Personal & Firm Branding for Women Lawyers

Branding can help women lawyers develop a distinctive presence that supports their professional goals, whether that means attracting new clients, strengthening their internal influence, or positioning themselves for partnership or leadership roles. I’m holding a roundtable session at the 2026 CWBA Convention on this topic. If you’d like to learn more and do some helpful exercises, please attend!

If you’re not running your own law firm, you probably aren’t sure exactly what a “brand” is. And even if you are, you still might find it a fuzzy concept. That’s normal. Even though I have been working in communications and marketing my whole career, it wasn’t until I started diving into brand building that it really clicked for me. Let’s start with the basics:

What is a “brand”?

Your “brand,” whether personal or your firm’s, is your outward identity: what you’re known for, your reputation, and how you appear to others. You can shape it intentionally or leave it to chance, but you always have one.

How do you build a brand?

Building a brand is about intentionally shaping what other people think about you. You need to ensure that what you say, how you act, and how you appear to others all build the desired impression. If this sounds like a lot of work, it can be, but it can also mean ensuring that how you show up in the world is aligned with who you are anyway, and that is a lot easier!

In my experience, brand-building comes fairly naturally to lawyers because you’re used to looking a certain way, speaking a certain way in a professional setting, and having a rigorous code of ethics to abide by. Together, these attributes build up to a particular impression, which is your professional brand! And I’m sure that you have a different “brand” when you’re at home in sweats with family.

Why does having a “brand” matter?

Thinking about yourself or your business as a “brand” can help you be more intentional about achieving your goals. Whether you're an associate building your reputation from scratch, a senior associate trying to make yourself known beyond your supervising partner's network, or a partner working to grow a book of business, you want to be thought of in a specific way.

Many of us were taught that if you work hard, you will succeed, and lawyers definitely know how to work hard. So how do you stand out from your peers if everyone is working hard? That’s where your “brand” comes in, because that’s what will help you, and those around you, identify what makes you special.

The good news is that creating your own brand is straightforward. It’s not magic, and it doesn’t require being fake. However, it does require being honest with yourself, which can sometimes be even harder.

Building a brand for women lawyers: start with self-reflection

The first step in building a professional brand is self-knowledge. I don’t mean a vague sense of "I'm a good lawyer, and I work hard for my clients," but clear, articulable answers to the questions your ideal clients and colleagues are silently asking.

Most lawyers can describe their practice area easily. Far fewer can answer the question that matters more: what do people come to you for? This isn’t the official description of your role; it’s the real-world reason someone would pick up the phone and call you specifically. Is it your ability to stay calm in a deal that's coming apart? Your instinct for spotting regulatory risk that others miss? Your talent for explaining complex concepts to clients without making them feel talked down to? And it can’t be the same thing as everyone else.

Those specifics are the raw material of a strong brand. A quick exercise for you: think of the last three times a colleague, client, or supervisor said something genuinely complimentary about your work. What was the theme? That thread will probably be the heart of your brand. I can promise that once you start noticing it, you will keep hearing it.

A few years ago, I started noticing clients say that they felt “really listened to” and like I “really got” them. I was initially surprised, because to me, that’s the basic function of my brand strategy work; I ask questions, I listen, and then I interpret. But apparently, not only was that something my clients appreciated, but it was the thing that they appreciated the most. So now that’s something I lean into.

Know your audience

There is a classic marketing saying that if you’re trying to appeal to everyone, you appeal to no one. Even the most basic of consumer products (toilet paper or bread) have specific audiences and don’t try to appeal to everyone.

In order for your brand to land successfully, you need to think about who you want it to work for. The “you” that your dog loves probably isn’t the same “you” that will make it to partner, or grow your firm!

Here are a few audiences you may need to consider:

• Clients and potential clients need to believe you understand their world, that you'll fight for their interests, and that working with you is worth the investment.

• Internal stakeholders (partners, committees, firm leadership) want to know whether you're growing, whether you're reliable, and whether investing in your development will pay off.

• Your professional network and referral sources operate on simpler logic: when a relevant need comes up, do they think of you?

I’m not saying you should be different around these audiences, but which aspects of your “brand” do you want to emphasize? For clients, you should lead with results and trust. For firm leadership, you’ll want to demonstrate initiative and reliability. For your network, you’d do well to signal expertise and accessibility. Understanding which audience matters most to you right now is critical.

Personal brand vs. firm brand: an important distinction

If you run your own firm, your personal brand may overlap considerably with the company’s brand. If you’re a solo law firm, that Venn diagram will probably be a circle. But if you have growth ambitions for your firm, it’s important that the company brand is bigger than just you. It will need to be big enough to absorb other partners and staff, who all bring their own personalities to the mix.

If you work for someone else, then the difference between your personal brand and the firm’s brand should be larger. Your firm's brand is institutional. It creates context for your work, lends credibility, and opens doors. But it stays with the firm if you leave. Your personal brand is portable because it travels with you to a new firm or to your own practice. It's yours, so own it. Lawyers who invest only in building the firm's brand may find themselves starting over if they move or transition. The goal isn't to choose one over the other, but to grow both simultaneously and with intention.

There is a rich overlap zone where the two reinforce each other. From a practical perspective, this can look like thought leadership articles, speaking engagements, writing client alerts, and industry involvement. When you publish a sharp analysis of new case law under your own name, you build your personal brand. When that piece runs on the firm's platform, both brands benefit. The best brand-building activities live in that overlap.

One thing worth noting: women of color and first-generation lawyers can be asked to do work that builds the firm's diversity narrative without receiving equal investment in their own visibility and advancement. If that resonates, it's worth examining whose brand is actually growing from your current activities.

Taking the brand public

Getting clear on your brand is a private exercise, but at some point, the people who need to know about you need to know about you. The tactics look different by career stage, but the principle is the same:

• Associates can focus on building a LinkedIn presence that reflects how they think, not just where they work; joining bar association committees in their practice area; and identifying internal sponsors who will say their name in rooms they're not in.

• Senior associates and counsel can work on developing a niche; becoming the go-to person for a specific industry or case type; pitching to speak at CLE programs; and beginning to cultivate independent client relationships.

• Partners and firm leaders can develop a consistent thought leadership strategy; invest in legal rankings and directory profiles; and actively mentor and sponsor junior women. Your brand includes who you lift up.

  
  

Where to start

Branding can feel vast and fluffy — a project you'll get to eventually, once things slow down. But clarity comes from action, not the other way around. The most useful thing is to pick one concrete action and commit to it.

That might mean updating your LinkedIn profile to reflect what makes you special. It might mean sending three emails to people in your network you've been meaning to reconnect with. Or, it might mean drafting a short article on something you've been watching in your practice area.

Every interaction you have at work, including how you run a client call and how you write a memo, is contributing to your brand, whether you're intentional or not. The only question is whether you’re in control of your brand or letting other people fill the gaps.

I’m holding a roundtable session at the 2026 CWBA Convention on this topic. If you’d like to learn more and do some helpful exercises, please attend!