Professionally Responding to Negative Law Firm Reviews

More Cases. Better Clients. Real Results.

Start a Conversation with GAVL

Reviews play a major role in building and growing a successful law firm. In our last blog, we discussed some of the ways attorneys can obtain more reviews (in 100% ethical ways) as well as better manage those reviews. This week, we’re going to dive deeper into that management role and discuss some the better ways to handle and respond to negative law firm and attorney reviews.

No one likes negative reviews. It’s a simple fact of life and of doing business. At some point in the lifespan of every successful business, that business will receive at least one negative review. No one likes to hear criticism of the negative variety, whether it’s legitimate or not. If your goal as a business is to never receive a negative review, it’s probably wise to reconsider that goal. Negative reviews happen and are often beyond your control.

Even if you strive to always do your best and succeed with every case your firm takes on, you will eventually lose a case. Similarly, even if you strive to always treat every client the best you can, people can become unhappy over elements that are not fully within your control (such as losing a case), or for reasons you may not even understand. At some point, you will get a negative review. While your goal, obviously, should be to gain far more positive reviews than negative, once you do get that negative review, you’re left standing there with one question: “Now what I do with this?”

Examine Reviews Objectively

The very first thing you should do when that negative reviews rolls in is not respond immediately. Remain professional. Don’t give into that first instinct to argue or refute what the review is claiming. Take a step back and look at it from an objective angle.

The first question you should ask yourself is if it’s legitimate. This is important because there are a surprising amount of business reviews out there that are not. People often make mistakes when reviewing and sometimes leave reviews on the wrong businesses or even business types entirely. It’s not uncommon to see random, stray reviews on a law firm’s website that have nothing to do with law whatsoever. We’ve personally seen restaurant and food reviews left on a law firm’s business profile. Some of these wrong reviews also happen due to spam.

If you see a review that doesn’t look like it’s meant for your business, check the user’s name to see if it’s one you recognize. If it isn’t, there’s a good chance you can report it to Google. Google Business Profile outlines the steps you should take to report an inappropriate review here. Other reasons you may wish to file a report for an inappropriate review including the following:

• If a review looks like spam or that it was posted on multiple business profiles wrongly
• If the review is clearly trying to solicit information
• If the review mentions other business or law firm names instead of yours
• If the review contains profanity or anything else that could be considered offensive

When reporting the review, you will have to choose between “spam” or “profanity” as your reason for issuing the report. Most reports commonly have to do with spam.

After you file the report, Google will make a decision and remove the review in question or leave it live. You have one chance to appeal Google’s decision after it is granted.

The Next Step in Objectivity: Responding

If you have determined that the review is, in fact, legitimate, this is where things start to get a little more complicated. Responding to negative criticism is difficult, but the vital thing to remember is that anything you put in a response can and will be publicly seen. The author of the review will see your responses, but those responses will also be available for anyone to see who happens across your Google Business Profile. For that reason, you’ll always want to respond in a professional, objective manner.

Here are some good tips:

• Do respond. One of the worst things you can do is not respond entirely. This makes it look like your business doesn’t care about criticism or about making improvements.
• Acknowledge pain points. Once you have determined that the review is legitimate, start off by acknowledging the client’s negative experience and ap9oligizng. You don’t have to go into the specifics of the case, and in fact, it’s better not to. You do, however, want to show that their review is valid. Swallow your pride and ask yourself if there is any truth to what they’re saying. There’s a good chance there may be some value to be taken from the review. A good way to start a respectful response is with something along the lines of, “We’re sorry that you had that experience.” This acknowledges the situation while apologizing right off the bat.
• Consider their feedback. As mentioned above, there may be value in their review. Perhaps your office could have communicated better regarding steps that seemed confusing to the client. Maybe there was a delay somewhere that could have been avoided. To best verbalize that value, consider writing something like, “We appreciate your feedback and we will work on better…” with whatever details make sense. Again, you don’t have to go into specifics, but when you mention you have a plan in place for making improvements, this shows the public that your firm cares about its clients.
• Open the door for communication. It’s often a good idea to encourage further communication regarding a negative, legitimate review, but you do want to avoid allowing the discussion to continue in a public environment. Work in a line like, “If you would like to discuss this more in detail, don’t hesitate to reach out to our office.” This gives the client an opportunity to say more if they wish in an environment that’s private.
• Keep it short. Avoid going into details in your response. Keep your response concise yet empathetic.

Putting together a good response can be difficult, but doing so will display the right message. You always want to show potential clients that client feedback matters.

At GAVL, we understand how complex obtaining and managing reviews can be. We’re here to help ensure you put your firm’s best self forward always. Get in touch with us if you need any help regarding SEO, social media, content, review management, and more.