Attorney advertising rules for a law firm website.

The short answer

Bar rules on lawyer advertising cover every way a firm tells the public about its services. Your website is one of them, and so are your Google Business Profile, your social media pages, the landing page behind an ad and the emails you send to past enquirers.

In the US, the starting point is the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, Rules 7.1 to 7.3. The ABA writes them as a model. Each state adopts its own version, often with changes, and the version that binds you is the one in each state where your lawyers are licensed. A rule described here may read differently in yours.

On a website, most of the weight falls on Rule 7.1: nothing may be false or misleading, and that includes true statements that leave the wrong impression. Specialist titles and past results get their own treatment, and some states add labels, filing with the bar or record keeping on top.

This guide explains published rules in plain words. It is not legal advice. Your state bar's ethics hotline, or a lawyer who advises firms on professional conduct, can answer for your firm and your pages.

What Model Rules 7.1 to 7.3 say

• Rule 7.1 bans false or misleading communications about a lawyer or the lawyer's services. A communication is misleading if it misstates a fact or the law, or leaves out a fact needed to stop the whole from misleading.
• Rule 7.2 lets lawyers advertise in any medium. It bars paying anyone to recommend you, with exceptions such as the reasonable cost of advertising. It limits claims to be a certified specialist, and it requires every communication to carry the name and contact details of at least one lawyer or firm responsible for it.
• Rule 7.3 covers solicitation, which means approaching a particular person to get their case. It bars live person-to-person solicitation for the lawyer's financial gain, with narrow exceptions, and any solicitation of someone who has said they do not want it.

The ABA rewrote these rules in 2018 and folded the old Rules 7.4 and 7.5, on specialisation and firm names, into 7.1 and 7.2. Some states still use the older numbering, and Texas numbers its rules 7.01 onwards, so the rule you need may sit under a different number.

Firm names and web addresses count as communications too. The comment to Rule 7.1 allows a trade name, a website address or a social media name if it is not misleading, and treats a name that suggests a link to a government agency or a legal aid organisation as misleading. A domain that sounds like a court or a public defender's office has that problem.

Misleading claims, including true ones

Rule 7.1 catches more than lies. Its comment says a true statement can still mislead, for example when it leaves out a fact the reader needs, or leads a reasonable person to a conclusion that has no factual basis. Read each page as a worried stranger would, and ask what they would take away from it.

These are the lines that raise the question most often on firm websites:

• Superlatives nobody can check, such as "the best divorce lawyers in Dallas" or "top rated" with no source. The comment warns about unsubstantiated comparisons with other lawyers' services or fees.
• "No fee unless we win" when clients still pay court costs or expenses if they lose. Say what they pay in each case, next to the claim.
• "Thousands of cases won" or "decades of experience" that nobody has counted. Use a number only if you can show where it comes from.
• Stock photos of people who look like your lawyers or your clients. New York requires a disclosure when actors portray lawyers or clients, and other states may see it as misleading.
• A headline that promises an outcome, such as "we get you the money you deserve".
• Practice areas you no longer take, or a team page that still shows lawyers who have left.

Each of these has a cheap fix: name the source, add the missing fact or cut the line. Plain descriptions of what you do and how you work rarely cause trouble. If you are rewriting the pages anyway, how to write the words for your website covers the writing itself.

Specialist, expert and certified

The ABA's version lets a lawyer say they practise in, concentrate on or specialise in a field, based on experience, training or education, as long as the statement is not false or misleading. Claiming to be certified as a specialist is a separate matter. Rule 7.2 allows it only when the certifying body is approved by the state or accredited by the ABA, and the communication names that body.

States differ here more than anywhere else, and the list further down gives examples. New York, for one, bars a lawyer from saying they specialise at all unless certified.

Expert raises the same question. New Jersey's committee on attorney advertising has said words such as expertise and specialise are allowed when the lawyer can show the education, training and experience behind them. In other states, ask your bar before you put the word in a headline.

