The ways people consume ads and the ways they behave while seeking legal advice have turned upside down in recent years. What once consisted of television, radio, billboards, business cards, phone book listings, and the yellow pages is now social media, videos, landing pages on business websites, and online marketplaces. The good thing is that now, with minimal effort, a lawyer can become more visible and credible online. Such tools as legal marketplaces can open a law firm’s website to a greater law firm marketing strategy.
What are these legal marketplaces for lawyers? How can you attract new leads in today’s environment? Which marketplaces should a lawyer consider in 2022? Let’s get into the essentials of this new marketing tool for legal professionals.
What Are Lawyer Marketplaces?
Simply put, a marketplace for lawyers, one of several lawyer directories, is a web platform that lists attorneys and law firms to connect legal professionals with potential clients in just a few clicks. The ultimate goal is to create a perfect match—like a dating app.
Innovative lawyer marketplaces have evolved and are much more advanced than just a Yellow Pages type of listing for legal professionals. The best legal marketplaces now include detailed law firm profiles, certifications, backgrounds, reviews, case studies, secure payment systems, and beyond. They make it easy for potential clients to look for and find a “perfect match” with a local lawyer and ensure that the legal services are reliable.
One-third of potential clients looking for legal services online use a legal marketplace. People value the context provided on these websites and consider them trustworthy. Also, people can find lawyers at marketplaces easily and may already have some favorite marketplaces bookmarked in their browsers. The best lawyer and law firm directories are also always SEO-optimized. They have high traffic and rank well in Google search results. Potential clients are more likely to click on the marketplace page that is shown first in their search results.
List of the 8 Best Online Legal Services of 2022
When you know what a legal marketplace is and some of the ways you can benefit from being listed in one, you will need to decide which marketplace or marketplaces to consider. The following are the top 8 legal marketplaces a lawyer should consider joining in 2022:
- Rocket Lawyer
- UpCounsel
- Lawyer.com
- Legal Match
- Legal Shield
- Legal Zoom
- Avvo
- Lawrina Match
Overview of the 8 Best Online Legal Services of 2022
The essential information about each of the 8 legal marketplaces listed above is included in each section below.
Rocket Lawyer
This online legal service helps people who are seeking legal advice find it quickly—like a rocket (as the name implies). Rocket Lawyer provides a variety of ways to quickly access attorneys via phone, email, or chat. The service connects clients with attorneys who work in a wide range of legal topics, including business law, family law, wills, and estate planning law, family law, personal injury law, employment law, and real estate.
Best suited for: Solo practitioners and law firms across the U.S. working in a wide range of practice areas.
How it works: Lawyers apply to be listed on Rocket Lawyer and create law firm profiles. Once listed on the platform, a team will put the lawyer in touch with a potential client in his or her chosen field of practice for a free 30-minute consultation. If the issue is too complex to be solved during the consultation, the client can decide to keep working with the lawyer at the pre-negotiated Rocket Lawyer On Call® price.
Main strengths:
- The team connects with you when there are new leads;
- A legal directory helps to ensure that a potential client is your perfect match (is a qualified lead);
- You will be listed on the main page for potential clients to find you.
UpCounsel
UpCounsel is a free lawyer directory listing that offers a wide range of legal services for businesses. This platform is used by top brands that need to solve complex legal matters by hiring super lawyers. Potential clients look for on-demand attorneys for projects like business formation and compliance, employment management, and human capital issues. The platform allows clients and attorneys to collaborate on documents seamlessly and transact business securely.
Best suited for: Solo practitioners and law firms across the U.S. working with mainly business requests.
How it works: The UpCounsel algorithm automatically matches lawyers with clients who post a “job,” a summary of their legal needs. Lawyers submit bids—fixed fee or hourly—for the potential work and send a proposal to the potential client. If everything goes well, they will schedule a free consultation. After the consultation, the client can hire a lawyer and manage all communications in one place—on the UpCounsel platform.
Main strengths:
- Collaboration through the UpCounsel platform;
- Time tracking phone calls made as part of hourly contracts;
- Secured payments immediately once the client approves the invoice;
- The ability to choose clients and projects based on interest.
Lawyer.com
Lawyer.com is an international marketplace that includes law firms from the U.K. and 20 other countries. For 10+ years, Lawyer.com has provided individual and business entities with a legal matchmaking service. Just like other marketplaces, it features a list of trustworthy lawyers so potential clients can find a match by location or area of expertise.
Best suited for: Solo practitioners and law firms working with personal and family legal issues (some business needs requests are also available).
How it works: Potential clients searching for a lawyer are taken to a law firm’s profile based on the requested location. Also, clients may see a suggested profile while browsing the database by city/state and area of practice. Additional ways to connect with potential clients through the platform include a free Q&A section.
Main strengths:
- Location-based search feature;
- The support team answers all calls and follows up with PNCs so the lawyer won’t miss any calls;
- Collects overdue payments for the lawyer;
- Possible priority placement in the list of suggested lawyers.
LegalMatch
LegalMatch is another platform that connects potential clients with lawyers who are close to their area. This service is one of the best choices for those who are seeking legal counsel in the local area. It has been on the market for 20 years, and more than five million cases have been posted on the site.
Best suited for: Solo practitioners and law firms looking for local clients.
