Reviews for firms: ethical, compliant, effective
Earning detailed client reviews within professional advertising rules.
Law firms and accountants face a real tension: reviews drive local visibility, but professional conduct rules restrict how you solicit them - and confidentiality restricts how you respond. Both problems are solvable.
Asking within the rules
- ✓Ask at the natural end of a matter, when the outcome is settled
- ✓Keep the ask neutral: an honest review, not a five-star one
- ✓No incentives of any kind - most bar rules and Google prohibit them
- ✓Route the ask through one partner who owns the process
Replying without breaching confidentiality
Never confirm someone was a client - even a thank-you can do it. Use general replies: "We appreciate the feedback and are glad the matter reached a good outcome." For negative reviews, one calm sentence and an invitation to talk offline reads far better to prospects than a rebuttal.
Why it's worth the care
People choosing a lawyer read reviews more carefully than for any other local service - and detailed reviews mentioning your practice areas double as ranking signals for exactly those searches.
The firms that win locally aren't the ones with the most reviews - they're the ones whose reviews sound like real matters, handled well, and answered professionally.