By Alison Jackson-Carter, Consultant
In the UK legal sector, smaller and midsized firms often face a visibility challenge.
With limited marketing budgets and fewer high-profile cases, it can be hard to compete with international firms that dominate directories, awards, and advertising space, in an increasingly pay to play environment.
But there’s one area where smaller firms and practices can not only compete—but excel: broadcast PR.
Broadcast PR—getting solicitors featured on TV, radio, and digital news platforms—isn’t reserved for the magic circle firms. In fact, smaller practices often have the agility, niche expertise, and personal stories that producers love.
We have worked with Slater and Gordon for more than 10 years supporting them with their broadcast campaigns, from when they had 300 staff to when they had more than 1,000. Investing in broadcast has paid off as they have spent more than a decade as one of the best-known law firms in the UK.
With the right strategy, broadcast PR can help firms with just a handful of solicitors punch well above their weight and build a brand that resonates far beyond their postcode and practice.
Why does broadcast PR have such a big impact?
Smaller firms and practice groups often have specialised expertise in broadcast friendly areas like family law, housing rights, maternity discrimination, divorce and consumer rights. The solicitors are ‘at the coal face’ in dealing with their client’s issues and spotting trends. This means that teams like mine can work with them to create proactive campaigns that align with their client’s lived experience AND the news agenda. A recent example of this was a campaign we worked with Duncan Lewis on around their launch of a Rogue Landlord Report.
From listening to the cases that the solicitors were working on, we realised that the incoming Renters Reform Bill would create momentum around the issue. The report landed more than 44 items of coverage, including a sofa interview with lead solicitor Manjinder Atwal on Good Morning Britain, BBC Radio 5, ITV News and coverage in bulletins across the Sky News Radio, Capital and Greatest Hits Radio networks.
Smaller firms and PR teams also tend to be more agile in responding quickly to media opportunities which is crucial to securing prominent reactive slots.
These qualities make boutique solicitors ideal contributors for programmes like BBC Breakfast, BBC Morning Live, Sky News, and ITV News, where producers want clear, relatable voices—they have little awareness of who the ‘big names’ are and neither do their audiences.
Broadcast PR offers firms a way to build brand awareness without expensive ad campaigns. A single media appearance can:
- Drive traffic to your website
- Boost enquiries and referrals
- Position your firm as a trusted authority
- And unlike paid ads, broadcast PR offers the all-important third-party credibility.
When a solicitor is invited to speak on a national platform, like the BBC, it signals trustworthiness and expertise.
This is worth 20 times the value that an advertorial will give you.
It’s visibility, not vanity.
How can Law Firms Use Broadcast PR effectively?
While I am always happy to have a conversation around how you can deliver cut through to broadcast outlets, you don’t need a PR agency to get started.
Identify your niche area of expertise and what you are comfortable talking about and look for stories where your expertise could add value. Get some media training, again, more than happy to help here, and create a bio for yourself including a headshot.
When you see a story that you think you could add value to, pull together a few bullet points of your analysis, and then pitch it to some producers.
It’s very often about being first when it comes to reacting to media stories.
Legal marketers and in-house PR teams can play a key role by spotting opportunities, crafting pitches, and preparing solicitors for interviews. As can we.
It’s an investment of time, rather than huge sums of money, and firms that are proactive with their media profile will see that it delivers impact and growth through increased client trust, stronger brand recognition, more inbound enquiries and better recruitment and retention.
In a sector where reputation drives growth, broadcast PR is a smart scalable way for smaller firms to stand out.
If you would like to speak to us about capturing the public’s attention through earned media, or
maximising the impact of your next marketing campaign, please get in touch.