask to see samples of their work. If you are hiring an agency, ask for links to website content they have written. You want your content to be free of typos and grammar errors. Voice and style are also important, so if you have a very specific brand voice, you need to make sure the writer can emulate it.
• Legal Marketing Knowledge – if your site’s copy or design elements are not built with all key elements of legal marketing in mind, then you could be losing out on leads. What you want to make sure of, is that the people building the site are knowledgeable about conversion rate metrics for the main pages, like the homepage and landing pages. You want to make sure that these pages are not stagnant, and always changing to meet what is working and what is not. The best legal copywriters know that there are specific elements that should be in place for writing to be effective, and they strive to make sure they implement these elements.
• Legal Writing Knowledge – a good legal copywriter knows and understands the law. They are well-versed in the diferent areas of practice, and will give you a great first draft of content which should require little to no editing on your part. They understand how to write for different audiences, as well, and make sure they stay on track as far as tone and voice — depending on the type of services you offer and the kind of client you are going after.
• Strategic Thinking – what sets a seasoned legal copywriter apart from entry-level writers is their ability to think strategically about the best way to market your firm’s services and address the needs of your potential clients. They are skilled at taking a dry piece of information and making it come alive with their own spin, and are good at asking probing questions to get to the bottom of important information about your firm, to help gain a competitive edge.
• Good Communicator – a good legal copywriter will be patient in working with you, especially since you are entrusting them with creating a piece of content that you will use to promote your firm; and they are those who listen, who correct any errors, and who actually hear what you are saying, and respond to your remarks in a reasonable manner. They do not keep trying to suggest ways of doing things without listening to feedback. They are those who work with you to get the work done to your level of satisfaction, at an agreed upon price.

Legal Copywriting and SEO

Beyond just writing for people, legal copywriting is about optimizing the language and structure of your website to keep up with the demands of search engines. As consumers start their searches for answers to their legal questions on Google, the way that you structure the content on your website is directly related to how they will find you.
Search engines are in the business of delivering the most relevant results to search queries. When it comes to law firm websites, one piece of content could be optimized for multiple searches. That means using a high volume of related keywords throughout your content. Not only will that help you capture more search traffic, but it will also keep readers engaged and on your website longer.
Legal copywriting helps you take full advantage of blogging. While almost every law firm has a blog at this point, few law firms are truly taking advantage of it and capitalizing on its potential. When the content on your blog is too general or too brief, it will get lost to the masses and potential clients. But long-form content (1000 words or more) strategically placed throughout your website is the key to increasing your site’s ranking on Google.

How to Write Legal Content

A cutting edge law firm needs a cutting edge team of copywriters. An awful lot of legalese goes hand in hand with a lot of boring content. So how does a legal copywriter prevent the monologuing, all while delivering the information your potential clients need to make an informed decision? To be a successful legal copywriter, my fellow writers and I must sit down and think like a lawyer, at least for a little while. This isn’t some sort of Sherlock Holmes strategy here. To write like a lawyer, I have to do my homework. I have to understand the lexicon of the legal profession, to know the general and specific laws, to know what is being talked about in the courtroom, and how to express the complicated subject in a way that’s simple enough for a layman to understand. I need to do more than just read up on the case and the law once and be done with it. I need to read maybe a dozen articles and study the various different opinions on the topic, and learn as much as I can about the opposing side; all while pulling out the key details and compiling them. Did you know that most people in the world do not know how to look up case citations? This is why lawyers use a lot of jargon and try to talk over their clients’ heads. Clients are not impressed if they don’t understand what you are talking about, because it makes you sound like a fraud. Otherwise, they just stop listening. None of that is necessary. This is where a legal copywriter and editor comes in. We take your jumbled notes (or at least our notes which may not be at all like yours) and we transform it into something beautiful, meaningful and definitely not lying around the office collecting dust for no good reason. Why is this important? Distractions. If your potential client or lead has to focus on understanding your case and trying to figure out the legal jargon, you’ve lost them. You don’t have their attention. If your copy doesn’t capture attention, invite them to read on, and engage their imagination, then you’ve just lost your opportunity to bring them to your website or into your office. We know the best techniques to grab people and keep them interested. The first few lines should knock their socks off so they want to keep reading. If they lose interest in the first few paragraphs, you’ve essentially wasted all of your time. The next step is engaging them, and here is where it can become a bit tricky. I am NOT saying that law firms should lie or mislead clients, but I AM suggesting that when you give them information that is not only accurate, but also concise and to the point. So that means cutting the fat and trimming your copy, to help the reader understand what you are trying to say. It isn’t about fluff to give you more words to count, its just a practical approach to save time and to make things easier on the reader. Next in the to-do list is inspiring them to take action. This is the last part of the hard sell. It is the cherry on top of the sundae, the rainbow after the storm. This is the advertising gold mine. This is where your call to action comes in. And there is no "cookie cutter" answer to this, because it has to apply to your business, your case, your clients, and naturally, your feelings on the subject. Your legal copywriters and editors need to have throughout the process, a fire in their heart and a skip in their step as they start their work day by spending time reading about the law and how it applies to your case.

