There may be no such thing as bad press, but there's definitely such a thing as one out of five stars on Yelp. According to the “Reputation Management in the Digital Age” panel held at last week's ABA Tech Show, the majority of would-be clients out there are researching prospective attorneys online, and reviews are among the first things that catch their attention.

Jordan Schuetzle, director of proposition strategy and market development lead at Thomson Reuters, compared an attorney's online presence to a first impression, only without the element of control. It used to be if you wanted to build a good reputation, you'd dress well and practice good manners. Now most of those initial vibes—good or not—are being delivered secondhand.

“It's a scary prospect. People out there are talking about you and you may have no control. You may not even know there conversations are happening,” Schuetzle said.

Even if prospective clients aren't taking the time to read each and every review posted on a site like Yelp, most platforms compile that feedback into some kind of an overall ranking or score that is easy to throw off balance.

During the panel, Schuetzle showed examples of firms with otherwise decent ratings that had been toppled by relatively minuscule complaints. One client was angry that nobody had bothered to return his phone call, while the local pizza delivery guy resented not being given a bigger tip. “So you have to care about those people too,” Schuetzle said.

Fortunately, there are ways that lawyers can take some control over how their brand is perceived online. Instead of being passive and waiting for commentary to start popping up online, attorneys can work on finding the opportune moments in a case to ask clients for feedback.

Solo practitioner Megan Zavieh recommended making it as easy as possible for clients to supply commentary by sending them a link via text or email. Her practice, ZaviehLaw, focuses exclusively on attorney ethics, which means that her clients are sometimes reluctant to make their association with her public knowledge. The key take away there? Ask for permission before using client feedback in marketing, even if the applicable comments go unattributed.

It's also important to ask for feedback while the case is still unfolding. Zavieh said clients are no longer invested once their matter has been brought to a close. Plus if the commentary is negative, there's still time to turn things around and potentially salvage a positive experience.

“If you know they're not happy, then try to fix it and make them happy,” Zavieh said.

Unfortunately that's not always possible and the occasional bad review might still find its way onto the internet—but there's still room to recover. Ignoring critical feedback won't make it go away and besides, Schuetzle said the majority of customers look favorably on businesses that take the time to craft a thoughtful response.

Zavieh pointed out that you're not really responding to the client who authored the complaint. At this stage it's about engaging the next client, which is why it's important to keep emotion out of the equation.

She suggested having a friend or someone with a little distance from the situation help with drafting the response. It's also critical that the message feel personalized and authentic.

“[Clients] don't want to hear back from the business manager or director of marketing,” Zavieh said.