In a recent Platforum9 session, Alexander Irschenberger of Legal Tekno shared valuable insights on personal branding for lawyers, drawing from his diverse experience as a former law firm associate, in-house counsel at Maersk, and now as a legal tech entrepreneur. As the legal profession faces increasing competition and rapidly evolving client expectations, developing a distinctive personal brand has become essential for career advancement and professional success.

What Is a Personal Brand?

Irschenberger defines a personal brand simply as “how people perceive you as a person” in a professional context. This perception develops across multiple layers – from initial impressions formed through LinkedIn profiles and other social media before someone even meets you, to how you behave in professional settings, your attitude, and how you introduce yourself.

“Those are the layers you should be thinking about,” Irschenberger explained, noting that while our private selves may differ, our professional brands encompass all these elements of how we present ourselves in work environments.

The Changing Context of Legal Careers

The importance of intentional personal branding has increased as legal careers have become more dynamic. “The world moves a little bit faster in terms of career moves,” Irschenberger observed. “Whereas it would be more common 50 years ago to have your 10-year or 20-year anniversary at a company, that still happens, but it’s more rare.”

This mobility means lawyers must develop personal brands that can travel with them between organizations rather than relying solely on their firm’s reputation. Additionally, today’s professionals are increasingly purpose-driven, seeking meaning beyond compensation – what Simon Sinek popularized as “starting with why.”

“We’re very purpose-driven in our generation now,” Irschenberger noted. “If you’re not there for the salary and the steady business, then why are you there?” Understanding your personal motivation helps shape an authentic brand that resonates with others.

Core Traits of the Lawyer Brand

While personal branding should reflect individual authenticity, Irschenberger identified several foundational traits that positively contribute to the lawyer’s professional image:

Trustworthiness remains a cornerstone. “Lawyers are still one of the most trusted professions out there,” Irschenberger emphasized. This inherent credibility provides lawyers with “candor, transparency – you can give answers and people will actually listen.”

Conservative approach, in the positive sense of careful consideration. “Lawyers have, as one of the only professions together with doctors, a liability connected to the words that we use,” Irschenberger explained. This necessitates a deliberate, risk-mitigating approach that ultimately enhances trustworthiness.

Adaptability enables lawyers to survive through changing economic climates. “Even during the financial crisis, M&A obviously was a thing, then insolvency came up – and all law firms survived quite well,” Irschenberger noted. This adaptability stems from lawyers’ ability to “sit down, read up on things, and then add that skill to the list.”

Work ethic distinguishes lawyers in today’s purpose-driven landscape. “Most lawyers I meet are quite hardworking,” Irschenberger observed. “That means that lawyers will deliver, they will meet a deadline, and they will support others in delivering.”

Building Your Personal Brand Intentionally

For lawyers looking to develop or enhance their personal brand, Irschenberger offered several practical insights:

Focus on Repetition and Consistency

“In order to become part of your brand, you need some sort of repetition. It needs to be something you’ve done again and again,” Irschenberger advised. This applies whether you’re positioning yourself within a specialty area or simply striving for excellence in your current role.

One-off experiences or short-term positions rarely become defining elements of your brand. Instead, sustainable branding emerges from consistent demonstration of skills, knowledge, and character traits over time.

Align With Your Career Direction

If you aspire to move in a particular direction – whether toward a specific industry, practice area, or role – your branding efforts should align with that goal. “If you want to move in a direction, then start doing something that will move you there,” Irschenberger recommended.

He emphasized that your starting point matters less than you might think. “I was in M&A. Does that give me any special skills in software or AI? No, not at all. But I’ve seen a good ton of issues and process things and handling complex things and meeting deadlines.”

Embrace Technology Thoughtfully

While technology shapes the future of legal practice, Irschenberger cautioned against feeling pressured to become the most tech-savvy person in the room. “No clients out there will expect the lawyer to be the most tech-driven,” he noted. “They might expect you to use some tools, but they won’t expect you to be the most tech-savvy in the room.”

This creates an opportunity for those with genuine interest: “If you’re a lawyer and you want to be the most tech-savvy, that creates an opportunity for you because then you can bridge that gap between lawyers and technology.”

Engage on Social Platforms

Personal branding requires intentional visibility. “Personal branding is intentional,” Irschenberger emphasized. “If you think you get a brand by not doing anything and just being who you are, employed somewhere, that will not really be a brand that travels very far.”

LinkedIn remains a powerful platform for legal professionals, allowing even those with modest followings to reach hundreds of connections with thoughtful content. Irschenberger encourages authenticity over performative posting: “Just be yourself. Be authentic and do not do the superficial copy-paste ‘this is what I think people want to hear from me’ because no one really cares about that.”

Values and Ethics in Professional Branding

As technology and AI increasingly reshape legal practice, values and ethics emerge as crucial components of the lawyer’s brand. When asked who typically handles questions of ethics in organizations, Irschenberger noted: “It’s not part of [the head of legal’s] job description, but obviously the CEO goes to the head of compliance and the head of legal.”

This speaks to the enduring trust in lawyers’ judgment on complex ethical matters. “People trust that we will at least make an effort to understand the complexities of this,” Irschenberger explained, highlighting how the lawyer’s brand inherently carries ethical weight.

Navigating Firm Constraints

Some lawyers, particularly in more conservative firms, may feel constrained in their branding efforts. Irschenberger challenged this limitation: “Even if you take some of the more closed white-shoe firms in New York, they also open up now, and you see leading partners going on podcasts.”

He suggested that firm leaders increasingly recognize the value of personal branding: “From a law firm leader’s perspective, that is how you brand yourself as a law firm where people want to work.”

Conclusion: Authenticity as the Foundation

Throughout the discussion, authenticity emerged as the non-negotiable element of effective personal branding. “If you try to be someone else, then honestly it’s very difficult to stay happy,” Irschenberger observed, echoing Oscar Wilde’s insight that “everyone else is taken.”

For lawyers at any career stage, developing a meaningful personal brand begins with self-understanding – recognizing your unique strengths, values, and professional purpose. This authenticity then manifests through consistent demonstration of these qualities, thoughtful engagement with professional communities, and willingness to share genuine perspectives.

In a profession built on trust, where clients seek both technical excellence and sound judgment, the most compelling personal brand will always be one that genuinely reflects the lawyer behind it.