I’ve been a legal copywriter for six years.

And there’s many misconceptions that writers have when it comes to this type of niche, like believing you have to have a law degree to write a certain legal copy. 

While you do have to be an attorney or legal professional to draft certain legal documents, there’s other types of content that you are allowed to write as a legal copywriter – no juris doctorate required.

Legal Blog Posts

Think about the many types of law there are to practice:

• Family law
• Entertainment law
• Personal injury accidents
• Employment law
• Intellectual property

Legal blog posts are great pieces of content that introduce potential clients to these types of legal matters. 

Let’s say that you are the victim of a product liability accident. Naturally, your first instinct is to search online to figure out what your options are for seeking justice. 

Ideally, you would come across a law firm in your state who specializes in representing victims of product liability accidents. And how would you discover them?

Through the legal blog posts they’ve posted on their law firm’s website.

Legal blog posts allow you to educate potential clients on legal matters and drive traffic to a law firm’s website. But there is a catch.

You must avoid giving out legal advice when writing these types of blog posts.Why? Because attorneys are the only legal professionals who can provide legal advice to anyone. 

If someone read your legal blog post and assumed it to be legal advice for their particular legal issue, you could be mistaken for the unauthorized practice of law, which can lead to serious legal consequences. 

But this can be avoided by including a disclaimer in your legal blog post, something along the lines of advising readers not to take this blog post as legal advice and to contact an attorney concerning their legal situation. 

Legal Articles

The next type of content you can create are legal articles.

You may be thinking to yourself, what’s the difference between legal blog posts and legal articles?

Well, the main difference is the amount of depth you can go into with legal articles. Blog posts can range from 500 to 2,000 words, with 1,000 words being the average length.

That’s not enough words to go into depth about certain legal concepts.

And anyone who works in the legal industry knows that there’s always something going on.

Whether it’s new laws being introduced or new cases going on in different industries, there’s always new insights to explore. And with legal articles, you can explore those insights more thoroughly than you can in a legal blog post. 

Website Copy

Just like any other organization, law firms need help with their website pages.

Many attorneys are great in their particular areas of law, but few of them understand the science behind legal marketing. And that’s where you come in as a legal copywriter.

For example, one of the common mistakes law firms make is including an attorney’s list of directories and awards on the website. This is the information that doesn’t matter to clients. 

What helps law firms stick out is their personal profile branding, an area that you as a legal copywriter specialize in. Your expertise and insights can help them maximize their digital marketing strategies, even in a world where AI is advancing by the day. 

Some examples of the website copy you can create are:

• Landing pages
• Practice area pages
• Attorney profiles
• Case studies 
• Testimonials
• FAQ pages. 

Case studies and FAQ pages in particular are great website pages that can help drive traffic to a law firm’s website. Before seeking legal services, many clients don’t know much about the legal process. 

Case studies can help explain to potential clients how a law firm helped solve their clients’ legal problems, and the step-by-step way in which they helped. Lawyers don’t always know how to communicate that type of value to their clients – but you do. 

Google Business Profile Pages 

Like every other business with an online presence, many law firms have (or should have) a  Google Business Profile page.

But when you search online, these are the pages that many law firms neglect. Whether it’s updated hours or the business’s general information, there’s key information missing.

And this could be the difference between attracting clients or having them select the next law firm.

As a legal copywriter, you can offer to revamp these profile pages for law firms. It’s a great way to introduce yourself to other law firms for future work. Many legal copywriters would choose to get started with legal blog posts, but a Google Business Profile page is just as important when it comes to digital marketing.

Just like with a legal blog post, you can use your legal marketing skills to add the most important information to the law firm’s business profile page and cut out the unnecessary fluff.

Email Marketing 

You may be thinking to yourself, do attorneys even use email marketing?

Yes. Everyone does. 

Email marketing is one of the most authentic, direct ways for lawyers to connect and communicate with their subscribers. Law firms use them for 

• Welcoming new clients.
• Following up with clients after consultations.
• Sending out newsletters. 
• Sharing legal insights, and 
• Maintaining a relationship with clients after cases. 

Unlike legal blog posts and articles that can be shared by millions, emails are personalized messages you can send to subscribers. And even better, the chances of emails directly reaching your intended audience are greater. 

Video Scripts 

If you’re a legal copywriter who has an interest in scriptwriting, writing  scripts for law firms can be great for you. 

Written materials aren’t the only marketing materials that law firms use. Webinars, videos, and podcasts are now being used to connect to a wider audience. 

And just like with legal blog posts and articles, lawyers don’t always know how to effectively market their services. They must do three important things:

• Explain legal information in simple terms.
• Abide by the legal marketing guidelines. 
• Showcase their personal brand in an authentic manner. 

These are all three benefits that you bring to the table. You can provide a clear, effective script for law firms to follow that helps build trust. 

Social Media Content 

Last but not least, legal copywriters can assist with social media content. 

This particular type of content is always tricky for lawyers. On one hand, every professional has some type of social media presence. But let’s be honest; how serious would you take a lawyer who’s always posting on Tik Tok?

This is where you come in. Regardless of the challenge, lawyers need to know how to market themselves consistently throughout several different platforms. And as a legal copywriter, you excel at that.

You know how to build and consistently maintain a law firm’s brand throughout different media platforms. You can take a legal blog post from the law firm’s website and repurpose it into several social media posts for the law firm’s social media profile. 

Final Thoughts 

When it comes to legal writing, many legal copywriters shortchange themselves. Don’t be like them.

Know that there are so many types of content that you can write. Just like the many practice areas of law, there are several different types of content that you can write for legal professionals. 

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