How Law Firms Should Market a Second-Opinion Review on a Contract Someone Else Drafted

Every solicitor has had the call: someone's about to sign a lease, a shareholder agreement or a settlement deed that somebody else's lawyer drafted, and they want a second set of eyes before they commit. 💖 Most firms treat this as an annoying, low-margin enquiry to be squeezed in between "real" matters — which is exactly why it's one of the easiest, fastest-converting services sitting unmarketed on your website right now.

What most firms get wrong

They make the person ring up and explain themselves before anyone will quote a price. There's no page for "second opinion" or "contract review" at all — just a generic "commercial law" service listing that doesn't speak to the actual moment this client is in: a deadline to sign, a document they don't fully understand, and a nagging feeling something's off. By the time reception has taken a message and a solicitor has called back two days later, the client has either signed anyway or found someone who answered faster. The firms winning this work aren't better lawyers — they're just easier to say yes to.

How to actually set this up

Build one page, not a paragraph inside another page. Call it what clients call it — "second opinion on a contract", "contract review before you sign" — because that's the phrase they type into Google at 10pm. Put the fee tiers and the turnaround promise above the fold. Train whoever answers the phone to quote the entry-level fee immediately for a simple document instead of saying "I'll have someone call you back" — that single change recovers enquiries you're currently losing to the next firm in the search results. Track how many of these reviews turn into a bigger engagement; that number is what justifies keeping the fixed fee low enough to be an easy yes.

Please note: general information, not legal advice — check current official guidance before relying on it.

Mistakes to avoid:

• Requiring a face-to-face meeting before anyone will quote a fee — most of this work can and should be quoted from three questions.
• Describing the service only as part of "commercial law" instead of giving it a dedicated page clients can actually find.
• No turnaround promise, which leaves anxious clients assuming the worst and calling the next firm.
• Treating the fixed fee as a loss-leader without ever tracking how often it converts to further work — you need that number to defend the pricing internally.

Frequently asked questions

Is a fixed fee for a second opinion actually profitable?

Sometimes it's close to break-even on its own, and that's fine — the honest trade-off is that the real return shows up in the renegotiation or drafting work it generates, not in the review fee itself. If you never track conversion, you won't know whether the tier is priced sensibly.

What if we review the contract and it's fine as drafted?

Say so plainly and quickly. A firm willing to tell a client "this is a reasonable agreement, sign it" builds more trust — and more referrals — than one that always finds something to flag.

Can a junior solicitor handle these reviews?

Often yes, with a senior sign-off step built into the process, which keeps the fixed fee sustainable. For unusually technical or high-value documents, route them to a senior practitioner before quoting the fee.

Does this approach work for every contract type?

It works best for contracts with a reasonably predictable structure — leases, supply agreements, standard shareholder deeds, separation agreements. Highly bespoke or multi-jurisdiction documents genuinely don't fit a fixed-fee tier, and you should say so upfront rather than underquoting and resenting the file.

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