First impression happens long before a boardroom
A general counsel opens her laptop before a high-stakes meeting. Before reviewing the agenda, she searches for the partner she is about to meet. His LinkedIn profile loads instantly. She scans his recent posts, notes what he comments on, sees who engages with his content, and gets a sense of his expertise before ever shaking his hand.
This scene is not unusual. Today, the first impression of a lawyer often happens online, not across a conference table. Reputation now begins on social media. It is how clients gain an early sense of credibility, evaluate expertise, and decide whether a lawyer feels like a trusted advisor.
In fact, 63% of in-house counsel say an attorney’s LinkedIn profile is important in their research to hire outside counsel. Prospective clients frequently conduct thorough online research on firms and lawyers; by the time they reach out, they have likely investigated your firm, its partners, and any available insight into their expertise. A robust social media presence ensures that this early digital impression is positive. And this has changed everything about modern legal marketing.
The new reality of legal marketing
For years, marketing for legal firms relied on conferences, referrals, long-form content, and in-person relationship-building. Those activities still matter, but they no longer operate alone. Clients have adopted digital behaviors that make social media one of the earliest points of evaluation when selecting counsel. Corporate buyers, founders, and private clients actively research lawyers before taking a meeting. They compare social profiles, seek out thought leadership content, and pay attention to how lawyers communicate publicly.
Expertise still wins, but visibility strongly influences who gets the opportunity to demonstrate it in the first place.
Online presence has become reputational currency. A lawyer who publishes consistently, communicates clearly, and participates in industry conversations appears more credible than one who is invisible. Silence on social media does not convey humility – it conveys uncertainty and can even cause clients to overlook the lawyer in favor of more visible competitors.
The role of social media in legal services today
When law firms don’t treat social media strategically, they miss the opportunity to shape perception, nurture trust in their expertise, and create new commercial pathways. Social is not just a branding tool – it is now one of the most influential touchpoints in the client journey
Your audience is on social media, forming opinions about your firm long before they ever make contact
An underutilized or impersonal social presence sends the wrong message to potential clients
To succeed, firms must approach social media with the same rigor as any business development channel.
Trust building
Buyers want to understand how a lawyer thinks before they commit to a conversation. Social content gives them this window. A steady cadence of insights builds familiarity, and familiarity builds trust. In turn, trust leads to pipeline – clients are far more likely to reach out to an attorney they feel they “know” and trust from their online presence. Studies show clients are much more likely to choose a lawyer they’ve heard of or interacted with online, even if only by reading an article or post. By regularly sharing expertise, lawyers create a sense of familiarity that translates into early trust in the relationship.
Thought leadership visibility
Legal expertise is often locked inside long whitepapers, behind paywalls, or in private conversations. By publishing shorter, accessible insights on platforms like LinkedIn (and emerging platforms like Threads), lawyers make their thought leadership discoverable to a broader audience. Clients now expect to see proof of a lawyer’s expertise through published content and insights online. This increased visibility not only broadens the reach of the firm’s knowledge but also enhances the perceived authority of the firm’s lawyers. Firms that don’t actively lead conversations in their field risk being overlooked – potential clients assume a firm with limited visible expertise is less established or knowledgeable.
Business development and referrals
Individuals who might be existing clients or referral sources are active on social media and share content daily. When a partner writes an insightful post about their area of expertise, it can be shared in communities that the firm doesn’t have access to. Each share or comment expands the post’s audience, creating passive business development opportunities without additional effort. In this way, social media acts as a force multiplier for referrals. A strong online presence leads to the kind of reputation that results in client inquiries, speaking invitations, and “I saw your post and thought of you” moments – opportunities that simply wouldn’t arise if the lawyer stayed silent.
