Marketing & PR

Brands are not just for big firms. Thayne Forbes argues that they can work for smaller practices as well, explaining how to create one, where the value lies, ensuring it appeals to your target market and the risks of adopting a marketing collective’s brand instead.

The Law Society is to ask members of its Conveyancing Quality Scheme whether they would fund a dedicated advertising campaign, it has emerged. Chief executive Des Hudson raised the possibility at a meeting of the Conveyancing Association last week.

Forty-eight law firms have already signed up to a new business networking tool that helps solicitors capture referrals directly from other professional services and claims to cut out “costly panel managers”.

A personal injury law firm has launched a co-operative group marketing scheme based on a TV advertising campaign potentially worth up to £2m. eLawyers aims to build regional panels of firms who will receive exclusive leads by area of legal specialism.

Barristers should soon be free to give their personal opinions on cases when the rule restricting them to voicing only clients’ views is finally lifted – four years after the change was first mooted. Their regulator said lifting the same ban on solicitors had not caused a problem.

Lawyers should offer ‘unbundled’ legal services to the public in order to improve access to the law – and also to compete with online document assembly services like Rocket Lawyer and LegalZoom, the American Bar Association has said.

A judge has found in favour of a law firm in a trade mark infringement case against a firm of licensed conveyancers over its use of the word ‘Red’ when applied to legal services. London intellectual property specialists Redd Solicitors claimed that Northamptonshire conveyancers Red Legal Limited had infringed their trade marks.

A new marketing collective that is targeting consumer and commercial legal work – Simply Lawyers – is preparing for launch, Legal Futures can reveal. Meanwhile, Accidents Direct hopes to become the country’s leading claims management company by bringing more firms onto its panel.

The cost of acquiring personal injury cases, irrespective of the referral fee ban, is around £700 – £200 more than the government is proposing for routine road traffic claims even before the legal work is factored in, according to new research.

A free online business supplier community that allows law firms and other providers to pitch for service requirements posted by other UK businesses has been launched by NatWest and RBS. BizCrowd aims to take online the bank manager’s role in connecting businesses.