If I ask a personal injury attorney what makes their firm different, “we do personal injury” isn't really an answer.

Same with criminal defense. Estate planning. Family law.

That's what you practice.

I'm more interested in what makes someone think of you.

I've talked about niching a lot over the years. The firms I see grow the fastest are usually pretty focused, and some take that focus even further.

You might practice personal injury, but there's a big difference between being one of twenty PI firms in your market and becoming known as the firm for truck accidents.

That doesn't mean you can never take work outside that focus. It means you're giving the market something specific to remember you for.

Shannon Laymon-Pecoraro is a good example of what that looks like.

Shannon is a friend, an Array client, and the founder of East Coast Elder Law here in Virginia Beach. She opened the firm in March 2025 and has quickly grown it to three offices serving clients across four states.

Early in her career, Shannon became known as what she calls the “special needs girl.”

Elder law itself is already pretty specialized, but she kept going deeper. A lot of her work centers around special needs planning and the planning that happens after a personal injury settlement.

That’s led to her working with attorneys and settlement planners around the country, and in some cases serving as national counsel and bringing in local attorneys where needed. She told me there are only a few people in the country doing this kind of work.

Long story short: She didn't make her opportunity smaller by becoming more specific. Her expertise gave people a clearer reason to call her.

And once that starts happening enough, it compounds.

Referral partners know what to send you.
Other attorneys associate your name with a specific type of problem.
Your marketing has something more meaningful to reinforce than “we're really good lawyers.”

But you don't build that kind of reputation just by picking a lane.

You have to give people reasons to associate your name with that work, and that takes time. Shannon spent YEARS teaching, presenting, building relationships, and actually doing the work.

I've experienced that on the agency side, too.

Yes, legal marketing is a niche, but that's not enough by itself. There are plenty of agencies that work with law firms. We still have to figure out what separates Array within that space and make sure our work backs it up.

The same is true for your firm.

Don't tell them what you want the answer to be. Just listen.

If five people give you roughly the same answer, and it's the work you actually want more of, that's a good sign.

If you get five different answers, or their answer isn't what you want to be known for, you've found something worth working on.

Your practice area tells people what you do.

What comes to mind when someone hears your name tells you whether you've actually built a reputation around it.

I'd love to hear what you get back. Email me at [email protected] and tell me what your referral partners said. Bonus points if their answer surprised you. 😉

Until next week,
Kevin

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