Let’s start with something that often gets overlooked in legal services:
Your law firm is a business. That doesn’t take away from the professionalism, expertise, or responsibility of the work you do. But it does mean one thing: to continue growing, you need clients to keep choosing you, and not just once, but again and again.
And right now, the firms winning that choice are the ones paying close attention to client experience.
Clients have changed - even if firms haven’t
Legal clients don’t exist in a vacuum. Their expectations are shaped by every other service they use day to day.
They’re used to:
- Getting quotes instantly and online.
- Confirmation of everything, immediately.
- Knowing what’s happening next, without needing to ask.
- Having easy access to their documents, at any time they desire.
Yet many law firms still operate on assumptions that no longer reflect reality. There’s a lingering belief that clients don’t mind waiting days for a quote, that they’re happy to chase for updates, silence between key stages is acceptable and it’s ok to share absolutely nothing with the client like it’s some sort of Cluedo case.
In truth, clients don’t enjoy any of that. They might tolerate it – but they certainty don’t enjoy it. Worst of all for you, they always notice it, and they always remember it.
First impressions now happen long before the first conversation
For most clients, the first impression of your firm is no longer a meeting or a phone call. It’s the moment they land on your website, submit a form or request a quote and then wait to hear back.
Those early moments shape how confident a client feels about choosing you. If the experience is slow, unclear, or disjointed, doubt creeps in. And once doubt is there, clients quietly start looking at other options.
As Jeff Bezos once said:
“We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts.”
In legal services, too many clients feel like they’ve arrived - and no one’s even bothered to open the door, let alone hand them a welcome glass of champagne and a canape.
Bad experiences travel faster than good ones
There’s another uncomfortable truth firms need to acknowledge: bad experiences spread quickly.
You can deliver excellent legal work, but a single frustrating interaction can outweigh a lot of good intent. A delayed update. A confusing next step. A payment process that feels harder than it should.
It takes several positive moments to build trust and only one negative one to bring it all crashing down. And once that happens, clients talk. Quietly, informally, and often far more widely than firms realise.
Forward-thinking firms are already paying attention
Some firms have recognised this shift and, thankfully, they’re responding.
They’re thinking about how easy it is to get started, how informed clients feel throughout the process, and how much effort clients have to put in just to stay updated. They understand that client experience isn’t something that happens by accident, it needs to be designed.
As Peter Drucker put it:
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
These firms aren’t waiting for complaints or negative feedback. They’re proactively improving how clients experience their firm from the very beginning.
Ignoring consumer behaviour isn’t neutral - it’s just risky
Doing nothing isn’t standing still. It’s falling behind.
In a competitive market, clients don’t always choose the cheapest option or the firm with the longest history. They choose the firm that feels clearer, easier, and more confident to deal with.
Firms that fail to adapt risk losing work and not because their legal expertise isn’t strong enough, but because the experience around it doesn’t meet modern expectations.
The reality firms need to face
Client expectations aren’t going backwards.
The firms that succeed in the years ahead won’t just be good at the law - they’ll be good at understanding the people they serve.
Key takeaways:
- Your firm is a business.
- Your clients are consumers.
- Consumer behaviour is already shaping who wins work, who keeps it, and who gets recommended.
The real question isn’t whether client experience matters. It’s whether your firm is paying attention to it or leaving it to someone else.
If you’re thinking about how your firm could better meet modern client expectations, we’d be happy to chat. No hard sell - just a conversation about where small changes could make a big difference.
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