You're not underspending on Google Ads. You're under-managed.
Most law firms aren't losing budget to bad markets. They're losing it to PPC teams that have never heard the phrase "cost per retainer."
Generic agencies don't speak legal.
They copy-paste campaigns built for home services and apply them to your firm. The keywords are wrong, the bids are wrong, and nobody on their team has ever thought about case value versus cost per click.
You're paying for people who can't retain you.
Broad match keywords, weak negative lists, and no geography logic means your budget attracts people outside your jurisdiction or outside your practice areas. Your intake team handles the fallout at $300 per wasted call.
Nobody is tracking cost per retainer.
You know your CPL. You don't know which campaign produced the client who signed a $40k retainer last Tuesday. Without that loop closed, you're optimizing for the wrong number — and overpaying every month.
Your LSA profile is set up and forgotten.
Google Local Services Ads are the highest-converting placement for law firms. Most agencies set them up once and walk away. Actively managed and disputed LSA profiles can cut your cost per qualified call in half.