How it works: Just set up your profile, provide your location, and give an area of practice. When a local request arises, the lawyer will be automatically connected with the client. LegalMatch is a great option for time-sensitive matters. Potential clients also have access to lawyers’ ratings and reviews shared by previous clients, so they can make an educated decision. When potential clients decide that you are right for them, they will contact you directly at your listed email or office phone number to set up an online or in-person consultation.
Main strengths:
- Free access to an attorney membership;
- Lots of legal requests;
- Cases are easy to review right from a mobile device in real-time.
Legal Shield
This platform connects potential clients with a trusted law firm in their state. LegalShield has been providing legal service plans to North American families for 40+ years. The list of legal advice questions includes hiring/firing issues, incorporation, joint ventures, cooperation with vendors, recovery services, zoning, compliance, etc.
Best suited for: Solo practitioners and law firms across the U.S working in a wide range of practice areas.
How it works: When joining LegalShield, the lawyer will provide legal information about his or her area of practice, expertise, average fees, etc. The team will match the lawyer only with those cases from potential clients that match the desired client profile. In time, with active membership, the lawyer’s profile will be much more likely to be top of mind next time new client requests come in.
Main strengths:
- Zero revenue split or commission, totally free to join, and no marketing fee;
- A strong system of networking with other attorneys;
- The possibility of attending legal events;
- Lots of weekly requests from potential clients.
LegalZoom
LegalZoom is a legal platform specializing in do-it-yourself legal resources (filings and documents). It puts an emphasis on self-help legal forms for several practice areas (wills, business needs, family matters). If people need more help, the team connects them with lawyers listed on the platform. LegalZoom Attorney Network provides plans for attorneys nationwide to provide consumers with sound legal advice.
Best suited for: Solo practitioners and law firms across the U.S. specializing in estate planning, family A$ personal law, intellectual property, and business law.
How it works: A lawyer joins the LegalZoom Network and gets an opportunity to grow his or her practice by connecting with qualified new local clients. According to LegalZoom policy, the customers referred through the directory receive a 25% discount off your regular reasonable rate. You can also request Lawyer Legion Enhanced Profile for premium placement and access to enhanced features the enhanced profile offers.
Main strengths:
- The possibility to work with both one-time services and ongoing legal consultations with potential customers;
- An easy way to get referrals;
- Video embed on the profile page.
Avvo
Avvo.com is one of the most popular marketplaces that have been on the market for several years. There is already an extensive lawyer directory and free online answers to legal questions that potential clients may have.
Best suited for: Solo practitioners and law firms across the U.S. working in a wide range of practice areas.
How it works: Lawyers get listed among Avvo lawyers, and a team connects them with potential clients that have issues related to their areas of expertise. Note that if you have ever been disciplined (even minor), it will be displayed on your Avvo profile.
Main strengths:
- Free profiles and no marketing fees;
- Reviews and rankings that clients trust;
- Paid advertising and lead generation services;
- Q&A forum to demonstrate expertise and increase engagement;
- Great traffic and engagement.
Lawrina Match
Lawrina Match is one of the fastest-growing legal marketplaces in the U.S. From land management to family law, the platform brings marketing opportunities to all legal professionals. This is, therefore, an excellent legal marketplace to attract more new leads and improve your online presence. Introduce yourself to thousands of potential clients through Lawrina.
Best suited for: Solo practitioners and law firms across the U.S. working in a wide range of practice areas.
How it works: The process is simple, quick, and straightforward. Register on Lawrina Match. After your profile is verified by the Lawrina team, you will be listed immediately among other lawyers. Potential clients choose an area of expertise and location. If the criteria match, your profile will be considered a perfect match for the client. Premium membership is available that allows lawyers to stay on top among thousands of legal professionals to ensure that potential clients will click their profiles. Also, with Lawrina Match, lawyers are regularly listed on thousands of content pages with legal guides, legal articles, and news. For instance, you can write guest posts to be published by Lawrina that will serve as another marketing tool.
Main strengths:
- Dedicated lawyer’s profile;
- Only qualified leads, double-checked by a professional team;
- 24/7 support team helping manage attorney-client communication;
- Requests in a wide range of practice areas;
- Dashboard with analytics, such as your search appearances by practice area and client requests;
- Smart lawyer ranking system;
- Additional pie charts.
Where Should You Start with Lawyer Marketplaces?
After you know which legal marketplaces are worth considering, you may ask yourself, “Now, where should I start?” Although the marketplaces listed above differ in some aspects, the tips to join are generally the same:
- Look for your perfect marketplace match. With so many online legal marketplaces to choose from, you can decide which one is right for you only after “testing the waters.” So, claim free listings before considering paid listings, and remember that you never know until you try.
- Maintain consistency. Keep your name, address, and phone number (NAP) the same across all legal marketplaces that you join. The exact spelling is crucial to improving your search performance rates.
- Stay up-to-date and use high-quality professional photographs/videos. Remember that your profile is your most important business card in this digital age.
- Gather plenty of reviews. Positive peer and client reviews become “votes of confidence” that build instant credibility and trust and will become the quality of your legal representation.
Lastly, don’t bring your “need” to the marketplace. Bring your skill, and then you will get what you are looking for.
Conclusions
Joining legal marketplaces and enhancing your online profiles regularly is one of the best things you can do for your legal marketing in 2022. You’ll be surprised by how affordable online listings are and will enjoy a continuous flow of new qualified leads after choosing your perfect platform.
Start creating your profile at the best lawyer directories today and enjoy this most effective way to improve your visibility and profitability. If potential clients are using and trusting these marketplaces, you should be too.