Legal Ethics

In addition to the technical aspects of website SEO, content creation for law firms and legal entities must take into consideration ethical guidelines that can substantially impact messaging, headlines, and content style. Because a legal copywriter for attorneys is not considered an attorney under the rules of professional conduct, they may not participate in any way with the legal services of the firm or the actual work performed by attorneys.
Specific to top SEO factors, there are also ethical considerations when writing content for law firms and legal entities. The American Bar Association (ABA) has guidelines that govern all communications by attorneys. The ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct 7.1 states that "a lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services." The ABA Rule 7.2 specifically relates to advertising by presuming that if the communication is authorized by an attorney , the attorney will be responsible for the resulting content. Additionally, the ABA Rule 7.3 provides the attorney with the disclaimer that promotion materials cannot contain coercive or harassing language, contain unverifiable results, or create expectations that are not clearly warranted.
The American Bar Associations (ABA) has identified additional rules and guidelines (ABA Rules 7.601 – 7.613) for advertising on the Internet. There are a variety of legal counsel and ethical considerations that cannot be violated in order to avoid any violations and compliance issues. These considerations include, but are not limited to:
A legal copywriter specializing in content development for law firms and legal entities is up to date on all the rules and regulations associated with legal advertising and provides the attorney structure to adhere to these strict and limiting guidelines.

Legal Copywriting Tools and Resources

An increasing amount of online tools and resources have become available to the modern legal copywriter. For example, Copyblogger is filled with helpful tips, technology and insight into online product and service marketing. For those with a more contemporary design outlook, websites like ThemeForest.net provide a wide range of website applications, in a variety of styles, and at a remarkably low cost. On the "traditional" side of the coin, Evernote is a cloud-based note-taking, software service designed for note-taking and archiving. It has been called the "digital memory." Finally, networks of highly skilled and experienced writers and editors are being widely used in the law industry. In fact, Clearpoint Agency was formed in 2013 to give law firms the marketing and PR support they need. It’s a great alternative in today’s highly competitive law firm marketing and business development race.

The Process of Hiring a Legal Copywriter

When it comes to hiring a legal copywriter for your law firm, there are some criteria you’ll want to take into consideration to ensure that you’re hiring the best legal content writer for the job. First, it’s always a good idea to evaluate the legal copywriter’s portfolio before hiring. In doing so, you’ll be able to gauge for yourself the legal content writer’s skills in terms of the quality of the content they’ve written in the past, as well as their ability to write in a manner similar to what you have in mind for your own website. Keep in mind that the best legal facts and information will mean little if the writing is poorly written and lacking a voice that works for your firm. If the legal copywriter you’re considering has an online portfolio that you can view, this is even better. However, if not, make sure that the legal content writer is willing to provide you with samples of their past work. It’s also important to evaluate and discuss with a potential hire their specialization as a legal copywriter. Many writers tend to be jacks of all trades, dabbling in various genres of writing based on the needs of their clients. A legal content writer, however, will be well-versed in various niche practices to help supply law firms with the legal content they need. Hiring a generalist to write legal content for your firm will yield far from satisfactory results. Aim to hire a writer who specializes in various practice area content such as bankruptcy, divorce and family law, estate planning and others, such as a legal content writer here at LawLytics who specializes in creating legal content for these types of law firms . A legal content writer who works exclusively in the legal field and who has experience writing legal content for other law firms will be far more likely to produce superior work for your firm as well as provide you with more value in relation to the amount of money you spend on hiring an expert in legal content writing practices than a writer who doesn’t write exclusively for law firms. In addition, a legal content writer who specializes in writing for the legal field will be far more familiar with what works when it comes to writing web content for law firms, thus making their content more beneficial to you. In addition, when considering the hire of a legal copywriter, it’s also important to keep in mind the nature of your specific law firm’s business and to determine whether or not the writer will be able to produce high-quality copy that suits the practice of your law firm. For example, a personal injury law firm would benefit from hiring a legal content writer who specializes in writing for personal injury law firms. This person will have both experience in writing for such a firm, as well as the background in the field or related fields that will allow them to write the most compelling content. Finally, be sure before hiring a legal copywriter for your law firm to ask them various questions to learn more about their experience, including how long the person has been in business, how long they have been writing legal content specifically for law firms, what types of law firms they have worked with in the past, what they charge for their legal content writing services and how soon after being hired you can expect results.