Morgan & Morgan, the nation’s largest personal injury law firm, generated over $2 billion in revenue in 2023.
You might have seen them in a TV commercial, on a billboard, or in a digital ad in your local market.
This is because they spend a staggering $350-$400 million annually on marketing and advertising.
Morgan & Morgan generated over $2 billion in revenue in 2023, fueled by an estimated $350–$400 million annual marketing budget.
If you’re a personal injury lawyer trying to compete with the behemoth budgets of Morgan & Morgan, you’re going to need to be strategic if you want to get ahead.
We’ve helped many personal injury law firms over the years, and will use this article to outline the specific actions you can take to combat competitors with bottomless pockets.
The Controversy of Morgan & Morgan’s Advertising Strategy
Morgan & Morgan maintains around 140 offices in the United States, with at least one location in every state. When they expand into a new location, it typically comes with an avalanche of advertising.
Some attorneys we work with have told us that when Morgan & Morgan sets foot in a new market, they go on a marketing blitz, spending an estimated $10M annually. This is 5x more than the largest players in most mid-sized markets.
This is controversial because they purchase a small office suite with a few employees, but outsource most of the work.
Morgan & Morgan runs consistent messaging across TV, billboards, and digital channels when entering a new market.
They’ve come under fire in some markets from local residents, such as Detroit, for heavily advertising in a place that John Morgan (Founder) never set foot in.
Crain’s Detroit Business covered the backlash Morgan & Morgan faced for heavily advertising in a market their founder never visited.
The marketing blitz was so noticeable in Richmond, Virginia, that the local press ran an article on how it shook up Richmond’s legal scene and advertising flow.
The Richmonder covered how Morgan & Morgan’s multi-million dollar ad blitz disrupted Richmond’s local legal advertising landscape.
Morgan & Morgan poses a threat to attorneys like Joel Bieber, one of the largest PI attorneys in Richmond. Joel had great exposure in Richmond and was notorious for his late dog Bunkie’s inclusion in advertisements. Once Morgan and Morgan came into town, he was no longer the top advertiser, which diminished awareness.
It’s not just Joel; it’s attorneys like him in many markets across the U.S. where Morgan & Morgan has exposure.
Richmond PI attorney Joel Bieber, once the market’s top advertiser, was quickly overshadowed after Morgan & Morgan entered the market. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Kelley, sourced from Wavy.com.
How to Fight Back Against Aggressive Advertising (5 Actionable Tips)
The good news is that there are proven strategies you can implement to combat this aggressive form of marketing.
Here are five tips we’d recommend for personal injury lawyers competing with Morgan & Morgan. We’ve deployed these firsthand for our clients in markets where they’re competing with Morgan & Morgan.
1. Double, no, triple down on your local roots. People know Morgan & Morgan are from out of town. Create content like Schiff & Associates did in Columbus, Ohio.
We had Scott Schiff, the founding attorney, record a three-minute video doing a tour of his office.
The video accomplishes multiple things that help it stand out from giant firms like Morgan & Morgan:
- Right away, Schiff acknowledges his local roots and years of experience. “Hi, I’m Scott Schiff, Columbus’ local attorney. Been doing this for 44 years right here in Central Ohio.”
- He mentions “giving you the personal touch you deserve” when discussing where they route cases, which demonstrates a local commitment that a major firm simply can’t replicate.
- He goes department by department, introducing local employees, showing you their offices, and explaining what they do.
- He keeps the tone light, loose and genuine, at one point highlighting a signed jersey from Rudy Ruettiger (from the movie Rudy), whose “never quit” mindset is a theme of the firm.
- They pan to a real meeting between a litigator and real clients in the video, where Schiff gets positive input directly from the clients.
- They close with a message about family, delivered by his son (an attorney at the firm), highlighting the localized, family nature of the business.
This is the type of content Morgan & Morgan can’t produce locally. The results speak for themselves: this video is generating over 500 engagements per month and a cost per lead of $78.
2. Focus on your specialty practice areas. Personal injury is Morgan & Morgan’s core focus. They want to take auto and truck accident cases, but according to this article, they are less likely to take workers’ compensation or medical malpractice cases.
Gearing your paid and SEO strategies to rank for these specialty practice keywords can take advantage of places where Moragn & Morgan isn’t competing.
Below is an example of Google search results for “Medical Malpractice, St. Petersburg” (where Morgan & Morgan has a physical location). Morgan & Morgan has no presence on the first page of Google in St. Petersburg, with the sponsored positions, AI Overview and organic results taken mostly by local firms.
Google search results for “Medical Malpractice, St. Petersburg.”
Here’s another one for “Workers Comp Attorney Minneapolis.” Again, Morgan & Morgan has no presence on the first page of Google.
Google search results for “Workers Comp Attorney Minneapolis.”
3. Bid on their brand name on Google. When Morgan & Morgan enters a market, they are spending millions of dollars on marketing so people know the brand name. Yet the cost per click for “Morgan & Morgan” is less than $20, according to data from Semrush:
CPC data for “Morgan and Morgan”.
Whereas when you bid on personal injury keywords, it can cost more than $100:
CPC data for personal injury lawyer keywords.
Here’s why bidding on Morgan & Morgan’s branded keywords works:
- Morgan & Morgan spends millions in each local market specifically so people become familiar with their name.
- That familiarity causes potential clients to go directly to Google and type “Morgan and Morgan”.
- That’s where you intercept them. You’re essentially borrowing the awareness their ad spend created and redirecting it to your firm at a fraction of the cost.
Here’s an example of a firm in Queens, New York, ranking above Morgan & Morgan in the Sponsored Results section of Google:
Google search results for “Morgan and Morgan Queens.”
4. Invest in SEO. While Morgan & Morgan spends a lot, they don’t rank particularly well organically in each local market.
In Richmond, Virginia, where they famously entered with an advertising splash, they have no presence on the first page of Google for “Personal Injury Lawyer Richmond VA” or “Auto Accident Lawyer Richmond VA.” Google is giving precedence to the local attorneys who specialize in this market.
Below are the Local Map Pack results for “Personal Injury Lawyer Richmond VA”. Morgan & Morgan did not show up on the first page of Google in our manual test.
Local Map Pack results for “Personal Injury Lawyer Richmond VA.”
Below are the Semrush SERP results for “Auto Accident Lawyer Richmond VA”. Again, Morgan & Morgan has no presence here.
Semrush SERP results for “Auto Accident Lawyer Richmond VA”.
The lack of organic presence on Google for Morgan & Morgan in local markets is a common theme and goes beyond the Local Pack.
Here are the AI Overview and first organic ranking position results for “Best Personal Injury Lawyer in Atlanta,” where Morgan & Morgan was not mentioned.
Google search results for “Best Personal Injury Lawyer in Atlanta.”
Learn more about SEO tactics for personal injury lawyers
5. Invest in Social Ads. Social ads are a great way to build brand awareness in a local market at a fraction of the cost of TV ads.
We went through the thousands of ads Morgan & Morgan has running on Meta via the Facebook Ads Library. None of the ads mentions a local market, meaning they are generic.
Examples of Morgan & Morgan’s ads from Facebook Ads Library.
To show your local roots, film a quick video outside a recognizable local courthouse, referencing a recent verdict in your market, or feature a real client testimonial from someone in the community.
Make the content feel native to your specific city. It will usually outperform a generic national ad in that same market.
In Closing
It can feel scary when a massive firm like Morgan & Morgan enters your market. Local firms that double down on their roots, invest in SEO and get strategic with their ad spend have a real shot at staying ahead. Start with one or two of these tactics and build from there.
Learn more about our success working with personal injury lawyers
