Featured · Personal Brand
Your account, not the firm's: what an individual attorney posts
A firm's account and an attorney's own account are read by different people for different reasons, and posting the same material to both wastes whichever one is not being served. The firm's is largely institutional; yours is read by people deciding whether you are the person to refer something to.
That difference settles nearly every question about what to post — and it makes the permission conversation with the firm the first step rather than an afterthought.
What belongs on your account
The test is whether a referrer reading it would think of you next time the situation arises. Everything that passes belongs; most firm content does not.
The specific problem you handle, described in the words the person with it would use.
What you noticed this month — a pattern across matters, a change that will catch people out, something clients keep getting wrong.
Your own view, stated plainly. Opinion is what makes an individual account worth following and what firm accounts systematically remove.
Occasional evidence you exist as a person: where you spoke, what you read, who you work with.
And almost never: firm announcements, reposted press releases, or generic professional platitudes.
The single most useful discipline is to write for the referrer rather than the client. An accountant who reads your post and recognises the problem in a client of their own is worth more than fifty prospects who read it and were not ready.
It also solves the volume problem. Writing for referrers means you need to post rarely and specifically, which a practising fee-earner can actually sustain.
Permission, and the risks that are yours
These questions are easier settled early, and they are the ones attorneys most often skip.
Whether you may identify the firm on a personal account, and whether the firm considers the account its property if you do.
What happens to the account and its following if you move. Attorneys assume this is obvious and firms sometimes disagree.
Whether posts touching on matters need any internal review, and by whom.
That regulatory exposure is personal. It is your name on the claim, and your regulator's advertising rules apply whatever the platform.
That replies are public and permanent. Somebody describing their situation in a comment is inviting an answer that could look like advice.
And that case outcomes are advertising in most jurisdictions, however celebratory the framing.
A cadence that survives practice
Small, specific and sustainable. The account that is still running in year three beats the one that was excellent for a quarter.
Post fortnightly. Weekly is abandoned; monthly is forgotten.
Draw from the question list — the things clients have actually asked you twice.
Write each post complete in itself, and assume nobody clicks a link.
State a view. A post with no opinion in it is indistinguishable from every other firm's.
Keep a short never-post list: outcomes, client-identifying detail, and replies engaging with anyone's facts.
Engage with referrers' posts more than you publish your own. It is faster, it is noticed, and it maintains the relationships that produce work.
Judge it on whether referrers mention it and whether the right conversations start — not on followers.
And keep the account in your own name, because it is the asset that travels.
An attorney posting fortnightly, specifically, with a view, for two years will be better known in their niche than a firm account posting daily to nobody in particular.
FAQs
Should attorneys post on their own account or the firm's?
Both do different jobs. The firm's is institutional; yours is read by people deciding whether to refer something to you. Posting identical content to both wastes whichever one is not being served.
What should an attorney post about?
The specific problem you handle in the client's words, patterns you have noticed across matters, and your own view stated plainly. Opinion is what makes an individual account worth following and what firm accounts remove.
Do we need the firm's permission?
Settle it early — whether you may identify the firm, whether it considers the account its property, what happens to the following if you move, and whether posts touching on matters need review. These are easier answered before than after.
Who carries the regulatory risk?
You do, personally. Your regulator's advertising rules apply whatever the platform, case outcomes count as advertising in most jurisdictions however celebratory the framing, and replies engaging with somebody's facts are public and permanent.
How often should an attorney post?
Fortnightly. Weekly gets abandoned and monthly gets forgotten. Draw from the questions clients have actually asked you twice, and spend more time engaging with referrers' posts than publishing your own.
End Note
The firm's account will keep announcing things. Yours is the one that makes somebody think of you when a situation arises, which is a different job and a much smaller one.
Settle the permissions, post fortnightly from the questions you are actually asked, say what you think, and spend more time reading referrers' posts than writing your own.
Key Takeaways
Your account is read by referrers; the firm's is institutional.
Write for the person who might refer, not the person searching.
State a view — an opinionless post is indistinguishable from any firm's.
Settle permission and ownership before building a following.
Keep the account in your own name; it is the asset that travels.
