Fight, Fold, or Muddle Through? Marketing Pros + Cons of Each Approach
- Matt Plavnick
- Mar 31
- 5 min read
Legal marketers, whatever your firms choose to do in this moment, you'll be in the potentially uncomfortable spot of executing. You know your firms, lawyers, and clients. You are reading the market in ways your lawyers and firm leaders may not be. Listen for tone and timing, and counsel and act accordingly.
"We're about to enter the mother of all A/B branding tests," Oliver Thoenen wrote Friday on LinkedIn, "as firms being targeted [by the Trump administration], or anticipating they might be targeted, are sorting themselves into two distinct camps: accommodation and resistance. [...] There are significant risks to either approach."
Oliver hits the mark regarding the choice before targeted firms. But what about the rest of BigLaw? Be sure, they face a significant choice, too. What they do–or don't do–in this moment may affect major aspects of their brand and business operations. Client loyalty? Check. Marketing? Check. Employee morale? Check. Recruiting and retention? Check. With every Above the Law headline and LinkedIn update, we are seeing it play out in real time.
Targeted firms must decide whether to fight or capitulate. All other firms, it seems, are deciding whether to:
raise their voices in resistance, for example by issuing statements and/or joining the amicus brief for Perkins Coie;
begin operating under an assumed new normal, where Trump gets what Trump wants and the rest of us live with it, so we might as well adapt; or,
ignore the distraction and sit out the debate entirely. This too comes with risk.
There is no "easy" path for law firms. It's worth taking a look, then, at the marketing pros and cons of each approach. After all, corporations don't hire law firms, people do. As marketers, our job is to consider the audience and tailor the message accordingly. How will we do that depending on the decisions our leadership teams make?
The Fighters
Mindset: We've always told clients we're "innovative," "zealous," and "fierce." Time to put up or shut up. This is bigger than any one firm; the business of law and our constitutional rights are in jeopardy. If we don't fight now, then what's left won't be worth fighting for.
Marketing Pros:
Clients know where the firm stands and what it stands for. They see your spirit and want that for their bet-the-company matters.
Fighters will churn out a steady stream of ready-made content for marketing, PR, and social media. We will see media hits everywhere. Plenty of click bait.
Clients and employees will organically reinforce the messaging with scores of "Proud to work with [insert firm here]" posts.
Marketing Cons:
Some clients will get scared to be associated with vocal firms and pull their work. The Trump administration is counting on this fear to cow law firms into submission. Unfortunately, it's a real, perhaps guaranteed, risk.
These firms might lose a very big, very public fight. The consequences may be catastrophic.
Marketers Should:
Be prepared to work fast, repurpose content, and spot opportunities to amplify the message.
Monitor for employees' and supporters' posts and engage with them online from firm and personal accounts.
Watch for public comment or reporting about potentially negative updates and consider how to show the market that the firms are vital and viable (in the event of setbacks in the fight).
In the event of a public loss (see "Marketing Cons"), tell positive culture stories, show recruiting and retention successes, and tout client wins even as chaos abounds. These may be moments when demonstrating elements of business as usual is exactly the right approach.
The Folders
Mindset: It doesn't matter what we think or believe, how we voted, or what we thought we were voting for. We've been doing this since 2016. The regular rules just don't apply. We're all in Trump's world now. The sooner we accept that, the better it will be for our business. To resist is to throw good money after bad. Change presents opportunity, and some firms will emerge stronger for it. It might as well be us.
Marketing Pros:
Plenty of clients are taking this approach–just look at Big Tech. Firms are merely reflecting their clients' priorities.
It doesn't cost much to scrub DEI references and tout pro bono efforts the administration will like.
Clients can see these firms won't rock the boat. These firms are pragmatic and will continue to put client interests ahead of their own.
Marketing Cons:
Some clients may be turned off. The people making hiring decisions look for signals that indicate what law firms will do when the going gets tough. Resignation is not a strong marketing posture. These clients may reevaluate their engagements.
Few, if any, will highlight the firm's approach to say "Well done, Firm X. We support you." There may even be an opposite effect. Firms that accommodate the administration may see backlash, especially if adaptation involves public gifts, such as pro bono donations, to the administration. (Remember, Trump is a marketer; he understands the value of name-dropping and will not hesitate to drop your firm's name to apply pressure to others, even if you hoped to fly under the radar.)
Some clients will reasonably wonder about the morale of the teams staffing their matters. How motivated are these junior partners and associates to do the work? What's the internal culture? Am I getting the very best representation my money can buy?
Internal audiences may cry foul. Firms may lose some personnel as a result, and those people may make public statements as they depart.
Marketers Should:
Audit and update firm boilerplate for relevance (DEI, pro bono, etc.) Understand the firm's position and market opportunities, and ensure language supports the firm's priorities.
Alert lawyers and clients to new business considerations in light of various executive orders and market updates.
Monitor social media and sites like Glassdoor where departing personnel may leave reviews.
Tell positive culture stories to balance any backlash.
The Muddlers
Mindset: We don't do politics. All of this is outside of the scope of our core business mission to zealously and innovatively represent sophisticated clients in their most strategic business opportunities and bet-the-company matters. We are not resigned, but we are not going to stick our necks out. We'll bet on all this dying down and it'll be business as usual in a couple months or years. Why choose if we don't have to?
Marketing Pros:
Nothing changes! Muddlers carry on and hope it's a good-enough response.
Clients don't see anything to react to–no grand statements welcoming the fight, no grand gestures signaling obeisance. Muddling is inoffensive.
Clients and internal audiences see the firm emphasizing stability and business continuity. They may wonder if that's enough for the moment, but since the answer is "Who knows?," then why do anything that could upset the status quo?
Marketing Cons:
Clients right now may be looking for reassurance and clues about firm values. Silence may be telling in itself.
Similarly, clients may wonder: What makes you different than any of the dozens of other firms that want my business? Muddling through may inadvertently emphasize law firm fungibility.
Presumably, muddlers will continue to promote their standard marketing fare: thought leadership (on anything but the executive orders targeting law firms), victory announcements, Super Lawyers updates, and events. To be sure, there is still room for this amid the uproar, yet firms risk appearing out of step with the moment.
Marketers Should:
Good news, not much changes for marketers if their firms are muddling through–after all, that's kind of the point.
Tune in closely to news cycles and market sentiment to ensure they aren't promoting or celebrating business as usual in tone-deaf ways that are off-putting to clients.
This Post Oversimplifies Matters
This post is likely biased and certainly oversimplifies the complex and emotionally fraught circumstances many marketers face. Yet marketers are often in the position to deliver their firms' messages, whether they agree or not. It can be a helpful exercise to consider the marketer's role and options under various circumstances.
If I may say just one more thing: Law firms are always hiring marketers. If you don't like your firm's position and want to look around, there are opportunities.