Legal marketing
What a matter
is worth.
There's no reliable, current Australian figure for what law firms spend on marketing, and the percentages quoted online are mostly American. A better start is what a new matter is worth to you once any fee rules apply. In NSW, legal costs on personal injury damages up to $100,000 are capped at 20% of the amount recovered or $10,000, whichever is greater, unless the client contracts out. Work out the fee, how many enquiries become matters, and what you'd give up to win one.
Written by Dan Picken, a marketer who checks the sources. Last checked 2 November 2026.What firms spend:
the honest answer.
I looked for a current, published figure for Australian law firm marketing spend and didn't find one. The best-known benchmark of Australasian firms, run with ALPMA in 2014, found 60.7% of firms didn't expect their marketing budget to change, but didn't report what the budgets were. It's also more than a decade old.
What Australian surveys do show is where small firms get work. In Smokeball's 2022 survey of 154 small firms, 84% named referrals and 82% word of mouth as sources of new clients, against 48% for the firm's website. It's a software company's survey, so treat it as a rough picture rather than a benchmark.
The percentage-of-revenue rules you'll see quoted mostly come from US surveys and agency blogs. They tell you nothing about a three-lawyer wills practice in Wollongong, which is why the rest of this page works from your own matters instead.
The rules that
set the fee.
For most work, the firm sets its own fees. For some injury and compensation work, the law caps or funds them, and that caps what the matter is worth to your marketing. NSW first, then Queensland.
| Work | Rule | What it means for the budget |
|---|---|---|
| NSW personal injury damages up to $100,000 | 20% of the amount recovered or $10,000, whichever is greater, excluding disbursements. Clients can contract out in writing | A $60,000 recovery caps legal costs at $12,000 unless the client contracted out |
| NSW workers compensation | Eligible workers get advice from an Approved Lawyer at no cost to them, funded through IRO's ILARS grants | The fee comes from the grant, not the worker. Budget against what grants actually pay you |
| Queensland speculative personal injury | The Legal Profession Act sets a formula for the maximum payment, known as the 50/50 rule: broadly, legal fees can't be more than what the client keeps after refunds and outlays, and 2022 changes count some interest and outside costs toward it | Count the fee you keep after the rule, and check your costs agreements |
| 'No win, no fee' in NSW, Victoria and WA | Conditional costs agreements can't be used in criminal or Family Law Act matters | Where it is allowed, lost matters earn nothing. Budget on matters that end in a fee, not matters taken on |
| Most other work | Set by the firm, within costs disclosure rules | Use the average actually billed and paid on closed matters over the last year |
Work back from
the matter.
The maths is short, and most firms never do it. Take the average professional fee on one matter type, excluding GST and disbursements. Multiply by the share you'd give up to win it. Multiply by how many enquiries become matters. That's the most you can pay for an enquiry.
An example with made-up numbers: a conveyancing practice in Parramatta charges $1,800 a matter, is happy to spend 15% winning one, and converts 40% of enquiries. That's $270 per matter and $108 per enquiry. If a click costs $9 and one in eight clicks enquires, each enquiry costs $72, and the ads pay. At one in twenty, each enquiry costs $180, and they don't.
Do it per matter type. A family law property settlement and a simple will are different businesses, and blending them hides the one that's losing money.
Your numbers,
worked back.
Start with one matter type. The starting numbers are made up, so replace them with yours.
Matter value calculator
What can you pay
for an enquiry?
One matter type at a time. The starting numbers are made up: put in your own, from closed matters if you can. Runs in your browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.
You can afford per enquiry
$0
| Fee you can count on per matter | |
|---|---|
| Most you’d spend to win one | |
| Enquiries needed a month | |
| Monthly marketing budget |
Matters that bring
more matters.
A matter is worth more than its fee when it leads to the next one. A will often leads to an estate later, a conveyance to the next purchase, a small business client to lease and employment work, and every well-handled client is a possible referral.
Be careful counting it, because lifetime value is the easiest number in marketing to inflate. Only count repeat or referred work you can see in your own matter records, and leave it out of the first budget if you can't. If the plan only works with it in, the plan is shaky.
Paying for
referrals and leads.
Buying leads looks like a quick fix for cost per matter. In injury work it can be illegal. NSW's 2025 claim farming law bans giving or receiving payment for referring many personal injury claims, with penalties up to 500 penalty units ($55,000), and a convicted firm can't recover its costs on that claim. Queensland made it an offence to pay claim farmers for potential claimants' details in 2022.
Outside injury work, check your conduct rules before paying anyone for referrals, and ask any lead seller to show how each person agreed to be contacted. If they can't, don't buy.
What I see most often
What I'd check first
in a law firm's budget.
- 1
One pot for every practice area
Ads, SEO and directories paid from a single budget, so nobody can see which matter types pay for themselves.
- 2
Quoted fees, not billed fees
Cost per lead compared with the fee quoted at the first meeting, rather than what was billed and paid when the matter closed.
- 3
Directory renewals on autopilot
Paid listings renewed every year with no record of a single matter that came from them.
The honest bit. Some matter types won't pay for advertising at all, and that's worth knowing. Run those on referrals and good service, and put the budget where the numbers work.
Questions
people ask.
How much should a law firm spend on marketing?
There's no reliable, current Australian benchmark. Work back from your own numbers instead: the average fee per matter, how many enquiries become matters, and the share of a fee you'd give up to win one.
Is there a cap on personal injury legal fees in NSW?
Yes, for damages up to $100,000: 20% of the amount recovered or $10,000, whichever is greater, excluding disbursements, unless the client contracts out in writing. This is a marketing summary, so check the rules for the matter.
How do most small law firms get clients?
Through referrals and word of mouth, according to Smokeball's 2022 survey of 154 small Australian firms. 48% named their website as a source.
Do injured workers pay for a lawyer in NSW?
Eligible workers can get advice from an IRO Approved Lawyer at no cost to them, with fees funded through ILARS grants.
Can a law firm pay for referrals?
Not for many injury claims in NSW and Queensland, where paying for claim referrals is banned. In other work, check your conduct rules first.
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