Case study: Developing a family law practice at Oxley & Coward solicitors in Yorkshire
Posted on: November 5, 2013
I was recently asked to lead a day’s training session on developing a family law practice for firms in the LawNet group http://www.lawnet.co.uk/. Sarah Scott, a partner in the family team at Oxley & Coward http://www.oxcow.co.uk/, provided a short presentation on their experiences with media relations and social media and was kind enough to let me prepare a short case study.
The firm provides a blend of commercial and personal legal services, has a Legal Aid contract for crime and family and comprises nine partner and 75 staff in an office in Rotherham.
Sarah summarised their strategy as follows “First, we aim to maximise our public law work through membership of the Children Panel, networking with referrers and offering advocacy services (where their clients regard them as “Court Hearing Heroes”. Second, in the private law area we have payment options such as Pay As You Go, monthly instalment plans and tailored fixed costs for divorce. The PAYG service empowers the clients to handle their own case and deal with all the administration. Third, we aim to excel at what remains of private law Legal Aid by offering drop in services at our local domestic abuse support service and attending the domestic abuse forum. Fourth, we offer collaborative family law services”.
The Pay As You Go service is interesting as clients pay for face-to-face advice only, payment is made at the end of the meeting and there are no hidden charges. The fixed fees divorce covers an agreed consent order and there is also fixed fee advocacy available.
In terms of marketing, brand awareness is promoted through social media – both LinkedIn and Twitter (@OxcowFamilyLaw has 400 followers and Sarah also operates her own account @SarahLScott) are used. They also produce press releases and posters (“Don’t suffer in silence” for domestic abuse and “Every child deserves to be happy” for the specialist child care team).
The firm also does a fair amount of networking when attending local events organised by the local Chamber of Commerce and Women in Business groups and they host Business Breakfasts. A recent visit from the Law Society President provided an excellent photo opportunity so there was a media relations exercise on that which generated local coverage. They also wrote about “unbundling law” which was mentioned on Legal Futures http://www.legalfutures.co.uk/latest-news/unbundled-legal-services-hourly-rates-dont-mix-warns-law-society and even The Daily Mirror http://www.mirror.co.uk/money/personal-finance/thousands-face-struggle-afford-legal-1793584
Looking forward, Sarah says “We plan to rebrand our Twitter page, post more content on LinkedIn, create a presence on Facebook and update our web site”.
Related Posts
- What is the difference between marketing to businesses and marketing to consumers?
- Social changes – Never weds to outnumber married couples
- Fathers and nurseries - Social trends
- Social trends – Family life cycle model breaks
- How do I market a family law practice?
- Marketing a family law practice
- Westminster Debate for Fathers
- How do I market to high net worth individuals?
- Developing a privately funded family law practice
- International Family Law – QEB barristers on new European maintenance regulations at IAML
- Is social media relevant for lawyers, accountants and surveyors?
- Family law market developments
- Collaborative marketing of family law services – Debrett’s and Mishcon de Reya
- (Just about) everything you wanted to know about automated legal documents, but were afraid to ask
- App development case study – Mills & Reeve lawyers
- What is thought leadership and why is it so important?
- Five insights from developing a privately funded family law practice
- Relationship rather than divorce study news
- Developing a family law practice – mind shift, focus and pricing
- Single parents
- Legal marketing case study: Focused newsletters at the heart of client relationship and events programmes at Aaron & Partners
- Family law trends: Divorce rate set to rise with upturn in the economy
- The pricing of family law services – An overview
- Legal marketing case study: Irwin Mitchell combines DR advertising, online promotion and brand building
- Legal marketing case studies – Strategy and relationship management at Bird & Bird, DLA Piper, Mills & Reeve and Obelisk
- Book review “Conversational riffs- creating meaning out of conflict” by Neil Denny (Conflict management)
- How do I integrate social media into my business development?
- How do I use Twitter?
- The price of divorce? An informal survey with www.onlydads.org into the views of those who have divorced or are divorcing
- Social Media for Lawyers
- Divorce and family statistics
- Family Law Panel Westminster Forum 2014 – “Couples break up – Families don’t need to”
- Client Relationship Management (CRM) for local government lawyers
- Ten tips on cross-selling – Boosting internal networks
- Book review: How to be great at the stuff you hate: The straight talking guide to persuading, networking and selling By Nick Davies
- How to write a press release
- Family Law – Working dads at City Fathers
- Legal marketing case study: Improving referrals through reward systems at Keystone Law
- Developing a private client practice – 10 insights (July 2017)
- Withers’ double win - A cracking demonstration of superb law firm marketing AND a tour de force on legal pitfalls in social media
- Clown fish? Book review of "Rainmakers and Trailblazers: Business Development for Lawyers" by Charles Christian
- Case study (Law firm marketing) - Mishcon de Reya
- Legal Marketing Technology Case Studies – Highlights from Conscious Solutions “Marketing in a digital world”
- Legal Marketing Case Study – Rix & Kay thought leadership in the later life and care sectors
- Legal sector consultancy
- Accountancy marketing case study – Manufacturing and engineering benchmarking thought leadership at MHA
- How can a lawyer become more effective at business development?
- Book Review: The Legal PR Guide – Gaining buy-in to law firm media relations
- What’s Google+ and why should I use it?
- Legal Marketing Case Study: "Hot on family law" at Rayden Solicitors
- Accountancy marketing case study - How KPMG influenced £35 million in new business by blending digital and offline media
- Legal marketing case study: Social media in business development and relationship management: A guide for lawyers by Kim Tasso (Book review)
- Book - Social Media in Business Development and Relationship Management: A Guide for Lawyers
- Help your lawyers understand and engage with social media effectively
Category: Kim's Blog, Lawyers, Marketing, Social Media, Web Sites
Tagged: Digital Marketing, Family, Lawyers, LinkedIn, Marketing, Media Relations, Networking, Pricing, Referrer management, Social Media, Twitter
Share This