A Lawyer Business Card: Dos and Don'ts

As modern society becomes increasingly reliant on digital resources, you may be debating whether lawyers even need physical business cards. The answer is "Absolutely!"

You can find plenty of statistics that demonstrate the efficacy of business cards. For instance, some businesses report that sales increase by approximately 25% for every 2000 business cards they distribute. Imagine what a 25% increase in clients would do for your law firm.

But simply printing out and distributing stacks of law firm business cards is not enough. If you want your business card to make a lasting impression on the recipient, it should feature a professional look, your law firm's logo, and other important design attributes. 

Below, explore the dos and don'ts of creating lawyer business cards so that you can differentiate your services from those offered by other law firms.

Why Do You Need an Attorney Business Card?

Lawyer business cards can serve as an integral component of your overall marketing strategy. In fact, many web design firms for lawyers also assist with business card creation. These digital marketing professionals understand the benefits of lawyer business cards.

By investing in modern lawyer business cards, you can:

Share Information Quickly

When exchanging contact information with clients, verbally providing them with your phone number and giving them the opportunity to store it on their smartphone may seem like the most pragmatic approach. However, this is not necessarily the case.

It’s best to keep any initial exchanges with a potential client short and concise. Relaying information about your business, such as your area of practice, physical office location, phone number, and name, can take several minutes.

Conversely, you can politely introduce yourself and pass out a law firm business card in seconds. This frictionless exchange of information demonstrates that you respect the time of your potential clients.

Leave a Lasting Impression on Prospective Clients

If your lawyer business cards are well designed, they can leave a lasting impression on potential clients. Recipients of business cards are more likely to hold onto them if the card contains vibrant colors. Several other ways to boost the visual appeal of your lawyer business card will be discussed in greater detail in a later section.

Demonstrate Your Professionalism

Aesthetically pleasing and well-composed law firm business cards will make your business appear professional and knowledgeable. Conversely, jotting your contact information down on a piece of paper can make your business appear disorganized.

In addition to conveying the idea that you are a seasoned professional, lawyer business cards can be used for branding. Everything on your business card, from the logos to the placement of your contact details, should align with your brand voice.

What Standard Lawyer Business Cards Should Contain

Since a law firm business card is a relatively small piece of paper, it is important not to overload it with content. Instead, you should focus on some basic pieces of information, including the following:

Law Firm Logo

Oftentimes, logos serve as the centerpiece of modern lawyer business cards. However, positioning your law firm logo to one side of the small piece of paper is also an acceptable practice.

When positioning your logo, make sure to adjust the sizing of the image. You do not want it to overshadow the text on the business card. But you should ensure that your logo is bold and large enough to be immediately distinguishable.

Before printing your lawyer business cards, try out a few different logo sizes to ensure that you are satisfied with the positioning and layout.

Law Firm Name

Your name should be the largest segment of text on your business card. List your law firm's name immediately below your name. Law firms typically print the business name in a smaller and less bold font than the attorney's name. This tactic ensures that the viewer's vision is drawn to the most important pieces of information first.

Message or Tagline

The best lawyer business cards feature a catchy tagline. This short tagline is generally positioned underneath the attorney’s and law firm's names. Alternatively, the tagline can be displayed to the left or right of the contact information or on the back side of the business card.

A concise, witty tagline on your lawyer business card can leave a lasting impression in the minds of your audience. Your tagline can be used with other branding content as well. Incorporating it into multiple pieces of advertising content will help you relay a consistent, uniform message to clients.

Contact Information

No lawyer business card is complete unless it includes up-to-date contact information. At a minimum, you should list your physical address, office phone number, email address, and cell phone number.

If you have room, you can also highlight the legal services you provide. This should not be a comprehensive list of the types of cases that you handle. Instead, it should only include the areas of law that you focus on. For instance, if you are a criminal lawyer who primarily takes on DUI cases, list "DUI" on your business card.

Call to Action

The final component of great lawyer business cards is the call to action, or CTA. It is also one of the attributes that many lawyers often neglect to include.

Like other content included on lawyer business cards, your CTA should be concise. It can include a phrase like "Contact us for a free consultation" or even something simpler, such as "Call our team today.”

A CTA allows you to communicate what action you want the client to take next. Bold phrasing and clear instructions are more effective than vague suggestions.

Attorney Business Card Design Ideas

Functional Design

Source: Brent Dellsworth Business Card by creationsbox2015

Before you begin exploring your creative side, ensure that your lawyer business cards are functional. Ideally, clients should be able to gather any information they need from your business card at a glance — they should not have to search for your contact information.

When you design your business card, group all of your contact information together. This makes it easier for clients to locate your phone number, address, and email should they decide to connect with one of your attorneys. If your information is not easy to find or is missing, the recipient may just toss your business card and seek out other attorneys in your area.

Be Clear About Your Practice Area

Source: Bryant E Esquenazi lawyer business card by studio4design

You do not need to list every type of service that your attorneys provide. However, it is vital to be clear about your general practice area. Somewhere on your business card, plainly identify what your primary area of practice is.

Listing your practice area serves two purposes: First, it will allow the recipient to determine whether you are a specialist in a field that is relevant to them. Secondly, listing your areas of expertise will help you attract the cases that you want. In turn, this will improve the quality of leads that you generate with your business card.

