How to Start Building a Successful Criminal Defense Practice
A version of this article was originally published in For the Defense here on December 5th, 2025
Marketing and business development can feel daunting at first, but they don’t have to. Small steps can build success in the future.
In law school we learn the fundamentals you need to be a criminal defense lawyer: Constitutional law, criminal law, evidence, trial advocacy, issue spotting, writing and persuasion skills. You might learn the rest in public service as a state or federal defender or prosecutor, or as an associate in a law firm. But one thing you didn’t learn in law school, the defender’s office or (unfortunately) in most law firms is how to build a successful, profitable legal business.
However you came to your current practice as a criminal defense lawyer, it’s likely that, for a time, your work came to you. Clients and cases landed on your desk because you were next on the rotation, assigned to a courtroom or part of a larger team.
But what happens once you leave public service and open your own solo practice, join a small firm, or take on the role of a more senior associate in a larger firm where you are now expected to start bringing in clients?
For many lawyers, no matter what their practice, the realization that you need to function not only as a lawyer—the doer of the client’s work—but also as a marketer -- the seller of your services (and perhaps those of your firm) -- can as anxiety-provoking as it is exhilarating.
The good news is that you don’t need to have a big marketing budget, devote endless hours of time or make major changes to your daily work routines to see measurable client development success. You likely have the foundation for developing a successful criminal defense practice already, and with clarity, consistency and a willingness to make small, intentional marketing and business development efforts, you can build on that foundation over time.
Reframe Client Development as Client Service
A common misconception is that building a successful practice requires constant pitching and selling to people who don’t want to hear a sales pitch. But, at its core, client development is client service.
If you’ve spent years as a public defender or prosecutor, or as a litigation associate in a firm, you’ve honed your legal knowledge and advocacy skills, you’ve gained trial experience and you’ve developed a deep understanding of people who are facing life-changing legal problems. These skills and abilities earned you increasingly more responsibility in the cases you were asked to handle by those who made those assignments. They’re the same skills and abilities that you now need to communicate to the clients you want to represent and the people who can refer those clients to you.
The message is the same; the method of communicating it and to whom is what needs to change.
In this way, marketing and business development are an extension of your professional duty, not a departure from it. You’re not selling yourself to people who don’t need your services; you’re helping people who need a lawyer feel confident they’ve found the right one for their situation. You’re demonstrating your competence and credibility, helping clients understand a criminal justice process they may be completely unfamiliar with, and building trust and confidence that you can help clients facing some of the most difficult challenges they may ever face.
In short, you’re giving clients and referral sources information and confidence at a time when both may feel in short supply.
Define Your Brand: The Who, What, Where, Why and How of You
When you saw the term “brand,” did your eyes glaze over?
I get it. Brand sounds like sales jargon—and wasn’t I just trying to convince you to think of client development not as sales but as client service?
Brand is a marketing term, and you don’t have to use it. But the truth is you already have a brand, whether you want to call it that or not.
At its most basic, your brand is what colleagues, judges, clients and others who know you—or know of you—say about you when you’re not in the room. It’s how others perceive your qualifications and skills, work, reputation, personal and professional values and the value you provide to clients, based on interactions with you, how you communicate, and how you portray yourself in person and, these days, online.
A well-defined personal brand sets you apart, which is essential in legal services, where the service offerings feel very homogenous and clients hire lawyers and firms based on interpersonal factors such as competency, credibility, trust and confidence.
Taking the time to define your brand allows you to control the narrative around your professional value as a criminal defense lawyer, rather than letting others’ perceptions and assumptions shape it for you.
Answers to questions such as the following form the foundation of your personal brand:
Who are the clients I serve best?
What kinds of cases do I handle now and what kinds of cases do I want to handle in the future?
Why do clients come to me, how do I work with them, and how do I want them to feel working with me?
What are my personal and professional values, and how do I incorporate them into my work and my client relationships?
How am I perceived and how do I want to be perceived by judges, co-counsel, opposing counsel and others?
Getting clarity on the answers to these questions will guide your marketing and business development, the goal of which will be to consistently communicate your unique brand narrative to prospective clients and referral sources.
How do you accomplish this goal? Through networking and engaging (in person and online), regularly sharing your insights in different kinds of content, making sure your online presence communicates who you are and what you do accurately and authentically, and embodying your brand through your real-world behavior and interactions.
Referrals and Relationships
In criminal defense, referrals from other lawyers, past clients and other professional and personal connections tend to be a primary driver of business. You don’t always know where your referrals will come from, but you can optimize your opportunities by building and maintaining relationships in your various networks.
