LinkedIn for Lawyers in 2026: What You Need To Know

Helen Burness, Founder of Saltmarsh Marketing and session moderator, set the tone by positioning LinkedIn as far more than a social platform; it’s fast becoming an essential B2B infrastructure. Speaking from the front line of professional services marketing, Burness unpacked what lawyers need to do differently in 2026 to stay visible, credible, and commercially relevant. She described LinkedIn as a “business marketplace” where “people buy people”, and made the case that consistency, clarity of purpose, and deliberate community-building now outperform high-volume posting.

Why Burness is Listened to on This

Burness shared a career spanning private practice, the commercial bar, and helping scale an early legal services provider (ALSP) “with no marketing budget,” where LinkedIn became a critical growth lever. She also described LinkedIn as a platform that helped her rebuild confidence and “own [her] narrative” in a profession where she previously felt her voice “didn’t really matter”.

Personal Brand is no Longer Optional (and it Doesn’t Replace Firm Marketing)

Burness emphasised that roles and companies change, “your brand stays constant” and argued LinkedIn has “democratised central marketing”, allowing individuals to get messages to market faster than corporate channels (without negating the importance of the firm brand).

For lawyers, the practical shift is learning to market like a professional and communicate like a human while still respecting the realities of working within a firm.

Purpose First

Burness was blunt: LinkedIn is a “tactical” tool, but posting without a defined goal leads to inconsistency and confusion (“people understanding who you are, what you do, how to work with you”).

She recommended starting with the question: why are you using LinkedIn? Examples discussed included:

  • lead generation and business development
  • client relationship maintenance (CRM-style presence)
  • stakeholder visibility for senior leaders (using their own voice)

Prioritise Your Expertise + Add Humanity

A recurring question from the audience was how to show personality when your profile is tied to a firm. Burness’s answer: You don’t need to share your private life to be human. A safer route for many lawyers is to spotlight:

  • firm culture and people
  • pro bono/community work
  • colleagues and team achievements

On content mix, she encouraged lawyers to lead with expertise and value, then add a smaller proportion of “people/team/firm” content; roughly an 80/20 balance was suggested in conversation.

Measuring Success Looks Past Vanity Metrics

Burness distinguished visibility metrics (likes, comments, impressions) from commercial outcomes (enquiries, opportunities, instructions). Vanity metrics matter only insofar as they support your real objective, particularly if business generation is the goal.

She also highlighted newer “intent” indicators available to creators (e.g., profile views from a post, saves, shares, link clicks), arguing these are often more meaningful than public engagement.

Key Issue: The Algorithm Shift

What’s changed and what to do now

Burness summarised why LinkedIn’s reach has felt different: LinkedIn rolled out an AI-driven ranking approach (referred to as “360 Brew” in the session) as part of clamping down on engagement manipulation. She described how “pods” and formulaic posting had driven irrelevant, low-quality content into feeds, degrading the user experience, and how LinkedIn has responded by using broader signals across your profile and behaviour to determine relevance.

Key practical implications discussed:

  • Posting daily is no longer the default advantage. For lawyers, Burness suggested posting around twice a week and building visibility through high-quality engagement.
  • Comments matter more than ever. Comment impressions and strategic participation in others’ threads can compound reach without constant posting.
  • Network growth and DMs are part of the work. Treat LinkedIn like BD: connect intentionally, follow up, and start real conversations.
  • Timing is secondary to presence. Burness noted common guidance (for UK audiences, early morning can work) but said the most important factor is posting when you can engage for the first hour or two because that’s when LinkedIn decides whether to widen distribution.

Law Firms: Support is Improving, but Control is Still a Source of Tension

Burness observed a shift: firms are increasingly aware that LinkedIn matters (including via industry signals like influencer rankings), yet resistance persists because empowering individual voices reduces central control. Her argument: firms should pair policies (often “punitive”) with training that creates confident, responsible employee advocates.

Creativity is the Differentiator in an AI-Saturated Feed

To close, Burness returned to a point that resonated throughout the discussion. As LinkedIn becomes increasingly crowded with polished, predictable posts and AI-generated copy, originality is what will cut through. She encouraged lawyers to move beyond formulaic content and instead share ideas with a clear point of view, a distinctive voice, and genuine relevance to the clients they serve. Used thoughtfully, creativity is not a gimmick. It is a strategic advantage that helps expertise feel human, memorable, and worth engaging with.

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