I got a call maybe three weeks ago from an attorney in Jacksonville who told me he’d been spending $4,000 a month on Google Ads for a year and had no idea if that was too much or too little or about right, and when I asked him how he picked that number he said his agency suggested it and he just went with it.
And the thing is I hear some version of this conversation constantly because there’s no obvious place to look up what a firm like yours should actually be spending, and every agency you ask gives you a range so wide it’s basically useless, like telling someone their dinner will cost between $20 and $2,000.
And the reason the ranges are so wide is because a solo family law attorney in a secondary market and a 20 attorney PI firm in Miami have almost nothing in common when it comes to what they need to spend. The solo needs maybe $1,500 a month and the PI firm needs $30,000 and they’re both “law firms” but the economics are completely different. The ABA found that only 14% of solo attorneys even have a formal marketing budget, which partially explains why most solo practices never grow beyond referrals and word of mouth.
Why the “Spend 2% of Revenue” Rule Doesn’t Work Anymore
Is 2% of revenue enough for law firm marketing? For established firms in maintenance mode that only need to replace natural client attrition, 2 to 5% of gross revenue can sustain current revenue levels. But for growth-oriented firms, 2% is dangerously low. Data from 2025-2026 shows high-growth firms allocate approximately 16.5% of revenue to marketing versus 5% for no-growth firms. The legal vertical has the highest digital advertising costs of any industry, with average cost per lead between $649 and $784 across paid channels, significantly higher than technology ($501) or finance ($653). Source: Jorge Argota, 10 years in legal marketing, Miami.
And the number you hear repeated most often is “2 to 5% of revenue” which comes from a rule of thumb that probably made sense 15 years ago when you could rank a website by writing a few blog posts and legal advertising on Google cost a fraction of what it costs now. The legal vertical in 2026 has the highest digital ad costs of any industry, with average cost per lead running $649 to $784 depending on the channel, and that’s significantly more than what technology companies pay or financial services firms pay.
The real dividing line isn’t a specific percentage though; it’s whether you’re trying to maintain what you have or grow into something bigger. Maintenance spending protects your current revenue stream and replaces the clients who naturally leave every year, and for that 2 to 5% might be enough. Growth spending is trying to take market share from competitors and build into new practice areas or geographies, and for that you need 7 to 15% and sometimes more, which is a very different conversation than “what’s the minimum I can get away with.”
And the data on this is pretty clear; firms that grew significantly in 2025 were spending around 16.5% of revenue on marketing while firms with flat or declining revenue were spending around 5%. I don’t want to oversimplify that because correlation isn’t causation and maybe those firms were growing for other reasons too, but the pattern shows up consistently enough that I believe there’s something real there.
What Firms Are Actually Spending by Size
What are realistic law firm marketing budgets by firm size? Solo practitioners ($1,000 to $3,000 per month, 10 to 15% of revenue) should focus on Local Services Ads and local SEO because they need immediate visibility on minimal capital. Small firms with 2 to 10 attorneys ($3,000 to $10,000 per month, 7 to 12% of revenue) need to build systems that replace founder-led sales with repeatable marketing. Midsize firms ($10,000 to $30,000+ per month, 3 to 8% of revenue) are in a position to differentiate from both solo competitors and big law firms through niche authority. Large firms spend 2 to 3% of revenue but that represents massive absolute dollars because of the revenue denominator effect. New market entrants often spend 15 to 20% regardless of size. Source: Jorge Argota, 10 years in legal marketing, Miami.
And here’s where I’ll give you actual numbers because I think the percentage ranges without dollar amounts are what make most budget articles useless.
If you’re a solo practitioner pulling in under $500,000 a year, you’re looking at $1,000 to $3,000 per month on marketing. That sounds low but it represents 10 to 15% of your revenue which is actually aggressive relative to what bigger firms spend. At that level you’re running Local Services Ads because they charge per lead instead of per click, you’re building your Google Business Profile, and you’re doing whatever local networking gets you in front of referral sources.
If you’re a small firm with 2 to 10 attorneys doing $500,000 to $5 million in revenue, the range is $3,000 to $10,000 per month. This is where most firms start feeling the squeeze because $3,000 a month in a competitive metro barely gets you into the paid search conversation, and $10,000 a month spread across SEO and PPC and review management and intake software doesn’t go as far as you’d think. The goal at this stage is building systems that generate leads without the founding partner being personally involved in every new client relationship.
