Law Firm Press Releases: When They Work and How to Write One

Most law firm press releases are written, sent and forgotten in the same afternoon. A new associate joins, someone drafts three paragraphs, a wire service sends it out, and a handful of automated sites republish it word for word. Nobody reads it, and nobody calls.

A press release can still be useful. It just has to carry real news, be written for the people who decide what gets covered, and stay inside the ethics rules that apply to lawyer communications. This guide covers when a release is worth sending, how to write one and what it can realistically do.

What counts as news

The first test is simple: would anyone outside the firm care? Reporters and editors look for something new, local, significant or useful to their readers. Good reasons for a release include:

• A new office or a move into a new city. Local outlets and business journals often cover expansion.
• A notable hire or a new partner with a background the local legal or business community will recognize.
• A significant verdict or settlement, where the client has agreed and the rules in your state allow it. More on that below.
• Community work, such as a scholarship, a safety campaign or a charity drive with a date and a place.
• Useful public information, such as what to do after a crash during a holiday weekend or how a new state law affects injured workers.

Routine items, such as a website redesign or an award that every firm in town received, rarely earn coverage. Those belong on your own site and social channels instead. The guide to law firm content marketing covers where that kind of material does its best work.

How to structure a release

• Headline. State the news plainly in one line. Clever headlines get skipped.
• Dateline and opening paragraph. City, date, and the who, what, where and why in two or three sentences. A busy editor may read nothing else.
• Supporting detail. Context, background and anything a reporter would need to write a short story without calling you.
• A quote. One quote from an attorney that says something a person would actually say, not a line about being proud and excited.
• About the firm. A short boilerplate paragraph: who you are, where you practice and what you handle.
• Media contact. A real name, phone number and email that someone will answer the same day.

Keep the whole release to about one page. Write it the way a reporter would write the story, because the best outcome is that they use your words.

The ethics rules come first

A press release is a communication about the firm's services, so the advertising rules apply to it. ABA Model Rule 7.1 prohibits false or misleading statements, and announcing a verdict or settlement without context can mislead readers into expecting a similar result. Many states require a disclaimer with any statement about past results, and some restrict them further, so check your own state bar rules before you publish a number.

Client information is protected by Rule 1.6. Get the client's informed consent in writing before naming them or describing their case, even when the result is already public record. If a settlement includes a confidentiality clause, the details stay private no matter how good the outcome was.

If the matter is still pending, Rule 3.6 on trial publicity limits what lawyers can say outside court. When in doubt, wait until the case is over.

Distribution

Paid wire services push a release to many outlets at once, but much of that reach is automated republishing that few people see. For most firms the better approach is targeted: send the release, with a short personal note, to the local reporters, business journals, legal publications and community outlets that cover your area. Then publish it on your own website and share it on your social channels. The guide to law firm social media marketing covers that side.

Timing matters too. Send on a weekday morning, avoid the hours when a major story is breaking, and be ready to answer the phone when a reporter calls back.

What a press release can and cannot do for SEO

Links in wire service releases are usually marked so that search engines do not count them as endorsements, and Google treats links built mainly to manipulate rankings as spam. A release is not a shortcut to better rankings.

What can help is real coverage. When a local paper writes its own story about your firm and links to you, that is the kind of mention search engines value. A well placed story can also lead to more searches for your firm's name, more reviews and more recognition when someone sees your ad later. The guide to SEO for lawyers explains what does move rankings.

Common mistakes

• Announcing things that are not news to anyone outside the firm.
• Publishing a result without the client's written consent or the disclaimer your state requires.
• Writing in legal language or marketing language instead of plain English.
• Burying the news under three paragraphs about the firm's history.
• Listing a media contact who does not answer the phone.
• Expecting a release to produce new cases by itself.

Where press releases fit

Press is a reputation tool. It helps people recognize your firm and can support your branding and reputation management, but it is not a steady source of new clients. It works best as one small part of a broader marketing plan, alongside the channels that bring in cases every week.

The short version

Send a press release only when you have real news, write it the way a reporter would write the story, keep it to one page, follow your state's rules on results and client consent, and send it to the people who actually cover your area. Treat any coverage as a boost to your reputation, not as a ranking trick or a lead source.