Your law firm's website and the lawyer advertising rules

Putting your site live

Nothing goes live until a lawyer at the firm approves it.

1. Open Launch and read your new site, every page.
2. Tick I'm a lawyer at the firm. I've reviewed this website and it meets my state's lawyer advertising rules.
3. Type your full name. We fill in the lawyer named on your site; change it if someone else is approving.
4. Click Publish my website (or Publish on your dashboard).

What your site says, and what it leaves out

A law firm's website is advertising. We write yours within the rules most states share (ABA Model Rules 7.1 and 7.2), and check every page before you see it and again after every change.

• No “expert”, “specialist” or “certified”, unless your own site names the certification and who gave it. Then we word it the same way. Otherwise your site says what you do: “focuses on”, “handles”, “practice limited to”.
• No “best”, “top”, “#1” or comparisons with other lawyers.
• No promised results: no “guarantee”, “we will win” or success rates.
• Results and reviews only as you've published them, word for word, with “Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.” beneath them. We never write or polish a review.
• A responsible lawyer named on every page, with your phone and office town, and this line in the footer: “The information on this website is for general information only and is not legal advice. Viewing this site or contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.”
• A notice on every contact form: “Please don't send confidential or time-sensitive information through this form. Contacting us doesn't create an attorney-client relationship.”
• No “no fee unless we win” for family or criminal matters.
• “Free consultation”, “24/7” and your fees only as your own site or listings state them.

If something breaks a rule

Publishing waits and tells you each sentence to change and why. Ask the site assistant in Your website to change them, then publish. If one of your own edits breaks a rule, we tell you when you save it.

Your state's own rules

We add these where your office is, or where your site says you're admitted.

• Texas: file your homepage with the State Bar of Texas Advertising Review Committee within 10 days of going live, and again after you change it. Your dashboard shows the date and the link; press I've filed it when it's done. We never file for you.
• Florida: no reviews, testimonials, ratings or review counts on your site until you confirm the Florida Bar's four conditions on your dashboard, with your full name. Then ask for reviews in the editor.
• California: case results also carry “The result in each case depended on its own facts; results will differ if the facts are different.”
• Illinois: a certification also carries “The Supreme Court of Illinois does not recognize certifications of specialties in the practice of law.”
• New Jersey: a rating or award, such as Super Lawyers, shows only with how it's decided, who gives it, and “No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.”

Your listings

Under Listings we check the legal directories clients use: Justia, Avvo, FindLaw, Martindale-Hubbell and Lawyers.com, plus Yelp. If we don't find you on one, its button says what to do.

• Avvo already lists nearly every lawyer. Claim the profile that's there instead of making a new one: click Claim your Avvo profile.
• Justia, Martindale-Hubbell and Lawyers.com usually have a profile for you too: click Find and claim your profile.
• FindLaw: click Add your free profile.
• Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers choose lawyers themselves. Nobody can pay or sign up to be on them, so we show them when you're on them and never ask you to join. AILA, NACDL and Nolo are memberships and paid listings: we show them when you're on them, and never ask you to join.

Reviews

• Invite every client the same open way, with no gift, discount or pressure. Reviews has a short invitation you can copy.
• When you reply, keep it to a short thank-you that says nothing about the person's matter, and never confirm they're a client (ABA Formal Opinion 496).
• To a poor review, one professional line at most, such as: “Professional obligations keep us from discussing any matter here.”

Common questions