Reputation management
When lawyers publish consistently, they take control of their own narrative. Rather than relying solely on external directories or media coverage, they shape how clients understand their expertise through direct communication. A robust social presence serves as both a shield and a signal – it protects the lawyer’s reputation by ensuring the firm’s perspective is well-represented, and it signals stability, clarity, and professionalism to anyone researching the lawyer. In the digital age, mastering online reputation management allows lawyers to take charge of their narrative and ensure that what clients find online reflects their true strengths. By proactively sharing content and engaging with the world, attorneys can shape the narrative the world sees about their practice.
Why LinkedIn matters most for legal professionals
Not all social channels work equally well for legal audiences. For corporate decision-makers, LinkedIn remains the primary destination for evaluating professional authority. General counsel, in-house attorneys, and C-suite leaders are frequent users of LinkedIn – it’s often the first place they look to learn about a lawyer. They actively search the platform for updates on regulations, case law, governance, cybersecurity, and emerging risks. When a lawyer’s profile and posts appear consistently in their feed, it reinforces that lawyer as a trusted source of insight. In fact, 74% of professionals on LinkedIn use it to research people and companies, so a strong presence there directly influences client perceptions.
The rise of Threads: A human touch for legal brands
Threads, meanwhile, has emerged as a complementary space for more informal industry dialogue. Built by Meta as a conversational, lighter-weight platform linked to Instagram, Threads allows legal professionals to participate in more casual exchanges and show more personality. It’s an environment where approachability matters – attorneys can discuss industry news or legal topics in a conversational tone that humanizes their brand.
For firms seeking to humanize their image and connect with peers or younger professionals, Threads offers a meaningful opportunity. The platform rapidly grew to 200 million users and is becoming a hub for real-time conversations in niche communities. By establishing a presence on Threads, a firm can engage users who are seeking insights in an informal setting and position itself as approachable yet knowledgeable. In short, LinkedIn is critical for formal credibility and visibility among corporate clients. At the same time, Threads provides a new avenue to showcase the firm’s human side and thought leadership in a more conversational context.
Where corporate decision-makers go for legal insight
LinkedIn is the platform where legal departments, procurement teams, and executives go to discover professional insights. Corporate leaders routinely turn to LinkedIn for content on legal developments and to vet outside counsel.
A law firm’s activity (or lack thereof) on LinkedIn is evident to these decision-makers. Approximately 80% of law firms maintain a LinkedIn presence, and LinkedIn drives the majority of social media traffic in the legal industry. As noted, many in-house counsel consider a lawyer’s LinkedIn presence important to their hiring decisions. Regularly appearing in the LinkedIn newsfeed via posts or comments helps keep a lawyer top-of-mind as a knowledgeable, trusted advisor.
Threads, on the other hand, is a newer channel that legal professionals are exploring for more informal interactions. It functions like a text-focused discussion board tied to one’s Instagram network. Lawyers are using Threads to share quick takes on the news, engage in banter with colleagues, and add more personality to industry conversations.
Threads’ informal vibe encourages authenticity and approachability. For example, a law firm might use Threads to comment in real time on a major court decision or to participate in trending discussions, thereby showing a human face behind the brand. As Threads gains traction as an alternative to Twitter (X), it represents a chance for firms to engage with audiences that prefer a less formal medium. In summary, corporate leaders look to LinkedIn for authoritative advice and profiles. At the same time, Threads allows lawyers to extend their influence through candid dialogue and relationship-building in a social, albeit professional, context.
How algorithms on LinkedIn and Threads reward legal expertise
Both LinkedIn and Threads reward content that sparks conversation and engagement. This creates a huge advantage for law firms because legal topics naturally generate discussion – they impact business operations, compliance, and risk, areas people are eager to debate. LinkedIn’s algorithm, for instance, prioritizes posts that drive meaningful comments and discussion over those that receive passive likes.
Recent updates to the platform have made it clear that meaningful conversations are a key signal for broader content distribution. Posts that generate thoughtful comments (especially within the first hour) are boosted to far more users, often beyond the author’s immediate network.
