Make a Lawyer's Brochure

A legal brochure is a useful part of any lawyer’s marketing campaign. In the brochure, you’ll want to shine a spotlight on your firm’s experience and volunteer activities. However, the brochure should be general enough that you won’t need to change it often. For help creating the brochure, find a designer and printer. Remember that your state’s ethics rules limit the kinds of information you can include in a brochure.

Steps

Planning the Brochure

1. Decide on a layout. The standard lawyer’s brochure is a tri-fold brochure. Take a piece of paper and fold it into thirds. There are basically six panels that can contain information.
   • The tri-fold is basic, so you have other options if you want to be more sophisticated. You can also create a small booklet containing information on multiple pages.
2. Look at other firms’ brochures. Stop in to talk to other lawyers and pick up one of their brochures. You’ll want to see what kinds of information your competitors include in their brochures.
   • The brochure may also be posted online as a PDF. You can read it or download it.
   • Online brochures tend to be longer than what you will find printed out on paper. In a way, online brochures are like PDF web pages.
3. Come up with a budget. Unless you are computer savvy, you should hire someone to design your brochure. You’ll also have to pay for printing costs. You should estimate these expenses.
   • You can find designers and printers in your phone book. Call them up and ask how much they charge.
   • If you have to choose between creating a brochure and doing other forms of marketing, you should probably prioritize other marketing. For example, you need a professional website before you need a brochure.

Choosing Information to Include

1. Begin with an explanation of your philosophy. You can include a few sentences or more on your law firm’s overarching philosophy or approach to law. Remember your target audience. Your philosophy should address their needs.
   • You’ll probably want to emphasize that you are cost-effective. Price is very important for all but the very rich. For example, you could state your philosophy is something like this: “At ABC law firm, we use our deep experience in trust and estates to provide cost-effective solutions to retirees and those planning for their futures.”
   • Also emphasize the quality of your work. If you are a national or international firm, then say you are committed to providing “world-class legal services.”
2. Highlight your practice areas. You want to provide a general summary of your services. For example, include information about your major practice areas. This information will help prospective clients discover whether you can help them.
   • If you are a litigation firm, explain that you handle litigation at all stages. This lets potential clients know they can approach you at any point in the dispute.
   • Also identify which courts you practice in. For example, you can say, “We regularly try cases in state and federal courts, as well as before private arbitration tribunals and administrative hearings.”
   • If you help with deals, explain the size of companies you work with. For example: “We help start-ups and small businesses incorporate and find funding.”
3. Include information about pro bono experience. Always highlight your pro bono experience, which helps show that you are an upstanding member of the community and not focused solely on making money. Include a general description of some of the cases you have handled.
   • For example, if you have volunteered to help immigrants in immigration proceedings, you can say something like: “With our pro bono experience, we’ve helped dozens of people achieve the American Dream, by representing them before immigration tribunals.”
   • You can also mention other community service activity. For example, you might encourage attorneys in your firm to volunteer in the community.
4. List awards or citations. Consumers have a hard time distinguishing lawyers from each other. To help stand out, include a list of awards or citations you have received.
   • For example, you might have been named a “Super Lawyer” in your state.
   • You can also include select quotes from satisfied clients.
5. Avoid including information that will change. Unless you want to constantly redo your brochure, you should keep the information generic. Don’t include information that will change frequently. For example, don’t include the following:
   • Profiles of lawyers, unless you are a sole practitioner. Your partner or associates could leave at any moment, and you can’t hold them out as attorneys working at your firm when they no longer do.
   • How much you charge. This information can change year to year and from client to client.
6. Choose appropriate images. Your designer might help you find images. However, you can also search for those on your own. When choosing images, remember your audience. You want images that convey what your firm is about.
   • If you are a litigator, you might want images of lawyers walking into a courthouse, such as the Supreme Court. Your clients assume litigation lawyers spend a lot of time in court, even though this isn’t true.
   • If you help people with adoptions, you will want pictures of smiling families. This creates the right impression by putting potential clients at ease about the adoption process.
   • Lawyers who help businesses with deals can include pictures of people in a conference room. This type of image shows you are collaborative.
7. Buy software. You might try to make a basic brochure on your own. For example, you can use Microsoft Word to make a brochure. You also can use other software:
   • Use Adobe Illustrator to create a brochure. You can make tri-fold, bi-fold, and z-fold brochures using Illustrator.
   • You can also use Adobe InDesign to make a professional brochure.
8. Hire a graphic designer. For best results, you should hire a professional who can design the brochure and select appropriate pictures. Look in your phone book for a graphic designer. You can also ask other lawyers who they worked with to design their brochure.
   • When talking with a designer, ask to see samples of work they have done. Try to see a diverse range of materials, not simply lawyers’ brochures.
9. Distribute your brochure. You should have brochures available for office visitors to take. You should also upload a PDF to your website so that people can see it when they research your firm online. However, you can also distribute the brochure to other people:
   • If you work in divorce law, you can give your brochure to therapists, clergy, and anyone else who works with married couples.
   • If you work in adoption law, distribute your brochure to adoption agencies.
   • If you handle business litigation, you can send the brochure through the mail to target businesses.

Remembering Your Ethical Obligations

1. Read your professional rules of responsibility. Each state has ethics rules that limit how an attorney can advertise their services. These rules apply to any brochure you create and distribute to clients or the public at large. Make sure to read your state’s rules.
   • Every state adopts its own rules. However, most states base their rules on the ABA’s Model Rules.
   • Find your state rules by searching online. Your state’s Supreme Court website might have a copy of the rules. Also check with your state’s disciplinary commission.
   • If you practice in more than one state, your brochure needs to conform to the ethical rules in all states.
2. Avoid false or misleading advertisements. Everything in your brochure should be accurate. If it isn’t, then you could face an ethics investigation. You also can’t include any information that is misleading.
   • For example, if one lawyer at your firm did estate planning but has now left, your brochure shouldn’t continue to state you have experience in estate planning.
   • Also avoid making promises. You can’t guarantee results as a lawyer.
3. Be careful when claiming to be a specialist. In some states, you can become a certified specialist in a given field of law. Generally, you have to spend a certain amount of your practice in the field, take continuing legal education courses, and pass an exam. If so, you can list that you are a specialist in the field. Remember to identify the organization that has certified you.
   • The organization that gave you the specialist credential should be accredited by your state bar association or the American Bar Association.
   • Avoid calling yourself a “specialist” simply because you have a lot of experience in an area. Your ethics rules probably prohibit that.
   • Don’t imply you are a specialist, either. For example, you shouldn’t include a quote from a client stating, “Doug is the best specialist in divorce law that I know!”
4. Don’t falsely claim to be in a partnership. Your state’s ethics rules will also limit what you call yourself. You can’t suggest you’re part of a partnership or other organization unless that is actually true.
   • For example, you should probably avoid saying something like, “Mrs. Jones frequently partners with other attorneys in her area to provide the best criminal defense in Michigan.” This kind of statement suggests you are a partner with these other lawyers.
   • Also, don’t use an “LLP” designation, which stands for “limited liability partnership,” unless you are in a partnership.
5. Consult an attorney with questions. When in doubt, find a lawyer who specializes in professional responsibility. Run any advertising ideas you have by them and ask if they think you have broken any ethics rules. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

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