If you’ve recently left public service for private practice, or if you’re an associate who’s left your junior-level years behind you, focus on building relationships inside your firm beyond the colleagues in your immediate practice area. Family law, trusts and estates, corporate, real estate and civil litigation are the obvious practice areas that would be the conduit for referrals, but a lawyer in any practice might get a call from someone who needs a referral to a criminal defense lawyer.
Help your colleagues help you by letting them know the types of cases you handle. A quick coffee chat or email to remind them you’re available for criminal matters can keep you top of mind with them. If you’re part of a larger firm where there might be cross-marketing opportunities, volunteer to become the go-to resource in your area of criminal law. For example, if your practice involves white-collar criminal defense, offer to present regularly on court decisions and government enforcement actions at a practice group meeting, or to draft quick summaries or key takeaways that can be circulated internally and that others can use in client calls. Consistent value-add efforts such as these, over time, will help build visibility and credibility.
Your colleagues in other practice areas, as well as members of the marketing, business development, and career and professional development departments, should your firm have those resources, are all part of your internal professional network. And the conversation should go both ways. Be curious about their work. Ask how they—and the firm—develop clients, and how you might be able to help them with referrals as well.
Developing an external professional network is also key to optimizing your referral opportunities for all criminal defense lawyers; but, for solo practitioners or those in smaller firms, it’s absolutely critical.
If you’ve recently left public service, make sure to keep in touch with former co-workers; they’re often the first to encounter someone who needs private counsel.
Younger lawyers join college and law school alumni groups right after graduating but often let those memberships lapse as they get further along in their careers. Reconnecting with these groups can help you revitalize your relationships with those who have advanced in their careers much the way that you have.
State and local bar associations are a mainstay of legal networking, and practice-specific committees, as well as organizations like PACDL and NACDL, provide networking opportunities with other criminal defense lawyers.
Try to attend programs and events and, if you have time, volunteer for a committee or two. You don’t have to be everywhere all the time. Instead, prioritize what appeals to you and make an effort to participate consistently. Consider seeking out speaking engagements or writing an article for a professional periodical such as For The Defense. Keep an eye on other groups and dip in occasionally where it makes sense. You can always reevaluate and rebalance your priorities.
Don’t forget the power and efficiency of virtual networking. LinkedIn is the No. 1 networking site for law and business, as well as a powerful research and content platform that colleagues, referral sources and potential clients use for intelligence gathering and digital vetting during the hiring process. Spending even a small amount of time daily engaging on LinkedIn—commenting on and sharing others’ posts, highlighting professional updates and successes, and posting original content—builds visibility, credibility, and authentic relationships.
Networking—live or virtual—isn’t about amassing a list of prospects you can pitch for work. It’s about showing up, listening and engaging, and becoming part of conversations and communities.
Build a Solid Marketing Foundation
All the effort you put into building your referral network will fall short if you haven’t built a solid set of marketing assets.
Above all else, the essential marketing and business development tool for every criminal defense lawyer, regardless of the type of work you do or the size of your firm, is your online bio. Regardless of whether they start with a personal referral or a Google search, at some point in their search for a representation, most potential clients will conduct at least some online research before picking up the phone. Your firm bio is often the first place they will look. Your referral sources also need to feel confident in making their referrals, and your bio needs to be an effective resource for them. If your bio isn’t current, accurate and does not support your personal brand, prospective clients—and your referral sources—will move on to the next lawyer, and you may not ever know it.
Review your online bio regularly to keep it up to date and referral ready. Your social media profiles, LinkedIn in particular but Facebook as well, should also be accurate and up to date. For solo and small firm practitioners, your foundational marketing assets should also include a clean, clear website, and a fulsome Google Business Profile.
Make Business Development a Routine
Successful client and business development requires consistency, not intensity. You don’t have to carve out five to 10 hours a week. Even 15-30 focused minutes a day can make a difference. Consider a cadence like this:
Daily: Spend time on LinkedIn, reading, responding and engaging.
Weekly: Reach out to a specific person you’d like to build a relationship with, internal or external, to congratulate them on a success, share an interesting article or ask a question.
Monthly: Attend an event or contribute to a piece of content or thought leadership.
Quarterly: Review and update your bio and LinkedIn profile.
Annually: Review your progress and rebalance your priorities.
Keep track of your efforts. Create a simple spreadsheet or keep running notes on your phone or computer about who you’ve connected with, potential trends, topics of interest, and any follow up you’re considering. Taking these steps and the other suggestions mentioned in this article will help you keep your forward momentum and get you back on track when you hit challenges in your efforts to develop your client base.
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