Specialising Lawyers: Why Expertise is Important

I remember it from my own time as a lawyer. Even as a beginner, you ask yourself: Do I have to specialize in a particular field of law or a particular client group? Or can I advise clients on a broad basis? As a young lawyer I was not yet ready to answer this question. Above all, I wanted to look into different areas to find out where I liked it best. Specific expertise was not conceivable at the beginning.

Today, I am convinced that a development towards increasing specialisation in the legal market will be inevitable. The reasons for this are complex - one of the main reasons is the increasing digitalization of the industry. Many standardised processes will increasingly be taken over by technology and are pushing lawyers to provide advice in more complex areas. In short, they advise where they can effectively generate value for their clients. In order to be able to offer high quality in this demanding service, this activity requires a corresponding specialisation.

But that's not a bad thing. Specialization is not only a future necessity for a law firm, but also an extremely successful strategy already today. Unfortunately, it is very often not perceived as a tactic for attorney marketing. Specialization is effective because it also creates additional internal focus. This focus affects all marketing efforts of the firm and affects every area of the firm. Strategies of companies with a high degree of specialization are often rounded off and the individual elements fit together: the target group is more narrowly defined, the employees have demonstrable competence in the relevant areas, the firm's messaging is more comprehensible, the offerings are more clearly described and it is easier to distinguish them from the competition.

In short: The client understands better. The lawyers can present themselves as experts in their field. The specific expertise is also perceived as such by the market. Being perceived as an expert does not happen overnight. The conscious decision to specialize and the focus on one's own competencies as a way of differentiating oneself from the competition are good starting points in any case.

You have a specific expertise and want to make it more visible? We would be happy to discuss with you how this presentation can be implemented. We are very experienced in dealing with such questions. We would be happy to help you develop an uncomplicated action plan for effective marketing. Please contact me by e-mail and we will discuss your request.

We also do workshops and training sessions on various topics in the field of digital marketing. For example, a workshop on November 8, 2018, which will focus on the topic of blogs and lawyers' blogs as marketing tools and how to use them effectively. This includes techniques that can be used for writing good blog articles. Here, too, it is always about the marketing of specific expertise. Finally, the blog should convey the specialization of the lawyers. But we also deal with other topics such as the principles of online marketing, content marketing, current and future developments and the conception of a strategy for digital marketing.