No existing reviews, no referral network yet, and a budget that has to work harder than an established firm's. We build the foundations and the first campaigns that get a new practice its first real run of enquiries.
A new law firm doesn't need every marketing channel on day one. It needs a website that looks credible, a Google presence that shows up when someone searches, and a small number of enquiries coming in while the reputation and referral network build over time.
Principals who've spent years inside an established practice are often surprised by how much of that firm's enquiry flow was invisible: years of reviews, a referral network built over a decade, and a Google Business Profile with real history behind it. Starting fresh means none of that exists yet, and budget is usually tighter too.
That's a different problem to solve than growing an established firm, and it needs a different starting sequence: get the basics live and trackable first, then layer in the channels that take time to compound.
It also helps to know the market you're stepping into. Small firms dominate the Australian legal profession, sole practices make up roughly 78% of private law practices nationally, and firms of one to ten solicitors account for around 81% of all practices, so a new solo or small firm isn't an outlier fighting an unusual battle, it's competing in the segment that makes up most of the market. Over half of sole practitioners have been admitted 15 years or more, which means a genuinely new practice is often up against principals with a long personal reputation already built, even if their firm itself is young. That's exactly why foundations and review-building need to move fast rather than trailing along passively.
Whichever practice area you're building, family law, personal injury, conveyancing, wills & estates, criminal law or commercial law, the same first-90-days sequence below applies, just weighted differently depending on how urgent your typical client's search behaviour is.
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A new firm with, say, one solicitor and a modest monthly marketing budget almost always does worse spreading that budget thin across SEO, Google Ads, social media and branding simultaneously than concentrating it on the two or three things that actually generate the first run of enquiries. Given that 80% of prospective clients check reviews before hiring, and a brand-new firm has none, the single highest-leverage early action is often simply asking early clients for reviews systematically, which costs nothing but a process.
After that, a working website and a fully completed Google Business Profile matter more than a Google Ads campaign or a content calendar, because they're what every other channel, referrals, word of mouth, even a chance mention, eventually points back to. Only once those foundations are live does it make sense to layer in local SEO for compounding growth and targeted ads for immediate volume, roughly the order our how to get more clients as a lawyer guide recommends for any firm, but especially a new one with no existing base to fall back on.
It's also worth resisting the temptation to buy a polished brand and logo package before any of this. A distinctive brand matters eventually, but it does nothing for a firm nobody can find yet, and money spent there instead of on visibility and reviews is usually the single most common early mistake we see new principals make. Branding earns its place once the foundations are working, not before.
See what's included at each stage on our pricing page.
The same sequence for every new firm we take on, because it's the order that gets a startup practice its first enquiries fastest.
A credible website that reassures a first-time visitor, a fully set-up Google Business Profile, and tracking wired in so every enquiry from day one is captured and attributed correctly. Nothing else on this list matters much if this stage is rushed, since every other channel eventually sends people back here.
SEO content for your practice areas begins compounding, and targeted Google Ads bring in enquiries immediately while rankings are still building, so you're not waiting months for your first call. Budget here is deliberately tight and closely watched, a new firm can't afford to learn expensive lessons on untested campaigns.
A structured process for asking early clients for reviews, plus outreach to the referral partners, other solicitors, accountants, brokers, who'll matter most once your reputation starts to build. By this point there's usually enough of a track record, a handful of reviews, a working website, some ranking traction, to make that outreach credible rather than premature.
Yes, this is exactly the situation the first-90-days sequence is built for. We recommend where a limited budget does the most good rather than spreading it thin across every channel at once.
With the website. It's the foundation everything else points to, your Google Business Profile, your ads, your referral partners checking you out, so it comes first regardless of what else you eventually add.
Targeted ads can bring enquiries within days of launch once the foundations are live. SEO and referral relationships take longer to build but compound over time, we'll set realistic expectations for your specific practice area on the first call.
No, we work with firms at every stage, from solo practitioners just starting out to multi-partner firms. New firms are one of the groups we help most often.
That's common, and worth resolving early rather than marketing generically. Compare our family law, personal injury, conveyancing, wills & estates, criminal law and commercial law pages, each behaves differently enough in search and referral terms that it changes the whole plan.
Ask the questions in our how to choose a legal marketing agency guide before signing with anyone, including us. Month-to-month terms, written targets and a realistic first call are the minimum you should expect.
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