35 Years of Disability Firm Marketing: What (Really) Works
Some Social Security Disability firms grow into regional powerhouses. Others spend the same marketing budget and grow only incrementally.
Nathan Chapman has spent 35 years watching which is which.
In the 1980s, personal injury lawyers were household names and all over television. Social Security Disability firms were mostly unknown to the general public. Nathan was a freelance marketing and advertising writer and producer in New Orleans when he began working with one disability law firm that had offices in three states, and built what were among the first professional, sophisticated marketing campaigns made for disability attorneys.
"The phones were ringing off the wall," he recalls. "People said it was a blessing that for the first time they learned that legal help could reverse their disability denials."
He then crisscrossed the country recruiting disability attorneys for his marketing services. The agency he founded, Firmidable, is marking its 35th anniversary this year.
The mediums have turned over more than once since: television commercials, then Google search, now AI search. Nathan's argument is that the underlying truths have not. This session is about which ones.
What we'll cover (45 min + 15 min Q&A):
The operational structure behind the powerhouses. What the SSDI firms that scaled had in common structurally, and why marketing alone was never the variable
Branding in a digital era. How to stop looking like every other disability firm, walked through with real website and advertising examples
Television. Is that still a thing for disability lawyers, and when does it pencil out
The AI search revolution. What actually changed, and what it means for how claimants find you
Intake mistakes that waste good leads. The thoughtless ones, and what each of them costs
What you'll walk away with:
A read on whether your firm is structured like the firms that scaled, or just spending like them
Branding examples concrete enough to hold your own site and advertising up against
A current answer on television, from someone who has bought it for disability firms for three decades
What to change about how your firm shows up in AI search
A short list of intake leaks worth checking this week
Who should attend:
Firm owners and managing attorneys who make the marketing spend decisions
Marketing and business development staff at disability firms
Intake managers, and anyone who owns the first conversation with a new lead
Anyone who has raised their marketing budget and not seen the caseload follow
Expect actionable ideas and real examples from real firms. Get ready to take notes.
Can't make it live? Register anyway and we'll send you the recording.
Speakers
Nathan Chapman: President, Firmidable
Nathan founded Firmidable, a marketing agency working exclusively with Social Security Disability firms, and has spent 35 years helping disability practices grow. He began in New Orleans in the 1980s, running what were among the first professional marketing campaigns built for disability attorneys, and has worked through every medium shift since, from television to Google search to AI search. By Firmidable's count, that work has helped more than a million people who are unable to work find the disability legal help they needed.
Will Yang: Head of Growth, Chronicle
Will builds Chronicle's practitioner community by hosting events, conversations, and resources that help SSD attorneys navigate the business side of running a disability firm.