For law firms
Reign for law firms. Legal practice community + resources.
Law firms have a generic WordPress site + a client portal via Clio + email - clients want answers without billing for every question.
Reign + BuddyNext + Jetonomy for a tiered-access legal resource community: free educational content plus a paid Q&A tier. Both plugins install free; bbPress is the alternative.
Attorney profiles, educational content and a Q&A space with accepted answers, free to install. You buy the Reign theme; BuddyNext and Jetonomy are ours and install free.
- BuddyNext community engine
- Jetonomy forums and q&a
Three highlights for law firms.
- 01
Free tier: educational articles + general Q&A.
- 02
Paid tier: priority Q&A response + document templates.
- 03
Attorney profiles + practice area filtering.
What the site looks like on day one.
You launch with a resource library, a private client area and a team directory. Guides and templates sit behind a login, client matters have their own gated space, and the public side carries the practice content that brings enquiries. Confidentiality shapes everything: default to private, and verify what is public before anything goes live.
What a member actually does.
A prospective client reads a public guide and enquires. An existing client uses the portal to find documents and updates without emailing to ask. Adoption depends entirely on whether the portal is faster than email; if it is not, clients revert within a fortnight. The public library, meanwhile, keeps generating enquiries long after it is written.
How this usually makes money.
For most firms this is lead generation and client service rather than direct revenue: the library brings enquiries, the portal reduces administrative time. Where it earns directly it is paid templates, fixed-fee products or a subscription advice service, which is a growing model for small firms and suits a members area well.
The mistake to avoid.
Publishing firm news instead of answers. Nobody searches for your office move; people search for the problem they have at midnight. Plain-language guides to the specific questions clients ask before they call are what generate enquiries, and they keep generating them for years.
Law firm-specific questions.
Confidentiality implications?
Public Q&A should be educational only - no specific advice. For client-specific work, use a separate client portal (Clio or MyCase) with proper privilege.
Is a client portal safe on WordPress?
It can be, and it is your responsibility rather than a vendor's. Proper hosting, strict access control, enforced strong passwords and two-factor authentication, and no more data than you need. For regulated client data take advice on your obligations rather than assuming a plugin covers them.
Can each client have a private space?
Yes, through a private group or gated pages per matter, with access limited to the client and the team on it. Set the pattern once and apply it consistently; ad hoc permissions per client is how confidentiality mistakes happen.
What content actually brings enquiries?
Answers to the questions people ask before they call. Plain-language guides on the specific problems your practice solves outperform firm news by a wide margin, because one matches what somebody types into a search box and the other does not.
Can we publish content without giving advice?
Yes, with clear framing that it is general information rather than advice on a specific matter, and a disclaimer that says so plainly. Most firms find their regulator has guidance on this; follow it rather than improvising.
Is a members area worth it for a small firm?
If you have repeatable products, yes: templates, fixed-fee guidance, a subscription advice service. If everything you do is bespoke, the public content library will earn more than a portal.
Buy the theme. Add the plugins free.
BuddyNext and Jetonomy cost nothing to install, and each has its own Pro plan for later. Running the third-party stack instead? The BuddyPress Community Bundle kit is the packaged route. Or have the Wbcom team install either one for $699 flat.