In practice, this means when a lawyer posts a timely insight on a new regulation and colleagues or clients chime in with comments, LinkedIn will surface that post to second- and third-degree connections, dramatically expanding its reach. Threads similarly amplifies content that gets engagement, as its feed shows popular conversations and replies from people you follow. Legal content – by virtue of touching on real business and societal issues – tends to invite commentary, which in turn triggers algorithms to spread it more widely.
When partners and associates publish high-value content that drives comments and shares, the compounding effect kicks in. A single post on a hot topic ( a new rule or landmark case) can snowball: initial engagement pushes it to wider circles, which brings in new commenters and further distribution. The result is visibility far beyond the firm’s direct network.
Lawyers have reported instances of posts going “viral” within professional circles, leading to thousands of views and numerous new connections – including prospective clients – that they wouldn’t have reached otherwise. In essence, the more your content resonates and prompts discussion, the more the platforms will reward you with exposure. Consistently doing so establishes the firm’s attorneys as thought leaders in the platform’s eyes, further boosting their content.
Over time, LinkedIn even recognizes users who post frequently on a niche topic as subject matter authorities and will preferentially show their posts to others interested in that topic. This presents a virtuous cycle for law firms: share insightful content, spark engagement, gain algorithmic favors, and dramatically amplify your reach in the market.
Turning legal expertise into a visible asset
Unlike technology companies that sell software or hardware, law firms sell expertise. The collective knowledge, reasoning, and experience of their people is the firm’s product – and that product isn’t truly valuable unless it’s visible. Social media gives firms a way to showcase this expertise at scale. A well-crafted post demonstrating perspective on a regulatory update often communicates competence more effectively than twenty pages of dense analysis ever could.
The key is visibility: if your experts aren’t part of the online conversation, many potential clients will never know what they’re missing. Research shows that 96% of clients seeking legal advice start with an online search. If those clients don’t find your firm’s insights or thought leadership in that search, you’ve lost an opportunity before it began.
Making expertise visible turns individual knowledge into a firm-wide asset, strengthening brand equity and attracting clients who are actively seeking insight. In fact, clients now expect firms to demonstrate thought leadership publicly – it has become crucial for standing out in the industry.
Firms that lead industry conversations build credibility with clients, while those that remain silent appear less established or relevant. As one industry piece put it, in knowledge-driven services like law, building trust through human expertise is critical. When experts share content and engage with their communities, it solidifies the perception of the firm as a leader in the field.
On the flip side, a “visibility gap” (where a firm’s lawyers have little to no online presence) can create a cycle of missed opportunities and cause the firm to be overlooked despite its capabilities. The message is clear: your expertise is valuable, but only if it’s visible and accessible to the market you serve.
Why partner visibility drives legal business development
A law firm’s strongest marketing assets are not slick ads or brochures – they are the seasoned partners whose profiles represent decades of experience and deep domain authority. In the digital arena, senior lawyers and partners carry enormous weight for the firm’s brand. When they speak, the market listens. It is therefore critical that partners embrace visibility.
Why partner visibility matters
Clients choose firms based on people. There’s a well-known adage that “clients hire lawyers, not law firms,” and it holds in practice. Corporate clients want clarity on who they will work with and how that person thinks. They are more likely to engage a particular lawyer if they feel they know and trust them – even if only based on an online impression. In a recent survey of small business owners, respondents were twice as likely to connect with a lawyer on social media as with the law firm as a whole. This underscores the importance of individual lawyers, especially partners, having well-developed online profiles and a voice.
When a partner publishes regularly, their profile becomes a living demonstration of expertise. Instead of a static bio in a directory, the partner’s LinkedIn or other social feed actively shows how they analyze issues, what topics they stay on top of, and how they interact with others. This dynamic footprint increases trust during the evaluation stage – a potential client reviewing it can immediately see evidence of the lawyer’s knowledge and perspective.
