(Gulfport, FL) On March 2, 2018, Attorney Aaron Watson, Stetson Law School alumni (2007), presented as a panel guest speaker with Charles Rose, Professor of Excellence in Trial Advocacy concerning the challenges of successfully developing a law firm brand, including the entrepreneurship of one’s own law firm, law firm management, and marketing. Speaking on the competition in the legal marketplace, Attorney Watson set the tone of the panel, quoting, “Long gone are the days of just sitting at your desk and practicing law, you must know marketing in order to compete.” Recognizing competition in the legal marketplace, Attorney Watson advised ambitious law students that practicing law is only one aspect of a successful practice, emphasizing that the legal practice has developed into a multi-faceted business model that requires directed management and marketing to survive a fiercely competitive legal market.
Attorney Watson knows the challenges of entrepreneurship in today’s legal market and founded The Watson Firm on June 1, 2016 in Pensacola, Florida, after receiving extensive legal experience at Levin Papantonio, Pensacola’s largest personal injury firm. The Watson Firm is a dedicated personal injury and criminal defense law firm. In opening his own firm, Attorney Watson envisioned a practice that would truly exemplify the ideals of a community-based practice and recognize the social structure of Pensacola and its surrounding areas, all while providing unfettered access to professionalism, integrity, and ideals embodied in a model justice system. Attorney Watson wanted his practice to be “a part of” the community rather than “apart from” the community. That is why the firm values the client as much as it does the case.
Solid legal representation and client satisfaction drive The Watson Firm. However, Attorney Watson also believes that strong practice management, marketing, and branding his law firm’s name has been key to his firm’s success.
An essential key to a firm’s success is its referral base of current clients. Supporting a client, community-based approach to the law practice requires an attorney’s time in managing the firm’s resources, including personnel that is key to resolving a client’s case and branding the firm’s name itself. Personnel should be carefully selected to meet the firm’s goals. For that reason, a firm’s personnel should be made of professionals who believe in being prepared, working hard and smart, staying focused, and maintaining close relationships with their clients. Much of a firm’s professional satisfaction comes from earning the trust and confidence of its clients; the value in treating every client with the dignity and respect that they deserve; and, the good coming from the financial security that it recovers for its clients and their families. Its goal is to prepare and present the strongest case to make maximum recovery and compensation possible. Each client’s satisfaction, in turn, creates a referral base and reputation of the firm, which is an old-fashioned remedy for a firm’s success.
Together with a referral base, the outside marketing and branding of the law firm are more important in today’s legal marketplace than ever before. To be successful in today’s legal market requires name recognition. The difference between financially successful firms, and those that may struggle, does not solely depend on victories and the knowledge of the law, but also an ability to market the firm’s services to potential clients. There are many ways that a firm may market and reach a broader community, including maintaining an informative website, presence on social media, published client testimonials, one-on-one networking, community outreach and services, and, if necessary, hiring marketing and networking professionals to increase the name recognition of your brand. However, marketing tactics like referrals may be time-consuming and build on themselves. Properly marketing your firm’s name, together with its reputation for success, will set a firm on track for attracting future clients, generating greater revenue, and becoming a staple in the community.
In all, the successful management and marketing of a law firm may be the difference between a client choosing your firm over of a firm without a market presence; and may distinguish the firms that make it today as opposed to those that are gone tomorrow. For more information on The Watson Firm, contact a Pensacola personal injury attorney at the office by calling (850) 607-2929.