Putting down the megaphone - The PR strategy law firms should be pursuing in 2025

What does a good PR strategy look like for law firms in 2025?

It’s fair to say that, as it stands, a lot of legal PR is based on what could best be described as a megaphone strategy or loudspeaker approach. 

This is a strategy focused squarely on ‘the big announcement’. Whether that be a client win, a case won, a partner hired, there’s no doubt that getting these announcements out to The Lawyer and other titles is good PR housekeeping for legal firms. 

It supports the brand message, aids recruitment practices and creates a favourable perception of the firm for existing and potential clients. 

While there’s nothing wrong with this approach, it falls short in some key respects. Firstly, a press release announcing a significant business win - whether that’s related to growth, a new client, a legal victory - tells readers that your firm is succeeding, but it doesn’t reveal how or why. A longer-form article outlining these aspects’ on the other hand is a conversation starter. 

Why is your firm growing its tech practice? What trend has the board spotted that justifies this investment? Why is your firm expanding into a new territory and how is the market changing in that territory?

The second issue with the loudspeaker approach is it’s hitting a limited audience. 

The vast majority of the audience of The Lawyer is, well, lawyers. For a firm looking to reach in-house teams, there’s no doubt that there’s great value to be had by achieving coverage here. But, what about other key decision makers within a business? There’s a lot to be said for stepping beyond the legal press and demonstrating thought leadership credentials within the sectors your target clients operate. An article for a telecoms, automotive, tech or pharmaceutical publication for example, explaining the practical implications of a recent judgement not only demonstrates sector expertise, but also provides a would-be client with real, actionable insights.  

This kind of PR will still reach the in-house legal team but will also reach other leaders / influencers within a target business too. 

So, the megaphone strategy should be the bare minimum when it comes to delivering successful legal sector PR. 

What’s really going to shift the dial in 2025 is putting the megaphone down and concentrating on quality thought leadership. We already know - in business to business marketing and PR at least - that earned media, and in particular high-quality thought leadership, adds a lot more value than paid-for advertising and advertorial.  

PR powerhouse Edelman recently surveyed 3,500 senior business leaders and found that 90% of them are likely to be more receptive to communications and advertising from a business that consistently produces high-quality thought leadership. Around 3 in 4 respondents also said that thought leadership is a more trustworthy basis for assessing a business and its marketing out-reach. 

Despite this, only around 30% of leading executives feel confident in knowing how to harness the power of thought leadership to add value for prospective clients and begin conversations. 

So, how can law firms begin to develop strategies which leverage thought leaders within the firm to support sales and grab the attention of would-be clients?

While there’s no one size fits all solution here. At Rosely Group we always start by asking our clients who they would love to have a conversation with next year?

Knowing this helps us guide content ideation in a direction which is going to resonate with these prospective clients and deliver some of the value that we know, and is proven in the aforementioned survey, great content can deliver.

Furthermore, legal PR teams need to be reaching beyond the legal press to reach different audiences within target businesses. This is not only a good way to become known to a wider circle of potential advocates, but also to ensure your firm is talking the language of clients, rather than talking legalese. 

So, law firms looking to take their PR forwards in 2025 should consider putting down the megaphone and focus instead on leveraging in-house thought leaders to deliver content that’s going to resonate.