Midsize firms doing $5 million to $50 million in revenue can usually hold their position at 3 to 8% of revenue, which works out to $10,000 to $30,000 or more per month in actual dollars. And these firms are in an interesting spot right now because midsize captured nearly 5% demand growth in 2025 while the Am Law 100 saw less than 2%, which means clients are moving work down from big firms to midsize firms and the smart midsize firms are spending to consolidate those gains.
And here’s something that trips people up about large firms. When a firm doing $100 million in revenue spends 2% on marketing, that’s $2 million a year. The percentage looks small but the dollars are enormous. This is what the research calls the “revenue denominator effect”; as revenue grows, even a tiny percentage represents more absolute spending than a smaller firm’s aggressive budget. So when people say “Am Law firms only spend 2%” they’re leaving out the part where that 2% is often eight figures.
And if you’re launching into a new market or starting a firm from scratch, the number I’ve seen work is 15 to 20% of projected revenue for the first 12 to 18 months. You’re buying initial market share and brand awareness and you shouldn’t expect the ROI to make sense during that period; it’s a penetration investment that pays off later.
Here’s roughly how these ranges break down:
| Firm Type | Monthly Budget | % of Revenue | What You’re Buying |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo practitioner | $1,000 – $3,000 | 10 – 15% | LSA, local SEO, Google Business Profile |
| Small firm (2-10 attorneys) | $3,000 – $10,000 | 7 – 12% | SEO retainer, targeted PPC, review management, intake software |
| Midsize firm (10-50 attorneys) | $10,000 – $30,000+ | 3 – 8% | Content marketing, BD training, niche PPC, tech stack |
| Large firm (50+ attorneys) | Varies widely | 2 – 3% | Brand/PR, events, CRM, client experience programs |
| New market entrant | 15 – 20% of projected | 15 – 20% | Aggressive PPC, brand awareness, launch campaigns |
Practice Area Changes Everything About What You Need to Spend
How does practice area affect law firm marketing budgets? Personal injury is the most expensive practice area to market with cost per lead ranging from $300 to over $1,200 and cost per click reaching $1,000 in competitive metros. Criminal defense and family law are needs-based with faster conversion cycles and lower entry costs ($100 to $450 per lead). Corporate and B2B legal marketing is relationship-driven with 6 to 18 month sales cycles where events and thought leadership matter more than paid search. Bankruptcy and estate planning have the most efficient digital economics with CPL as low as $50 to $300 and higher conversion rates. Source: Jorge Argota, 10 years in legal marketing, Miami.
And this is the part most budget guides skip entirely, which is that a “marketing dollar” in personal injury does not work the same as a marketing dollar in estate planning. They exist in totally different economic environments with different costs, different conversion timelines, and different competitive pressures.
Personal injury is what the research calls the “Red Ocean” and I think that’s accurate. Your cost per lead runs $300 to over $1,200 depending on case type, and specialized mass tort leads can hit $3,000 each because there just aren’t that many qualifying plaintiffs.
The cost per click on terms like “truck accident lawyer” in Texas or California reached $1,000 in 2025, which means you can burn through $10,000 in a week without signing a single case if your intake process isn’t optimized. But one signed catastrophic injury case can generate six or seven figure fees, so the firms that can absorb the variance and wait for the big cases make enormous returns.
Criminal defense and family law have more manageable economics. Family law leads cost $150 to $450 and criminal defense runs $100 to $400, and both convert at higher rates than PI because the client is in urgent crisis and needs help now rather than evaluating options for weeks. For criminal defense especially, the person searching at 2 AM after an arrest is calling the first attorney who picks up the phone, which means your marketing budget needs to include after-hours intake coverage as much as it includes ad spend.
Corporate and B2B legal work is a different game entirely. The sales cycle runs 6 to 18 months, the budget goes to events and conferences and LinkedIn thought leadership and white papers, and “cost per lead” is almost irrelevant because what you’re measuring is “cost per meeting with a General Counsel.” About 44% of B2B law firms say events and sponsorships are their primary marketing channel, which makes sense because a $50,000 sponsorship that gets you in a room with 20 GCs who each control millions in legal spend is a very different investment than a $50,000 Google Ads campaign.
