LinkedIn for professional firms: becoming visible without breaching professional law or confidentiality

Why LinkedIn matters for professional firms

Private individuals usually find a lawyer or notary through Google. Companies, founders and other advisers, by contrast, often know their firm from their network: the managing director read a post about the new flat-rate taxation, the bank adviser remembers the talk on business succession. LinkedIn therefore works less as an enquiry channel and more as a memory aid. Those who regularly share expertise get recommended when the need arises.

Then there is recruiting. Trainee lawyers, trainee tax advisers, tax clerks and bookkeepers look the firm up before applying, and LinkedIn is one of the first places they check. For a firm that only handles private clients and is not hiring, a well-kept profile without regular posts may be enough.

Personal profile or company page

LinkedIn distinguishes between personal profiles and company pages. You create a page from a personal profile and can give several people admin rights. In practice, posts by people reach far more users than posts by pages, because people follow people. Both have their role:

Profiles used for business need easily accessible provider information, in Germany under § 5 DDG, in Austria under § 5 ECG. The usual approach is a clearly labelled link to the imprint on your firm's website, on the company page for instance in the About section. What it must contain is covered in the guides on mandatory information, for example for auditors in Germany or lawyers in Austria. You can create a suitable imprint with our free generator.

Headline and titles under professional law

The headline under your name appears with every post and every comment. It has room for around 220 characters, and this is exactly where most mistakes happen. Professional titles are protected: in Germany, anyone who uses “Rechtsanwalt”, “Steuerberater” or “Wirtschaftsprüfer” without authorisation commits an offence under § 132a StGB, and in Austria, too, only members of the profession may use the professional title.

• Lawyers: in Germany “Fachanwältin für Arbeitsrecht” (certified specialist in employment law) only once awarded by the chamber; “specialist” or “expert” only with demonstrable knowledge and no risk of confusion. Austria has no specialist lawyer titles; trainee lawyers use “Rechtsanwaltsanwärterin” or “Rechtsanwaltsanwärter” (trainee lawyer), not “Rechtsanwältin” or “lawyer”.
• Tax advice and auditing: trainees in Austria and staff without appointment in Germany do not use “Steuerberater”. “Tax expert” or “tax advisor” used in a way that suggests an appointment is misleading.
• Bookkeepers: in Germany, only name activities you are permitted to perform under the StBerG (Tax Advisory Act), so no “tax advice”. In Austria, use the title matching your authorisation: Bilanzbuchhalter:in, Buchhalter:in or Personalverrechner:in (payroll accountant).
• Mediators: in Austria “eingetragene Mediatorin” (registered mediator) only if listed with the Ministry of Justice; in Germany “zertifizierte Mediatorin” (certified mediator) only after training under the ZMediatAusbV.
• Notaries: official title “Notarin” or “Notar”; notary candidates in Austria (Notariatskandidat:innen) and notary assessors in Germany (Notarassessor:innen) only with their respective title.

Expert posts without individual advice or client data

Posts that answer a specific question briefly and correctly work best: what changes with a new judgment, which deadline is about to expire, what should be clarified before handing over a business. Write for your target group, not for colleagues, and link to a detailed article on your website. How to structure such posts is shown in the guide to expert articles for professional firms.

Two limits always apply. First, confidentiality: under § 9 RAO, § 80 WTBG 2017, § 43a(2) BRAO, § 57 StBerG and the corresponding rules for the other professions. It prohibits not only names but anything that allows conclusions. “Today we won the dismissal of a branch manager for a bakery in Hallein” reveals enough in a small town. Second, individual advice: if someone asks about their specific case in the comments, answer in general terms and offer a conversation. Advice in comments or direct messages without a client relationship creates liability risks and puts information into a network that does not belong to you.

Tagging clients, showing their logos or approving recommendations from them on your profile is advertising with clients. It always requires consent, and for lawyers in Germany an express one under the BORA (professional rules for lawyers) since 1 December 2025. Watch your photos too: no files, screens or names on binders may be legible in pictures from the firm.

How often to post, and how much time it takes

Regularity beats volume. One good post a week or every two weeks, plus a few factual comments on other people's posts, is realistic for a sole practitioner and enough to stay in people's minds. Someone who posts daily for three months and then goes silent seems less reliable than someone who has been writing something useful every two weeks for years.

Employer branding and recruiting

For many firms, LinkedIn is above all a recruiting channel. Applicants want to see who works there, how training works and whether there is room for part-time or remote work. Posts about passed exams, training courses or the new trainee lawyer show this more credibly than any job ad. Only publish photos and names of employees with their consent, and withdrawal must remain possible.

• Job ads: publish them on the company page and have employees share them. In Austria, § 9(2) GlBG (Equal Treatment Act) requires job ads to state the minimum pay under the collective agreement or law and whether you are willing to pay more.
• Approaching candidates: direct messages to employees of other firms are generally allowed, poaching by unfair means is not. Auditors in Germany have a specific rule on this in § 16 BS WP/vBP (professional statutes for auditors).
• Employees as ambassadors: encourage the team to share firm posts, but don't oblige anyone. Set out in a short policy what is never posted about client matters.

Contacts with referrers

Many instructions come via other advisers: the tax adviser recommends an employment lawyer, the notary a mediator, the bank a firm for business succession. LinkedIn makes it easier to maintain these contacts. Connect after talks, shared matters (without mentioning them) or chamber events, with a short personal message instead of a blank request.

Mutual professional recommendations are allowed. Benefits for referring clients are prohibited: for lawyers under § 49b(3) BRAO or § 47 RL-BA 2015, for tax advisers under § 9 StBerG or § 84 WTBG 2017. A “thank you” in the form of a commission, voucher or discount for the next referral therefore has no place in a LinkedIn message either. More on this in the guide to referrals for professional firms.

What counts as advertising and which rules apply

Every post in which you present your professional work is advertising within the meaning of professional law, even a short comment or a shared article. The basic principle is similar in both countries and for all professions: you may provide factual information about your work, and everything must be true and must not be misleading.

On top of this comes the unfair competition law of both countries: misleading statements are prohibited under § 2 UWG in Austria and § 5 UWG in Germany. Label paid posts and ads on LinkedIn as advertising (§ 6 ECG, § 6 DDG). Lawyers, tax advisers, auditors, bookkeepers and mediators may run factual ads.