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Navigating the stigma surrounding self-promotion in law
In a profession rooted in tradition and formality, the co-founders of an award-winning law firm discuss how Australian lawyers are facing a modern conundrum: the stigma surrounding self-promotion.
Grace Robbie
In a recent episode of The Lawyers Weekly Show, Danielle Snell and Robert McGirr, the founders of the Melbourne-based firm that was the recipient of the Boutique Law Firm of the Year at the 2022 Australian Law Awards, Elit Lawyers by McGirr & Snell, discussed in the wake of the legal profession becoming increasingly digitised and competitive, many legal professionals are questioning their willingness to embrace self-promotion as a tool for professional growth and client engagement.
Snell revealed that one of the most paramount lessons she has learnt throughout her extensive legal career is the importance of adaptability, stressing that failure to embrace change places individuals at risk of falling behind.
“Forty-six years I’ve been practising, and there has been the one thing that I’ve said about the practice of law: you have to embrace change, or it will run over you like a bulldozer,” Snell said.
This notion of embracing change that Snell articulated is relevant to the discussion of self-promotion due to some lawyers’ hesitation to utilise technological platforms to advertise their services to potential and current clients.
Snell expressed how many lawyers hesitate to engage in self-promotion because it often contradicts the traditional values they were taught to uphold.
“I do certainly think that there are some cultural reasons there. I think as a legal profession as a whole, it also has to do with this notion of, first and foremost, you’re an officer of the court, and this really strong, you know, belief and the way that we were in terms of my generation, the way that we were raised in the law,” Snell said.
The cultural heritage emphasised by Snell indicates a deeply rooted belief that lawyers should prioritise serving their clients rather than advertising themselves.
“I do think that [there is] this idea of there [being] often too much of a perception that you’re not there to be self-promoting, [and] you’re not there to advertise. You are there to apply the law to any given case,” Snell said.
However, Snell revealed how there has been a gradual shift in legal marketing practices. “For example, back in the day, commercials for personal injury-type legal work weren’t allowed, and now they are,” she said.
“I guess now that we see those online and we see those on television, there’s a bit more acceptance towards it. But in other areas of law, I don’t think there is as much.”
McGirr highlighted that the initial reluctance of Australian lawyers and legal practices to engage in self-promotion has seen our lawyers “playing catch-up” with the promotional practices commonly seen in American legal circles.
“The Americans with the no-win, no-fee model just sort of burst onto the advertising scene, and Australia [is] playing catch-up, and it’s what people need and what people want development [in],” McGirr said.
He also argues how important it is for boutique law firms to promote their expertise to remain competitive in the market alongside other specialised law firms.
“Boutique practices usually mean a degree of specialisation. So it’s basic marketing, that is, that they’re appealing to a narrow area of law, and in order to run a successful business, it’s necessary to promote in that particular space. I see absolutely nothing wrong with it,” McGirr said.
Additionally, McGirr said: “There’s a reluctance amongst lawyers because of historically and from the English judicial system, and it was very conservative, but it’s changing, and it’s had to embrace change.”