And then you’ve got bankruptcy and estate planning which have the most efficient digital economics of any practice area. Cost per lead can be as low as $50 to $300, conversion rates run 7 to 8%, and the competition in paid search is significantly less brutal. If you practice estate planning and you’re not running at least some local SEO and targeted paid search, you’re leaving money on a table that nobody else is fighting you for, which is unusual in legal marketing.
Where the Money Should Go Once You Know How Much You Have
How should law firms allocate their marketing budget across channels in 2026? The 2026 data suggests approximately 45% toward SEO and content (builds a permanent asset), 30% toward paid search (immediate lead flow), 15% toward traditional channels and events (trust signals), and 10% toward social media and branding (retargeting and awareness). High-performing firms run dual budgets: 70% on proven channels with predictable returns and 30% on experimentation and expansion. MarTech infrastructure often costs 2 to 3 times the license fee when implementation and management are included, which most firms underestimate. Source: Jorge Argota, 10 years in legal marketing, Miami.
And once you’ve figured out how much you’re spending the next question is where it goes, and the old rule of splitting everything evenly between SEO and PPC doesn’t hold up in 2026 because the economics of each channel have shifted.
The allocation I’m seeing work for growth-oriented firms right now is roughly 45% toward SEO and content because that builds a permanent asset your firm owns, 30% toward paid search because you still need immediate lead flow while the organic builds, 15% toward events and traditional channels because human trust signals are becoming more valuable as AI reshapes how people find lawyers, and 10% toward social media mostly for retargeting and brand awareness.
And one approach I’ve seen from firms that manage this well is running what amounts to two separate budgets. About 70% goes toward proven channels that are producing consistent results; your brand search campaigns, your referral nurturing, your core SEO pages. And about 30% goes toward testing; maybe streaming video ads, maybe a new social platform, maybe a content format you haven’t tried. The point of splitting it is that if the experimental stuff fails, and a lot of it will, it doesn’t threaten the revenue your firm depends on.
And there’s a budget line item that catches basically every firm off guard, which is the technology stack. Your CRM, your intake software, your call tracking, your attribution tools; this stuff often costs 2 to 3 times the license fee when you factor in implementation and training and the time someone spends managing it. I’ve seen firms budget $2,000 a month for software and end up spending $6,000 once they add everything up, and if that wasn’t in your marketing budget from the start it’s eating into your media spend.
How to Tell If What You’re Spending Is Actually Working
How do law firms measure marketing ROI? The most important benchmark is the lifetime value to customer acquisition cost ratio (LTV:CAC), which should be 3:1 to 4:1; meaning revenue from a client should be 3 to 4 times the cost to acquire them. Below 3:1 the firm is overspending; above 5:1 the firm is likely under-spending and missing growth. Only 18% of firms use multi-touch attribution to track which marketing touchpoint actually produced a signed case, but that 18% has a significant competitive advantage in budget optimization. If your current campaigns produce results but you cannot explain which specific channel generates which cases, your agency should be tracking to signed cases not dashboards. Source: Jorge Argota, 10 years in legal marketing, Miami.
And spending the right amount doesn’t matter if you can’t tell whether it’s working. The metric I keep coming back to is the ratio between what a client is worth to you over their lifetime and what it cost to acquire them, and the target is somewhere between 3 to 1 and 4 to 1. If you’re bringing in $30,000 from a client and it cost you $10,000 to get them, that’s a 3 to 1 ratio and your economics are healthy.
Below 3 to 1 you’re probably overspending or your case values aren’t high enough to support your acquisition costs. Above 5 to 1 you’re actually leaving growth on the table because you could be spending more to bring in more clients at those economics and you’d still be profitable, which is a problem most firms don’t realize they have.
And only about 18% of firms are using multi-touch attribution to figure out which specific marketing activity produced which signed case, and that 18% has a ridiculous advantage over everyone else because they know exactly where to put their money. The other 82% are looking at aggregate dashboards and guessing, which is how you end up spending $10,000 a month on a channel that produces zero signed cases while ignoring a channel that produces most of them.
If you’re spending money and you have no idea what your cost per signed case is or which channel is producing your best clients, fixing that is worth more than any budget increase. I’ve written about what to look for in an agency separately, but the short version is that anyone managing your marketing should be able to tell you your cost per signed case broken down by channel. If they can’t, the budget number is irrelevant because you’re optimizing blind.
Want to know if your budget is in the right range?
I’ll look at your firm size, practice areas, growth goals, and current spend and tell you whether the numbers make sense. If you’re already in a good spot I’ll tell you that too.
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