On a website the fix is usually wording. "Our practice is limited to employment law" or "we handle only family matters" says what you do without a title. Put any certification on the lawyer's own profile, with the full name of the body that granted it.

Case results and client testimonials

The comment to Rule 7.1 says a true report of a lawyer's results can mislead if it leads readers to expect the same result in their own case, whatever its facts. Adding a disclaimer or qualifying words may prevent that. Some states go further and set the wording, or add conditions for testimonials.

Two more rules sit behind every results page:

• Confidentiality. Model Rule 1.6 bars revealing information about a client's matter without the client's informed consent, apart from narrow exceptions. A settlement figure next to the client's town and injury can identify them. Get written consent before you publish, and keep it with the page.
• Context. Put the facts that drove each result next to the figure: the kind of case, what was in dispute and whether it settled or went to trial. If a figure is before fees and costs, say so.

Reviews you copy from Google or another site onto your own pages work like testimonials, so treat them with the same care. Use real clients only, quote them without editing the meaning, and ask before you name them.

Reviews, awards, directories and paid leads

Rule 7.2 bars giving anything of value to someone for recommending your services. A discount in return for a five-star review, or a gift card for each review, runs straight into it. Google has its own rules on asking for reviews, covered in how to ask for Google reviews without breaking the rules.

Awards and rankings are comparisons with other lawyers, which the comment to Rule 7.1 says may mislead if they cannot be substantiated. New Jersey sets conditions for honours such as Super Lawyers or Best Lawyers in advertising: the organisation that gave it is named, the basis for it can be substantiated, and a set disclaimer says the Supreme Court of New Jersey has not approved the advertisement.

Paying for advertising is allowed. The comment to Rule 7.2 lists directories, online ads, domain names and sponsorships among the costs a lawyer may pay, along with marketing and website design. Paid lead services are allowed under conditions: the lead generator must not recommend you, must not suggest it analysed the person's problem to choose a lawyer, and must be paid in a way that respects the rules on sharing fees.

Read a lead service's own ads and landing pages before you sign. A promise to "match you with the best lawyer for your case" is the kind of wording that comment is about.

Contact details, labels and dated copies

Under Rule 7.2, every communication must include the name and contact details of at least one lawyer or firm responsible for it. The comment says the contact details can be a website, a phone number, an email address or an office address. On a website, a footer with the firm name, the office address and a phone number covers every page.

Some states add labels or filing, and those are in the list below. Even where no rule asks for it, keep a dated copy of every page, as a PDF or a saved snapshot. If a complaint arrives two years from now, you will need to show what the page said on the day the person read it.

Name one lawyer as responsible for the site in your own records, and file the copies with that lawyer's approval. When a page changes, save the new version next to the old one.

Where states differ

A few examples of state rules that go beyond the ABA's model. They show how far apart states can be, so treat this as a reason to read your own state's rules, which your state bar publishes, often with advisory opinions on websites.

• New York. Advertising websites carry the words Attorney Advertising on the home page, and advertising emails carry them in the subject line. Past results and client testimonials need a disclaimer worded in the rule, a testimonial about a matter still open needs the client's written informed consent, paid endorsements must say they were paid, and actors portraying lawyers or clients must be disclosed. A lawyer may not say they specialise unless certified, and then the certifying body is named with a disclaimer.
• New York records. Each advertisement is kept for at least three years, and a copy of the website is saved at launch, after a major redesign or meaningful content change, and at least every 90 days.
• Texas. Advertisements are filed with the State Bar's Advertising Review Committee no later than ten days after they first run. Most of a firm website is exempt from filing, but the home page is not, unless its content is otherwise exempt. The whole site still has to follow the rules.
• Florida. Many advertisements are filed with the Bar for review before use. Lawyer and firm websites are exempt from filing, and they still have to follow the rules.
• New Jersey. Comparisons and awards need the conditions described above, including the set disclaimer.
• Pennsylvania. Its comment says a text message counts as live person-to-person contact for solicitation, which the ABA's comment does not.
• Minnesota. A lawyer who calls themselves a specialist must name the certifying organisation, or say they are not certified by an organisation the state's board accredits.

