How to Get Clients as a Lawyer: 8 Strategies and a 90-Day Plan

To get clients as a lawyer, build a referral system with past clients and other lawyers, show up where clients and referrers look (bar events, directories, Google, LinkedIn), and answer every inquiry fast. New matters come from two places: people who already trust you, and people who find you the moment they need help. A good plan covers both.

Here is how to get more clients as a lawyer in the US: eight channels that work for solo and small firms, the ABA Model Rules behind each, and a 90-day plan. For positioning and budget, start with our law firm marketing guide.

Why law firm business development matters

More clients, less risk

Business development for lawyers is what keeps revenue steady: a broader client base protects you if one large client leaves, and clients you serve well bring you the next ones.

Three obstacles

• Competition. The ABA's Profile of the Legal Profession counted 1.37 million lawyers in the US in 2025.
• Search. Prospective clients look on Google, in directories, and in AI answers. If you are not there, you are invisible.
• Time. Client work comes first, so business development slips until the pipeline runs dry.

The fix: a few habits, repeated weekly. Here are eight.

1. Turn referrals into a system

Ask clients and build a lawyer network

• Ask directly. When a matter ends well, say your practice grows through referrals and ask whether they know anyone you could help.
• Share testimonials. Publish them only with the client's informed consent (Rule 1.6) and within your state's rules.
• Build a lawyer network. Lawyers in complementary practice areas (a divorce lawyer's clients need new wills), larger firms that turn down small cases, and peers with a different focus all need somewhere to send matters. Tell them which cases you want.

Referral fees: what Rules 1.5(e) and 7.2(b) allow

Under ABA Model Rule 1.5(e), you can split a fee with a lawyer outside your firm if the split follows the work each lawyer does or both take joint responsibility, the client agrees to the arrangement, including each lawyer's share, confirmed in writing, and the total fee is reasonable.

Paying anyone else to recommend you is banned by Rule 7.2(b), except for advertising costs, the usual charges of a legal service plan or a not-for-profit or qualified lawyer referral service, buying a practice, non-exclusive reciprocal referral agreements disclosed to the client, and nominal thank-you gifts. Check your state's version first.

2. Network through bar associations and local groups

Show up in the same rooms every month

Join your state and local bar, pick one section in your practice area, and attend. Committees and CLE panels put you in front of the same people every month, which is how trust builds. Outside the bar, go where clients gather: chambers of commerce for business law, nonprofit boards for estate planning, accountant groups for tax work.

Network without soliciting

Model Rule 7.3 bans live, person-to-person solicitation for profit of someone you know needs help in a specific matter, unless that person is a lawyer, a family member, a close personal or prior professional contact, or a routine business user of that service. Networking is fine; pitching a stranger about their pending case is not.

Quick win: prepare a two-sentence answer to "What do you do?"

3. Claim your directory profiles: Avvo, Justia, FindLaw, and bar referral services

Free profiles and bar referral services

Avvo and Justia often list you before you sign up. Claim your profiles there and on FindLaw, then complete each one: photo, practice areas, bar admissions, and a link to your site. Avvo rates lawyers from 1 to 10 on experience, achievements, peer endorsements, and disciplinary history. A free Justia profile also appears in the Legal Information Institute directory.

Next, join your bar's lawyer referral service, listed in the ABA Lawyer Referral Directory. The State Bar of Texas, for example, says its service assists more than 100,000 callers a year.

Paid placements and lead generators

Premium listings and lead generation services are allowed, within limits. Under the ABA comments to Rule 7.2, a listing by practice area is not a recommendation, and you may pay a lead generator that does not claim to recommend you or to have analyzed the person's legal problem. Test one paid option at a time.

4. Win local search: Google Business Profile, reviews, and your website

Your profile and your reviews

Verify your Google Business Profile, pick the right category, and keep your name, address, and phone number identical everywhere (see local SEO for law firms). Ask for a review when each matter closes: Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. Reply briefly to every review without revealing client information (Rule 1.6), and never offer anything in exchange. See lawyer reputation management.

A website built to book consultations

Your site should load fast on a phone, say who you help in the first lines, and give each service its own practice area page. Show a phone number and a short contact form on every page, and target what clients type, such as "employment lawyer in Austin."

5. Use LinkedIn if you serve businesses

Fix your profile first

For corporate, employment, IP, or tax practices, LinkedIn is where clients and referral sources work. Write a headline that names who you help ("I help software founders close funding rounds" beats "Attorney at Law"), and never claim to be a certified specialist without a state-approved or ABA-accredited certification (Rule 7.2(c)).

Post weekly, then start conversations

Share legal updates, anonymized lessons, and answers to client questions. The ABA comments to Rule 7.3 treat written messages as outside the live solicitation ban, but they must stay truthful. Our guide to LinkedIn for lawyers goes step by step.

6. Speak, write, and teach

Talks and CLE sessions

Teaching shows your expertise instead of claiming it. Offer CLE sessions to other lawyers, who are referral sources in their own right, and talks to your clients' groups: employee handbooks for a business association, wills at a community center.

Content that keeps working

Turn each talk into an article, LinkedIn posts, and a newsletter that answer the questions clients type into Google (see law firm content marketing).

7. Answer first: intake and follow-up speed

What Clio's secret shop found

For its 2024 Legal Trends Report, Clio had a research firm email and call 500 law firms with a client inquiry. Only 33% replied to the emails (40% in 2019), only 40% answered the phone (56% in 2019), and even counting callbacks, 48% were essentially unreachable by phone. Simply responding puts you ahead of half the market.

Set a response standard and track it

Reply the same business day at minimum, cover after-hours calls with an answering service or a scheduling link, and log each inquiry's source and outcome in a legal CRM. Follow up twice before you close a file.

8. Stay in touch with past clients

Check in after the matter closes

A short email a few months later can open the next matter, such as an estate plan after a home purchase.

Send a short newsletter

Monthly or quarterly, share one useful update and a reminder of what you handle, so your name comes up when a friend needs a lawyer.

A 90-day plan to get clients as a solo or small firm

Days 1 to 30: be findable and reachable

• Claim your Google Business Profile, Avvo, Justia, and FindLaw profiles.
• List 20 past clients and 10 lawyers who could refer you matters.
• Join one bar section and set your intake standard.

Days 31 to 60: build visibility and referral flow

• Ask 10 satisfied clients for a Google review.
• Have coffee with five lawyers in complementary practice areas.
• Post weekly on LinkedIn or publish two articles, and apply to your bar's referral service.

Days 61 to 90: measure and focus

• Give one talk and send your first newsletter.
• Check which sources produced signed cases, double down on the top two, and drop the rest.

Next come capacity, pricing, and hiring: see how to grow a law firm.

Getting clients is a habit, not a campaign

Pick two actions and start this week

When it comes to how to get legal clients, the tools are not the hard part. Consistency is. Choose two actions from this guide and start today.

Let us handle the search side

At Hendy, we run SEO, Google Ads, and the pages that turn visitors into consultations, so you can focus on your clients. See how we work with solo lawyers and small law firms, or book a call.