The website of a boutique business law firm: as credible as big law, without client names

Why a boutique has to prove more online

A large firm benefits from its name: whoever instructs it has little to explain internally. A boutique doesn't have this bonus. The head of legal, the CFO or the managing director of a family business has to justify to the board why a team of four lawyers can handle an acquisition, a financing or a shareholder dispute just as well. Your website supplies the arguments for that internal justification.

Then there are people searching who don't know you yet: “Wirtschaftsanwalt Wien” (business lawyer Vienna), “M&A Kanzlei Graz” or “Gesellschaftsrecht Anwalt Frankfurt” (corporate lawyer Frankfurt) are typical searches by business owners. And there are applicants, because many searches for “Wirtschaftsanwalt” are career searches. A boutique that wants to attract trainees or associates needs the same credibility as it does with clients.

Spin-off from big law: positioning and name

Most boutiques grow out of a partnership, a team or a practice group that leaves a large firm. This is your strongest argument and at the same time the most delicate part of the website. Tell the founding story factually: who, when, with what focus. “Founded in 2026 by three partners who previously led the corporate practice group of an international law firm in Vienna for more than ten years” can be checked and makes an impact. Naming your previous firm in your career history is common as a true biographical fact. But it must not appear so prominently that it looks as if you still belonged to it or worked with it.

• Name and domain: Only names of current or former partners, in Austria under § 1b RAO, and no additions that claim a unique position. How to find a name that also works internationally is covered in the post Firm name and domain.
• “Boutique” is not a protected term. It describes a specialised, small firm and is permitted as long as the specialisation is real. Use it sparingly; your matter types say more.
• Clients who follow you: Clients who move with you decide for themselves. But check your partnership agreement and exit agreement (client protection, non-compete clauses) and don't use the old firm's contact data for announcements.
• Launch announcement: A press release or a LinkedIn post about the launch is permitted and often picked up by the legal press. Name clients in it only with their consent.

References without client names

Confidentiality already covers the fact that someone is your client. In Austria this follows from § 9(2) RAO, and § 47(3) no. 5 RL-BA expressly prohibits naming clients without their consent. In Germany § 43a(2) BRAO applies, and since 1 December 2025 § 6(2) BORA requires express consent for advertising with mandates or clients, even if the mandate is already public. A buyer's press release naming your firm as adviser therefore does not replace consent.

Ideally, ask for consent when the matter ends, while the cooperation is fresh and has gone well. State specifically what will appear (name, logo, type of matter, quote), where (website, LinkedIn, ranking submission) and for how long. Record that consent can be withdrawn and remove the entry promptly if it is. Many companies say yes for completed transactions and almost never for disputes and restructurings. Plan the website so that it works without a single name.

How to write anonymised deal descriptions

A good description names four things: the industry (as broadly as necessary), the type of matter, the size and your role. The combination is where it gets dangerous: “Family business from the Mühlviertel, special machinery for woodworking, sale to US investor 2025” describes exactly one company in a small industry. Read every description with one question in mind: could someone from the industry guess who is meant?

Describing matter types and transactions

Companies don't search for “corporate law” but for help with a specific project: acquisition, succession, financing round, shareholder dispute, reorganisation. So structure the pages per practice area by matter type. This shows experience without needing names, and it matches the searches business owners use to find you.

Figures help if they are true and clearly attributed: “Since 2012 the partners have advised on more than 80 corporate transactions, 30 of them cross-border.” Keep the figures up to date and document them internally. How to build practice area pages in general is covered in the post Practice areas on the firm website.

Mentioning JUVE, Legal 500 and Chambers correctly

For legal departments, rankings are an important signal. JUVE covers the German and Austrian market, The Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners rate firms and individuals in Austria and Germany by practice area. Inclusion is free of charge and is based on submissions, interviews with the firm and feedback from clients and competitors. For a young boutique this is an opportunity: partners who were already recommended as individuals at their big firm are often listed again with the new firm.

Advertising with rankings is permitted if it is true and objective. It must not mislead: not about the year, not about the category and not about who was ranked. A recommendation of a partner from her time at a large firm is not an award for the boutique. If you name clients as referees in a ranking submission, you need their consent, because that also discloses the mandate.

