Law firm reputation management: writing a firm-wide policy
Guide · Updated October 31, 2026
In a firm with several attorneys, reputation issues can surface anywhere: a review of one associate, a news story about a case, a former employee's post. Without a written policy, each person reacts differently.
A short law firm reputation management policy, two pages at most, gives everyone the same playbook. This guide outlines what to include.
What the policy should cover
- Ownership: which partner or administrator is responsible for the firm's listings, directory profiles and review monitoring.
- Who may reply: usually only designated people, after the responsible attorney has been consulted.
- Confidentiality: a plain statement that no reply may reveal client information, consistent with Rule 1.6 as adopted in your state.
- Individual attorney profiles: attorneys keep their own directory profiles accurate and consistent with firm advertising rules.
- Media and social media: who handles press inquiries about matters, and a reminder not to comment on client matters online.
- Departures: how bios, listings and profiles are updated when an attorney joins or leaves.
- Escalation: threats, allegations of misconduct and potential bar complaints go to the managing partner and, where appropriate, ethics counsel.
What the ethics rules say about replying to client reviews
Lawyers have a duty of confidentiality under rules based on ABA Model Rule 1.6. In Formal Opinion 496 (2021), the ABA's ethics committee concluded that a negative online review alone does not permit a lawyer to disclose confidential client information in a response.
The opinion describes options that generally remain available:
- Not responding at all, which is often reasonable.
- Asking the website or search engine to remove the review if it is false or breaks the site's rules, without revealing confidential information.
- Posting a short reply that does not reveal client information, for example saying that professional obligations prevent a detailed response and that the lawyer does not believe the post is accurate.
- Contacting the former client privately to try to resolve the concern.
State rules and ethics opinions vary. Check your state bar's guidance or consult ethics counsel before replying to a review that touches on a representation.
Running reviews across several locations
With more than one location, the main risk is inconsistency: one site replies thoughtfully, another never replies, and a third argues with clients.
- Keep one list of every profile for every location, with who has owner access.
- Write a short reply guide with approved approaches for common situations, and let local managers personalize the wording.
- Define what gets escalated to a central person: legal threats, safety issues, privacy issues and media inquiries.
- Review all locations side by side once a month to spot a location whose reviews are changing.
Remove access for staff who leave, and check that every profile is still owned by the business rather than by a former employee or vendor.
Setting up basic review monitoring
Monitoring means knowing about a new review or mention soon enough to respond calmly. It does not need to be complicated.
- List every site where clients can review you or mention you. Start with Google and the directories most relevant to your field.
- Claim or verify each profile you are entitled to manage, and keep login access in a shared, secure place rather than with one employee.
- Turn on email or app notifications for new reviews on every platform that offers them.
- Set up free name alerts (for example Google Alerts) for your business name and key people.
- Choose one person to check everything on a fixed day each week, even if notifications are on.
- Keep a simple log: date, platform, rating, summary, reply status and any follow-up.
Set an internal target for how quickly reviews get a reply, and review the log once a month for repeated themes.
Why platforms rarely remove posts on request
In the United States, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act generally protects websites from being treated as the publisher of content their users post. In practice, that means a website usually has no legal obligation to remove a user's post just because someone says it is false or unfair.
Most removals therefore happen under the platform's own rules (its terms of service or content policy), through a court order directed at the content, or through specific laws such as copyright.
Exceptions and details matter, and this is general information rather than legal advice. A licensed attorney can explain how the law applies to a particular post.
Legal note: this guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws and platform policies change and vary by state. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
Getting help
Many of these steps you can take yourself. If you would like someone to look at your situation with you and suggest a plan, you can book a paid consultation. This is a paid consultation: price confirmed when scheduling. No payment is taken on this site. We do not guarantee that any review, article, listing or search result will be removed.