It also accelerates relationship-building. A client who has been reading a partner’s posts will enter the first meeting feeling familiar with that partner’s viewpoints and communication style, essentially fast-tracking the rapport. In short, partner visibility breeds confidence. It reassures clients that the lawyer is active, informed, and respected in their field, which can be the deciding factor in winning the engagement.
How partner visibility impacts business development
Partners who show up consistently on social media often find doors opening that would otherwise remain closed. High visibility leads to more invitations to speak at events, webinars, and panels, as event organizers naturally look for lawyers who are known voices on a topic. It also facilitates collaborations with industry peers – for example, co-authoring an article or participating in a roundtable – because active partners are on the radar of other influencers.
Over time, these opportunities compound, expanding the partner’s market influence.
The downstream effect on referrals is significant. A partner recognized as a thought leader will be top-of-mind when a fellow lawyer or past client is asked for a recommendation in that area. Moreover, consistent visibility creates the impression of success and momentum, which attracts referrals. Essentially, visibility is business development. Attorneys who become influential in digital spaces often report receiving more direct inquiries (“I saw your post about X and my company could use help with that issue”) and more introductions from intermediaries. As one legal marketing expert observed, it’s the kind of durable reputation that leads to client inquiries, speaking engagements, and “I thought of you when I saw this issue” messages.
The partner’s online presence acts as a beacon, attracting business opportunities without the firm having to resort to hard-sell tactics. In a competitive marketplace, this kind of magnetism can set the firm apart and drive growth.
The influence of associates on legal thought leadership
Mid-level and junior lawyers also play a powerful role in expanding a firm’s reach. Their voices can resonate with audiences, including up-and-coming professionals, industry specialists, and operational leaders in client organizations. In many cases, associates and non-partner attorneys are more active on emerging platforms and bring a fresh energy to the firm’s thought leadership.
How mid-level and junior lawyers broaden their reach
Associates bring fresh perspectives on case law, emerging risks, and legal operations – perspectives that senior partners might not highlight. They often engage more actively on social media simply because they grew up with digital communication as a default. As digital natives, newer lawyers are adept at speaking the language of social media and can humanize complex legal issues for a wider audience. This complements the firm’s voice by adding diversity and depth.
Furthermore, junior lawyers tend to be closer to the ground on new trends (e.g., developments in legal tech, new regulatory wrinkles). They can be the first to share those insights online, showcasing the firm’s forward-thinking side. Their active engagement also helps the firm appear responsive and energetic. A strong cohort of associates who post and interact online can significantly increase the firm’s overall online presence.
Even if each individual has a smaller following than a senior partner, collectively they amplify the firm’s visibility and help capture audience segments that senior lawyers might not reach (for example, younger entrepreneurs or analysts who relate more to up-and-coming attorneys). Importantly, empowering associates to serve as brand ambassadors makes them feel more invested in the firm, which can aid retention. They recognize that their unique digital skills and perspective are valued. Indeed, newer generations of lawyers have an advantage in navigating social media, and innovative firms leverage that as an organizational asset.
The power of consistent posting and niche thought leadership.
When an associate becomes known for a niche area – say ESG disclosure requirements or privacy law in fintech – they can attract a dedicated following interested in that specialty. Over time, this niche visibility contributes to the firm’s overall reputation in that domain. In fact, social platforms like LinkedIn will algorithmically identify users who consistently post about a particular topic as authoritative voices on that topic. For the firm, that means one attorney’s focus on a niche can lead LinkedIn to circulate that attorney’s content more widely to others interested in the topic, effectively boosting the firm’s prominence in that niche community.
Niche thought leadership by associates also signals depth within the firm. It shows that the firm isn’t just superficially commenting on broad issues, but has team members with granular expertise. Clients seeking help in a specialized area may discover the firm through that associate’s content. For example, a prospective client in the fintech space might follow an associate who regularly unpacks new privacy regulations; when a need arises, that client already views the firm (via the associate) as knowledgeable in that exact area.
