Grow Your Practice by Joining a Legal Services Network

Many legal services networks offer growth and marketing opportunities to your practice by being part of their network. These help you get a wider reach and connect to potential clients more easily.

Acknowledging the Power of the Internet

Cyberspace is fast becoming everyone’s reference for both virtual and physical concerns. People looking for products and services almost always search online first. A simple Google query for a word or phrase can give results in seconds. This works the same with people in need of legal services.

People in need of legal services tend to search for local attorneys using Google and other search engines. A lot of legal services networks are online now, and provide online directories per state, city or locality.

Get Easily Connected with Clients

Legal services networks have databases of attorneys and the services and specializations that each member can give. The Legal Service Centers of America, for instance, lists family, civil, and criminal legal attorneys. Each of these categories lists member lawyers who are experts on their respective fields.

Through the same system, other legal service networks can give you access to clients in need of legal services on which you are an expert. Another example is the National Network of Women’s Legal Services specialize on providing services for women. This is ideal for legal professionals specializing in legal services for women and family related matters.

Joining legal services networks depending on your location is one good option. For instance, the Central Jersey Legal Services comprise lawyers licensed to work in New Jersey. This helps people within the same locality in need of lawyers find one more easily. You can also find other networks localized in states where you are licensed to practice your profession.

The Cost of Joining Legal Services Network

Membership to commercial legal services networks will entail membership fees. For instance, the American Legal Professional Network requires a two-year membership fee of $88. Other networks might require similar nominal amounts.

Meanwhile, joining in a network of volunteer lawyers does not require any fee. A popular group of volunteer lawyers is the Volunteer Lawyers Network of Minnesota, for example. Member lawyers in these kinds of groups offer services pro bono—that is, not charging clients professional fees. Though this may not be beneficial as a way to earn, at least you can use this to grow your practice, and could be good for publicity. Joining as a volunteer lawyer is advisable for law students or licensed lawyers who need experience.

Many non-profit lawyer groups like this require their members to give an hour or two of legal services every so often. That’s not bad especially if that can help in establishing trust from your future clients and build healthy references from them. In some cases, clients and cases that you might be handling as a non-profit activity might involve highly publicized events like environmental causes, human rights causes, and the like.

Above all, you can get the best benefit from joining a legal services network, be it a commercial or non-profit by both marketing and networking.