If your lawyers are licensed in two states, the site has to work under both. Where the rules conflict, ask each bar which one applies to a page aimed at clients in its state.

Contact forms, follow-ups and solicitation

A contact form is where advertising turns into a possible client. The ABA's ethics opinion on lawyer websites, Formal Opinion 10-457, says a site that invites people to describe their matter may make them prospective clients, which brings duties of confidentiality. It suggests clear warnings, placed where people see them before they send anything: the form does not create a lawyer-client relationship, what they send may not be treated as confidential, the site is not legal advice, and sending it may not stop the firm acting for the other side.

Ask for less on the form, so there is less to protect: a name, contact details, the type of matter and the names of the other parties for a conflict check. Ask people to keep the full story for the call. A lead capture chatbot on a firm's site should follow the same rule.

The comment to Rule 7.3 says a website aimed at the general public is not solicitation, and neither is a reply to someone who asked for information. It defines live person-to-person contact as in-person, live phone or real-time video and audio contact, and leaves out chat rooms, texts and other written messages people can easily ignore. Pennsylvania counts texts as live contact, so check your state before an automation texts anyone.

Texting has rules outside the bar rules too, such as consent for marketing texts in the US: see text message consent rules. A chatbot on the site raises its own questions, and what a law firm chatbot should collect and refuse is on our law firms page.

Solicitors in the UK and lawyers in the EU

In England and Wales, the SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors has two rules that matter most for a website. Publicity about your practice must be accurate and not misleading, including what it says about your charges. And you must not make unsolicited approaches to members of the public, other than current or former clients, to advertise your services.

The SRA's guidance says the second rule is aimed at direct approaches that target people individually, in person, by phone or by other means. Advertising to the public in a way that is neither intrusive nor targeted, online and on social media included, is allowed. Firms also publish price information for some services and their complaints procedure under the SRA Transparency Rules.

In the EU, each country's bar sets the rules. The code of the CCBE, the body representing European bars, lets a lawyer inform the public about their services if the information is accurate, not misleading and respects confidentiality and the profession's other core values. National rules add the detail and differ from country to country, so check with your bar before you publish client names, results or comparisons.

A check for each page

Go through the site with your state's rules open next to it:

• Home page: no claim you cannot prove, any label your state requires, and the firm's name and contact details.
• Practice area pages: describe what you do, avoid specialist titles unless certified, and check every sentence that promises an outcome.
• Lawyer profiles: where each lawyer is admitted, certifications with the full name of the body, and nobody who has left.
• Results page: written client consent, the facts behind each figure and any disclaimer your state requires.
• Reviews page: real clients only, nothing paid for, and any testimonial conditions your state sets.
• Awards: the organisation's name and the basis for the award, plus any disclaimer your state requires.
• Contact form: short questions, a field for the other parties and clear warnings before the send button.
• Blog posts: dated, general information only, with a line saying they are not advice on anyone's own situation.
• Ad landing pages and emails: the same checks, plus any filing or labels your state requires for ads. A landing page for an ad is still an advertisement.
• Footer: firm name, office address, phone, the states where your lawyers are licensed and a privacy notice.

Who signs off, and when to check again

Give one lawyer at the firm the job of approving every page before it goes live, and every change after. Model Rule 5.3 makes lawyers with managerial authority responsible for reasonable efforts to keep the work of non-lawyers they use, a marketing agency or a web designer included, in line with the lawyers' own duties. An agency's mistake on your site is the firm's problem.

Check the site again when your state changes its rules, when you add a lawyer licensed in a new state, when you start an ad campaign and at least once a year. File the dated copies with each approval.

When we build a law firm site, nothing goes live until the firm approves it, and we never write reviews, numbers or claims the firm cannot back up. See websites for how a build runs.