This dynamic has a compounding effect: the more consistently the lawyer posts valuable insights in their niche, the more their audience – and referral network – grows. And as they rise to “micro-influencer” status in that community, the firm’s brand in that practice area is strengthened correspondingly. In essence, encouraging associates to develop niche thought leadership is a win-win: it accelerates the lawyer’s own career development and visibility, while also enhancing the firm’s authority and lead generation in that niche.
Scaling social media safely in law firms
The greatest concern for legal teams when embracing social media is ensuring that content is compliant, accurate, and aligned with the firm’s tone. The answer is governance, not restriction. By putting the right policies and processes in place, firms can scale up social media activity while protecting ethical and professional standards. Here are the key pillars for scaling social publishing safely:
Centralized content planning
A central marketing or content team can develop themes and calendars, align messaging with practice groups, and coordinate firm-wide initiatives – all while still empowering individual lawyers to post in their own voice. Central planning ensures that everyone is rowing in the same direction and that topics support the firm’s strategic goals. It also allows for efficient reuse of content (for example, turning a client alert into a series of social posts). A planned approach prevents the chaos of random, ad-hoc posting and reduces the risk of off-message content. Individuals can add their perspective to centrally-provided content, achieving both consistency and personal authenticity.
Review processes
Clear approval workflows give lawyers confidence to participate, knowing that there’s a safety net to catch issues. For example, a firm might require that a marketing manager or partner review any LinkedIn post by an associate before publishing. Drafts can move through a structured review (legal, compliance, marketing, as needed) to ensure accuracy and appropriate tone. The goal is not heavy-handed censorship, but a quick check to uphold quality and compliance.
With a defined process, even a large number of lawyers can post regularly without fear – everyone knows their content will receive timely review and sign-off. This is especially important for regulated topics (such as financial or healthcare law), where a second set of eyes is critical. In practice, firms often leverage tools or platforms that allow content submission and in-app approvals to streamline this workflow.
Social workflow diagram
Tone and compliance alignment
Maintaining a consistent tone and adhering to ethics rules is paramount. Firms should provide guidelines on voice (e.g., professional but not overly formal, use first person “I” for personal posts, avoid legalese, etc.) and clearly outline what not to do (such as giving legal advice online, breaching client confidentiality, making false claims, or violating attorney advertising rules).
By articulating a clear social media policy, firms set guardrails that lawyers can comfortably work within. Technical solutions can help too – for instance, some platforms allow firms to ban specific terms or flag them, preventing unapproved content from ever reaching the public.
Regular training refreshers on social media ethics and professionalism will reinforce these standards. With alignment on tone and compliance baked into the culture, firms can scale up posting without compromising quality or risking missteps. In short, scaling social media activity requires a framework that manages risk while preserving each lawyer’s authentic voice. By centralizing planning, instituting reviews, and enforcing tone/compliance standards, law firms can confidently amplify their social presence. The result is a high volume of content that consistently reflects well on the firm and drives engagement, all achieved without chaos or fear of mistakes.
How Oktopost helps law firms maximize social media ROI
Oktopost is a social media management and employee advocacy platform explicitly designed to help B2B organizations – including law firms – scale their social presence without compromising professionalism. For large legal organizations that struggle to balance visibility with governance, Oktopost provides a comprehensive solution:
Centralized publishing
Firms can manage all their social channels (e.g., LinkedIn company page, attorney LinkedIn profiles, Threads accounts) from a single platform. This ensures consistent messaging across the organization and saves time by centralizing scheduling and content distribution. A central dashboard enables the marketing team to coordinate posts across practice groups and offices, maintaining a unified brand voice. Attorneys simply plug into this system and share content through Oktopost with just a click. The ease of one-stop publishing encourages higher participation from lawyers who might not otherwise find time to post.
