Many law firms are unaware of what their customer acquisition cost (CAC) should be for their legal services. Having a target CAC when preparing and executing legal advertising campaigns is critical, as there is an objective measurement for success and a number to optimize towards.

This article includes the most common legal services advertised and the target CAC across various advertising channels. Before the data is presented, it may be helpful to know how we are calculating CAC. 

CAC = Total Spend on Sales/Marketing ÷ Customers Acquired

Because this is a long article, you can click the category you are most interested in to skip directly to the information. There is also a roll-up average of the information available below.

Personal Injury Law	Family Law	Criminal Defense
Estate Planning	Bankruptcy Law	Business and Corporate Law
Real Estate Law	Employment Law	Immigration Law
Tax Law	Intellectual Property Law	Environmental Law

Where This Data Came From: The data below was compiled using a meta-analysis combining our client data and published data from other reputable sources. Updates are made continually to ensure the data is relevant. 

Note: We have included the top advertising methods for which we had complete data under each category. If you have specific questions about a current campaign and what a recommended CAC should be for a channel that is not listed, feel free to reach out on our contact page.

Average CAC by Practice Area

The table below contains a roll-up average of all of the various practice areas broken down by organic and inorganic forms of marketing. Organic marketing includes advertising such as SEO and organic social media, as dollars are not directly traded for impressions. On the other hand, inorganic marketing includes any form of advertising where attorneys must pay for impressions in front of potential customers such as radio, TV, and Google Ads. 

Average Personal Injury Law CAC

Personal injury law is known to have some of the highest CACs of any type of law. See the averages in the table below. 

Average Family Law CAC

The average family law CAC figures are in the table below. 

Average Criminal Defense CAC

Criminal defense CACs may vary based on how “tough on crime” a jurisdiction is. Generally, the tougher a jurisdiction is on crime, the lower CACs will be, of course assuming equal amounts of total crime. 

Average Estate Planning CAC

Average estate planning CACs are available in the table below. 

Average Bankruptcy Law CAC

Bankruptcy CACs will generally go lower during tougher economic times and vice versa. 

Average Business and Corporate Law CAC

Business and corporate law CAC figures may vary depending on the company size in the target market, but these are generally correct as an average. 

Average Real Estate Law CAC

Real estate law figures will vary slightly depending on the transaction size. 

Average Employment Law CAC

Employment laws in various areas of the United States can alter these figures up or down. 

Average Immigration Law CAC

Again, we observed a variance in immigration law CACs based on the area of the United States. 

Average Tax Law CAC

The strongest correlation we found to tax law CAC was the budget and personnel of the IRS along with the current tax laws and regulations. 

Average Intellectual Property Law CAC

IP law CACs may be affected by changes in R&D tax treatment and the increase in patent issuances but are generally stable. 

Average Environmental Law CAC

Environmental law CACs vary greatly based on how heavy environmental regulations are. In the 2024 election, we expect CACs to increase if Donald Trump is re-elected due to his history of cutting environmental regulations. 

Next Steps: Lowering Your CAC

The best way to lower the CAC of a law firm is to implement a thought leadership SEO strategy coupled with value-based email marketing, as these consistently product the lowest CACs. If you are interested in working with Focus Digital to provide this service, we can be contacted on our contact page.