Be Bold When Incorporating New Symbols

Source: Catherine Baron Law by SBRBD

Ditching overused legal symbols like the scales of justice or a gavel will set your business card apart. But if you are going to break away from legal industry trends, do so boldly. Use creative, vibrant symbols that attract your audience's gaze and generate intrigue.

Try Modern Colors

Source: Susan Vance Law by Mihai Crisan

Classic lawyer business cards often use all black or dark blue color patterns. While this style is perfectly fine, incorporating modern colors into your business card can be wise. Consider neons, oranges, or other vibrant colors, as long as they align with your branding and company logo.

Express Your Message

Source: Brad Doyle Law Firm business card design by dizzyline

If your firm already has a catchy slogan, consider incorporating it into your business card. Only include concise and to-the-point taglines, as overcrowding your business card with text can impact readability.

Use All Space Available

Source: Rice Law, PLLC by Sarah Mathews

If you leave the back of your business card blank, you have missed an opportunity to reinforce brand messaging and wasted half of the space. The backs of your business cards should have some brand elements, such as your logo or slogan.

Try Cut-Outs

Source: Paul C Redrup business card by Ben Morales

A cut-out can make the rest of your design elements pop. You can incorporate a cut-out into your business cards in several different ways. Two common tactics involve removing either the outline of your logo or the lettering in your law firm's name.

Experiment with Different Materials

Source: Telma Gonçalves Business Card by Humana

If you want your business cards to stand out, consider opting for a material other than paper. You can create business cards from carbon fiber, stainless steel, acrylic, or plastic.

While these business cards will be more costly to produce, they are far more durable, which means that clients can store them in their wallets until they need to hire one of your lawyers. Clients are also less likely to discard business cards made from high-end materials.

Go Minimalistic

Source: Lawwise | Law Firm Branding by Mockup Cloud

While bright, vibrant colors are great for business cards, this approach will not suit every brand. If bright colors don’t align with your professional image, go the minimalistic route. A minimalist card uses fine, neat fonts with a less busy layout.

Use Foil

Source: Surge Legal business card by ultrastjarna

Paper business cards accented with foil can be cheaper than metal or acrylic cards. However, the foil accents will differentiate your business cards from generic paper cards. You can use foil to accent your logo, law firm name, or the names of your attorneys.

Lawyer Business Card Rules

As you know, attorneys are held to a higher standard than many other professionals. With that in mind, you must be aware of the rules and ethics involved when creating business cards for your firm. Some of the most important lawyer business card rules are as follows:

• Use Care When Issuing Business Cards for Support Staff: Like most firms, you will probably elect to provide your support staff, such as your paralegals, with business cards. While this is a perfectly acceptable practice, use care when creating these cards. Specifically, you need to ensure that the paralegal is clearly identified as a non-attorney staff member. Otherwise, you may inadvertently mislead recipients of the business card.
  As noted above, the card holder's name and title should be the most prominent text on the business card. If you follow this simple rule and clearly list the card owner’s title underneath their name, you should avoid incurring the ire of your state's governing body.
• Do Not Include Misleading Information About Your Physical Address: Your business card should never include an address for a jurisdiction where you are not licensed to practice law. Additionally, you should avoid listing a physical address if your firm does not consult with clients on premises.
  If you exclusively offer remote services, simply omit the address information from your business card. Instead, list items such as your phone number, areas of practice, and email address.
• Include Any Required Disclaimers: If you are required to provide disclaimers when advertising your services, you must include those disclaimers on your business card. This information can be listed on the back of your card so that you do not disrupt the aesthetics of your design.
  Alternatively, you can provide clients with access to your disclaimer via a QR code. In addition to being efficient, QR codes will not interfere with the visual appeal of your card.
• List Only Facts: Regardless of which area you practice in, it is essential that your business cards are free from any superlatives or hyperbolic language. Terms like "cheapest" or "best around" should be avoided when composing business card content. Instead, use words such as "professional," "highly skilled,” or "knowledgeable.”
• Be Specific: When deciding how to refer to yourself and your business on your cards, make sure that you are specific. Additionally, you must comply with state regulations.
  Generally, it would be best if you referred to yourself by the name on your bar license. Failing to do so can be construed as misrepresenting yourself. You may also be subject to penalties by your state governing body.
• Label Yourself Appropriately: Refrain from representing yourself as a specialist or subject matter expert unless you are certified by an applicable entity. You should also check with that entity or organization to confirm what terminology you are authorized to use.
• Exhibit Transparency: The most important rule when creating lawyer business cards is to be transparent. Do not use misleading terminology or phrases. Instead, clearly list your areas of practice, contact number, and other pertinent information.
  By keeping your business cards concise and honest, you can reduce your risk of accidentally misleading clients. You will also minimize the number of poor-quality leads that you receive from your cards.

Final Inspirations for Attorney Business Cards

As you can see, there are many ways to approach creating attorney business cards. While having options when crafting a business card for your law firm is great, the sheer abundance of choices available can make it challenging to settle on a single design.

If you want your attorney business cards to make the maximum impact on potential clients, then you must ensure that the design and layout align with your brand image. The best way to accomplish this is to partner with a premium law firm marketing agency like Grow Law Firm.

Our marketing team has the expertise and creative skills necessary to create a dynamic lawyer business card for your law firm. We can also assist with your online marketing efforts by providing law firm SEO services, PPC campaign management for lawyers, and web design services.

If you want to leverage business cards and other resources to build your brand, contact Grow Law Firm today.