Compliance workflows
Built-in approval paths and role-based permissions allow firms to maintain rigorous content standards. Oktopost enables custom approval workflows – for example, an associate’s post can be automatically routed to the designated approver (like the marketing director or a partner) before it goes live. No more back-and-forth emails or missed reviews; the platform ensures no content is published without proper sign-off. Additionally, administrators can set user roles (author, editor, approver, etc.) to control who can do what. This governance feature ensures that junior team members or outside vendors can draft content, but final publishing rights remain with the authorized parties. The platform even lets you set prohibited keywords to prevent the use of disallowed terms, helping uphold ethical and tone requirements.
Visibility analytics
Oktopost tracks in detail which content resonates with target audiences, giving marketing teams insight into what drives visibility and influence across different practice areas. The platform’s analytics show metrics like clicks, shares, comments, and reach for each post. More powerfully, Oktopost can tie social engagement to business outcomes – for instance, identifying which potential clients engaged with your content and whether they later became actual clients (what Oktopost calls “Influenced Opportunities”). It can integrate with CRM systems like Salesforce to connect social interactions to lead conversion and revenue, directly proving ROI. Additionally, firms can monitor follower growth and audience demographics to understand who is following their content and what topics generate the most interest. These insights help refine the content strategy (by focusing on topics and formats that boost visibility) and demonstrate the impact of social media efforts in concrete terms.
Advocacy activation
Lawyers are the firm’s voice, and Oktopost’s Employee Advocacy features empower partners, associates, and specialists to share approved content with their personal networks easily. The platform provides an intuitive advocacy board where pre-approved firm content is available for employees to share with one click. It removes the friction that often inhibits lawyers from posting – no need to create content from scratch or worry about compliance, since everything on the board is vetted. With features like one-click sharing and even AI-assisted scheduling, Oktopost makes it simple for busy attorneys to maintain a steady drumbeat of activity on social media.
The result is dramatically increased reach: each lawyer’s network becomes a distribution channel for the firm’s content. And because people read and trust content from others more than from corporate pages, engagement through employee shares tends to be higher. Oktopost also gamifies advocacy (with leaderboards, etc.) to encourage participation, turning social sharing into a team effort.
Reporting tied to business development outcomes
Ultimately, visibility matters most when it leads to a real pipeline. Oktopost excels at connecting the dots between publishing, employee advocacy, and downstream results. Its reporting can show, for example, how a particular thought leadership campaign drove a surge in website visits or new inquiries. By tracking “influenced opportunities,” the platform demonstrates precisely how many leads or new matters social media has helped originate.
It provides both high-level dashboards and granular data to share with firm leadership and quantify the ROI of social visibility efforts. Marketing teams can generate reports that attribute revenue or new client acquisitions back to specific social posts or campaigns – invaluable for getting buy-in and continued investment in social media programs.
With Oktopost, you can close the loop, tying increased reputation and reach to tangible business development metrics.
Conclusion
Being visible and present on social media is no longer optional for law firms. Being present on social is the foundation of modern reputational strategy. Clients now evaluate expertise long before the first meeting, and social media is where that evaluation begins. Nearly all legal decision-makers use online research and social networks to inform their hiring (with LinkedIn at the forefront). Firms that empower their people to publish consistently, participate in industry conversations, and share their expertise gain a meaningful competitive advantage. They build trust sooner, expand influence faster, and create more business opportunities as a result.
For law firms, like all businesses, the path forward is clear: prioritize visibility. Treat social media as a strategic channel, not a sideline. Establish the governance and tools (such as Oktopost) to enable safe, widespread participation. Train your lawyers on best practices and encourage them to show up authentically. When a firm’s collective expertise is highly visible, the firm becomes known not just for its name but for the strength of its people and ideas.
The firms that win the future will be the ones whose expertise is not only exceptional but visible. Visibility unlocks trust, and trust drives business. By making thought leadership and engagement a core part of your culture, your law firm can ensure that when clients look online for insight and guidance, it’s your experts they find and turn to. The first impression may happen on a screen, but it will lead to lasting professional relationships in the boardroom and beyond.
