Frank Ramos, a Miami litigation lawyer, writes intelligently on LinkedIn. Recently, he posted that potential legal clients are moving away from using Google searches, and toward AI, to find lawyers. His conclusion is that lawyers should stop worrying about SEO and start writing intelligent commentary so that AI will identify them as an expert and recommend them.
Frank’s post got me thinking. I have been writing on LinkedIn for some time now, often about mentoring and teaching. So, I asked ChatGPT, “Can you name specific lawyers in Ontario, Canada with a reputation for being good mentors?” My name did not come up, so I can tell it is not yet working all that well.
Nonetheless, Frank has me wondering whether my views on how to build a client base are out of date.
I have been preaching that clients fall into two basic categories.
First, there are the unsophisticated retail clients who may well choose their lawyer based on SEO optimization delivering them to a website or AI making a recommendation. These are the clients who are sought out by: (i) people like personal injury lawyers, who are looking to do profitable work for inexperienced clients; (ii) lawyers who want to make their money doing volume work for low prices, such as residential real estate lawyers; or (iii) lawyers who are content to earn a modest income doing unprofitable work for unsophisticated clients, such as basic commercial transactions for very small businesses.
Second, there are sophisticated clients who have traditionally been found through in-person networking with clients and referral sources. I have thought that lawyers looking for these clients can supplement their efforts by having a LinkedIn (or other social media or internet) presence. This would occasionally bring them to a prospect’s attention, and more often bolster their image after the client becomes aware of them in another manner. I have seen the online world as a place where lawyers can meet people and demonstrate their expertise, but primarily as part of a slow build toward a personal relationship.
Frank’s post has me questioning all of this. There is much being written about whether, when and why people trust AI, especially considering its dubious track record for generating correct results. Still, it seems clear that trust is likely to build over time. As that happens and AI is seen as an experienced, intelligent, objective and wise source of information, why wouldn’t sophisticated prospective clients go directly to AI to ask for recommendations? If that is right, then everything I have always thought about building a client base through networking is wrong. And that would leave me wondering whether I should forget about networking with real people and just take my AI out for lunch.
This article was originally published by Law360 Canada, part of LexisNexis Canada Inc.