Partner profiles that show experience

In a boutique, clients instruct people, not a brand. The partner profile is therefore the most important page after the home page. It replaces the long deal list of a large firm with a clear career history and specific focus areas. The basics on titles, photos and consent are in the post The firm's team page; for business law firms a few points are added.

• “Partner” only for actual partners. Employed lawyers are called “Rechtsanwältin” (lawyer), “Associate” or “Counsel”. A boutique with three equity partners doesn't look smaller for saying so openly.
• Of Counsel: Explain what the role means, for example an experienced lawyer who works part-time or in an advisory capacity. The title must not suggest a partnership that doesn't exist.
• Associates and trainees belong on the page too. Clients want to know who does the work, and applicants see that there is training.

The English version

For a business law firm, an English version is hardly optional: investors, foreign parent companies, international firms that refer work, and ranking researchers read English. Translating the home page is not enough. Translate at least the practice area pages, the partner profiles, contact and imprint, and link the language versions properly on the technical side, as the post Multilingual firm website shows.

• Professional title: Keep the statutory title in English too, e.g. “Rechtsanwältin (attorney-at-law, admitted in Austria)” or “Rechtsanwalt (lawyer admitted in Germany)”. English titles like “solicitor” or “barrister” describe other professions and are misleading.
• Practice areas: Use the terms international readers search for, such as “Corporate/M&A”, “Banking & Finance”, “Dispute Resolution”, and explain Austrian or German specifics such as “GmbH” or “Umgründung” (reorganisation) in half a sentence.
• Mandatory information: The imprint and the notes on professional liability insurance also apply to the English version; link the German imprint or translate it in full.
• No machine English: Have the texts checked by someone who writes legal English. A clumsy sentence on the English home page costs more trust than a missing page.

Everything that leaves your firm should be bilingual too: email signature, business card and letterhead. With the email signature generator you create a consistent signature with professional title and bar association that all partners use in the same way.

Conflicts of interest: conflict checks from the first enquiry

In business law, the other side is often a company you already know. Anyone who has represented a party may not represent the opposing side: in Austria under § 10(1) RAO in the same or a related matter, in Germany under § 43a(4) BRAO in the same legal matter with conflicting interests. In Germany the prohibition extends to everyone with whom the person concerned practises jointly, so after a move also to the new firm, and it continues to apply to the old firm when the person leaves it. This extension only falls away if the clients concerned consent in text form after being fully informed and suitable arrangements safeguard confidentiality.

For spin-offs this matters twice over: matters from the previous firm can trigger conflicts in the new one, and new matters can collide with cases you previously handled on the other side. So before you launch, keep a conflict list of the matters you personally worked on, as far as your confidentiality obligations allow. In Austria, if in doubt, check with your bar association whether a prohibition extends to the whole new firm.

This protects you from the most common problem: the opposing side describes the case through the form, you may not accept the mandate, but you already know details. On the website, the notice about conflict checks also looks professional, because legal departments know it from large firms. More on the structure in the post The contact page of a firm.

LinkedIn, articles and recruiting

Business mandates come through referrals and visibility among decision-makers. Articles on legislative changes, short comments on current decisions and talks show expertise without naming a single mandate. LinkedIn is the most important channel for this: a post on closing a transaction is common, but it too names clients only with consent. How to build the profile of the firm and the partners is shown in the post LinkedIn for firms.

The same content helps with recruiting. Trainee lawyers and associates compare boutique and big law closely: salary, working hours, closeness to clients, training. A careers page that honestly describes how early junior lawyers get client contact and who trains them is a real advantage for a boutique. In Austria the job ad must state the minimum pay and, where applicable, the willingness to pay more; the job ad generator asks for both.

Common mistakes on business law firm websites

• Imitating big law: stock photos of glass towers, “global” and “full service” with four lawyers. It doesn't look big, it looks dishonest.
• Logo bars without consent: not permitted, even for deals that are public knowledge.
• Recognisable “anonymous” deals: too many details in a small industry or region.
• Old successes without a label: deals and rankings from the previous firm that look like achievements of the boutique.
• Superlatives: “leading”, “the best M&A boutique” without a verifiable source.
• English only on the home page: international readers land on a German subpage via Google.
• Form asks for the facts: a risk for conflicts of interest and confidentiality.
• Outdated profiles: associates who have left, rankings from three years ago, figures that are no longer correct.

How to build the website as a whole for a law firm is shown in the post Website for lawyers.