XPATIC/Legal services
Lead generation for law firms serving expats
Living across two legal systems generates problems that residents never face, and most of them are put off until something forces the issue. That timing is the whole opportunity.
The vertical where the expat case is clearest
Cross-border legal work is created by the situation rather than being an ordinary problem that happens to be experienced abroad. A will drafted at home may not do what the client assumes in their country of residence. That is not a variation on domestic work, it is a different problem.
The discipline comes from regulated lead generation: accuracy in the creative is not optional, qualification happens before a fee earner spends an hour, and the consequences of getting either wrong are real.
It is also the vertical where the expat opportunity is clearest, because the problems are genuinely specific to the situation rather than being ordinary problems that happen to be experienced abroad.
Running paid acquisition in UK legal services
Built to the standards contested-wills work demands
Your criteria asked before the phone number
Where the demand concentrates
The work that exists because somebody lives in one country and holds assets, family or obligations in another.
Cross-border wills and probate
Assets in two countries, differing inheritance rules, and a document that may not do what the client assumes it does.
Purchase, sale and disputes
The largest transaction most people make, in an unfamiliar system, in a second language.
Status and paperwork
Permits, registration and the processes that changed after Brexit and keep changing.
Cross-border matters
Divorce and children's arrangements spanning two jurisdictions, which is difficult, urgent and high value.
Attorney and capacity
Often triggered by a health event, which means the search is urgent and the decision is fast.
Contested matters
Where assets, family or contracts sit across a border and the usual route does not apply.
Why timing does most of the work
Almost nobody wakes up wanting to deal with a cross-border will. They deal with it when a parent dies, a diagnosis arrives, a sale falls through or a relationship ends. The demand is real and constant but it is triggered rather than planned.
That has two consequences for advertising. Search catches people in the trigger window, which is why search intent is worth paying well above the odds for in this sector. And paid social catches people before the trigger, which is worth doing because a firm they already recognise is the firm they call when it happens.
Running only one of those is the most common mistake we see in legal campaigns abroad. Search alone means fighting for a small pool of people already in crisis. Social alone means building recognition with no mechanism to capture the moment it converts.
How we run legal campaigns
- Compliance in the creative from the startNo outcome claims, no implied guarantees, no suggestion of a result. We run this in UK legal already and build to that standard by default.
- Qualification before contact detailsMatter type, jurisdiction, asset location and stage, asked before the phone number. A firm's hour is too expensive to spend finding out the matter was never viable.
- Conflict-relevant detail captured earlySo the enquiry arrives with enough information for someone to make a sensible decision about whether to take it.
- Checked on arrivalNumbers and emails checked as the lead comes in, repeat enquiries flagged and never charged twice, delivered in seconds while intent is live.
- Optimised to instructions, not enquiriesYou mark which enquiries became instructions and the campaign learns from that, rather than chasing whichever ad produces the most forms.
Questions firms ask
Do you understand the advertising restrictions we work under?
Yes. We run paid acquisition in UK legal services including contested probate, where the rules on claims and outcomes are strict and enforcement is real. The creative gets built to that standard rather than adjusted after a complaint.
Can you handle conflict checking?
We capture the detail needed for you to run a conflict check quickly, including the other parties where relevant. The check itself is yours, but the enquiry should not arrive missing the information required to do it.
Are leads exclusive?
Yes, for this vertical. Shared legal leads produce a bad experience for the client and a race between firms. Enquiries generated for your firm go to your firm.
What does a lead cost?
Varies a great deal by matter type and market. Cross-border probate and contested matters sit well above residency paperwork. It gets worked out against what a matter is worth to you rather than quoted blind.
Can we run this alongside our existing marketing?
Usually without much conflict. If another agency handles your brand and website, paid acquisition to a specific audience sits alongside it, though it is worth telling them so attribution stays legible.
See what this looks like for your firm
A few questions about your practice areas and your market, then a call to work through the audience and what an enquiry is likely to cost.
hello@xpatic.com