Client Newsletter Use by New Zealand Law Firms

With the relaxing of rules regarding marketing of legal firms in New Zealand, various forms of marketing communications have been implemented in order to attract new clients and retain existing ones. One form of marketing communication in use is the client newsletter. This paper reports a study of 279 legal practices in New Zealand and identifies the type of firm most likely to use a newsletter, why newsletters are used or not used and how effective they are seen to be. Overall, findings indicate newsletters are not widely used; those firms who do use them are unsure whether newsletters are effective or not. If newsletters are seen as an indication of marketing orientation, the study suggests that most firms are still focused on technical quality (the job, the work required), rather than services quality (the experience, the feeling)