The Importance of Client Reviews for Law Firms

People check online reviews for decisions large and small. Thinking about buying a gadget on Amazon? Chances are you eyeballed the reviews and ratings of the product and similar items before adding something to your cart. Going to a new restaurant? You probably checked them out on Yelp. 

If you do this much research for a relatively minor, low-stakes purchasing decision, you can be certain your prospective clients are doing this (and more) before retaining an attorney. This is true even if they have been referred to the attorney by someone they trust.

There are many different platforms for client reviews for law firms, and each has its role to play in helping prospective clients find and trust your law firm.

How to Collect Customer Reviews

You might hope that your clients will be so thrilled with your services that they won’t be able to stop themselves from singing your praises—on Google, Facebook, Avvo, and everywhere else online. But hope, as the saying goes, is not a strategy. Most attorneys would prefer not to have to ask for positive reviews, but the truth is that a gentle request at the right time yields much better results than just hoping for good reviews. 

In the immediate aftermath of your successful work together, clients are most likely to be feeling the benefits of your services—and most willing to leave a review. Here are five simple steps for client review requests, collection, and management.

1. Make it easy and convenient for clients to leave you a positive review by providing links to the review platforms you’d like them to use, such as Google or Avvo.
2. Create a review request process, building requests into your post-engagement process after a successful case results. 
3. Request or encourage reviews, but be sure to do so ethically. 
4. Monitor review activity using Google Business notifications or a reputation management tool so that you know when new reviews have been left for your firm.
5. Respond promptly and appropriately to all reviews. 

Key Considerations for Attorney Review Collection

Collecting reviews is important, but there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about it. You’ve served your client well throughout your representation; keep things professional by observing these best practices for attorney review collection.

• Never offer any kind of compensation, discount, or kickback for a positive review.
• Make sure the request is low-pressure and makes clear that the review is optional.
• Be aware of your state bar advertising rules, and ensure that reviews you receive don’t violate them by making misleading claims or guaranteeing a certain outcome. Use disclaimers (“past results do not guarantee a similar outcome”) where required or appropriate
• Be mindful of attorney-client privilege, and avoid revealing details about your client’s case unless they have given explicit written permission. 
• Get clients’ consent, ideally in writing, before sharing what they’ve posted online for your own purposes, such as on your website or in other marketing materials.
• When using clients’ reviews in your marketing, be sure to take measures to conceal their identity, especially if the review is long or detailed.

Replying to Online Reviews is Equally Important as Collecting Reviews

People who leave reviews tend to be either very happy with a service or product, or very unhappy with it. Either way, your response to the review is an opportunity to highlight your professionalism, so don’t let it slip through your fingers. 

• For positive reviews, express gratitude for the client’s kind words and their business. Reiterate that it was a pleasure to work with them.
• For negative reviews from actual clients, don’t argue, or worse, reveal client details or other confidential information. 
• Depending on the situation, you may want to offer to speak privately to address any concerns a negative reviewer may have. This not only shows readers that you are responsive (possibly countering the impression left by the review), but allows you to do damage control offline. 
• For various reasons, fake negative reviews may be placed by someone who didn’t actually use your services. For those, you may want to respond simply that the firm has no record of the reviewer as a client, and flag the review to have it removed by the platform.

It’s natural to feel defensive about negative reviews, especially when they are unwarranted. Always, always, pause before responding, make sure you have your facts straight, and have an objective person read your response before you post it. Screenshots are forever.

Online Review Platforms for Lawyers

When we talk about client reviews for law firms, we’re generally talking about online reviews. It’s possible that someone is writing to the Better Business Bureau with kudos or complaints about your firm, but online reviews are what your prospective clients are seeing. 

Google Business Reviews and Other Online Public Reviews

Google business reviews are important because they are often the first type of review prospective clients see when they do an online search for a law firm, especially if they are searching for your firm by name or looking for a local law firm that does what you do (e.g. “divorce lawyer near me”).

Your firm’s Google reviews are embedded right into your Google Business Profile, appearing just beneath your law firm’s name, summary, and star rating. In other words, a potential new client doesn’t have to go hunting for these reviews; they will be served up on a platter. Lots of positive, recent reviews are social proof that encourages people to click through to your website. Few reviews, bad reviews, or no reviews may give them pause in pursuing your firm for services.

Your Google reviews also affect your visibility in local search—the firms that appear at the top of the map results. And while your reviewers are likely just giving their impressions, Google actually reads the reviews themselves for keywords. A former client who says “Attorney Smith was a godsend in my DUI case” may help Attorney Smith rank higher in future searches for “DUI attorney near me.”

Google business reviews may be the most relevant online reviews, but don’t forget about others, which have their own niches. Avvo and other legal directories are focused just on legal services, so positive reviews on those sites may build trust with potential clients seeking legal experience. Yelp is less-commonly used for law firms, but law firm Yelp reviews may be more relevant in some markets—and they certainly wouldn’t be the oddest review on Yelp.

Client Testimonials on Your Website

Few things on your website build trust and credibility like the words of your own clients who have offered or consented to have their testimonial placed on your website. Yes, your own well-written website content is important, but nothing conveys what it’s like to work with you like the experience of your clients. 

Written testimonials share clients’ specific stories and feelings, which can impact people who are thinking about hiring you. In his book “Stumbling on Happiness,” psychologist Dan Gilbert suggests that the best way to reliably predict what will make us happy in the future is to look at what has made people like us happy in the past. Along those lines, people who are thinking about hiring a lawyer may rely heavily on the review of someone who was in their position a year ago.

Testimonials in writing paint a picture for readers. Video testimonials bring that picture to life in a way that resonates strongly with viewers. If you really want to humanize your brand and build emotional connection with prospective clients, consider placing one or two video testimonials on your site. Added bonus: video content keeps visitors on your website longer, and may help boost your conversion rates.

Social Media Reviews

Popular social media platforms like Facebook allow users to share their experiences with a business. This can happen in a couple of ways. There are Facebook Recommendations, which allow users to answer a yes-or-no question: “Do you recommend this business?” Users can then elaborate with a brief written review, tagging specific features like “Responsiveness” to emphasize what they liked about the business.

Perhaps even more helpful are the recommendations Facebook users make on various community groups. If someone makes a post in, say, the Tampa Bay Area Moms Group on Facebook looking for a child custody attorney, a personal recommendation from a member of the group may carry significant weight.

How The Modern Firm Helps With Client Reviews for Law Firms

Given how important client reviews are for law firm marketing, it makes sense that The Modern Firm would offer a service to help busy attorneys with review collection and reputation management. We offer clients a platform to collect, monitor, and manage online reviews. Should you receive a negative review despite this screening process, TMF’s reputation management services can help you address it promptly and professionally, minimizing its impact. 

Want to learn more? Schedule a call —and check out our client testimonials while you’re at it (we’re pretty proud of them)!