The short answer
Law firm websites must follow bar advertising rules as well as privacy and accessibility law. Texas requires the home page to be filed with the Advertising Review Committee within 10 days unless exempt. Florida exempts websites from filing but not from its content rules. New York rewrote Rule 7.1 from 1 June 2026. India's Bar Council Rule 36 limits a website to factual information.
Key takeaways
- Texas: file the website home page with the State Bar's Advertising Review Committee within 10 days of publication unless exempt (Rule 7.04(a); 7.05(b)).
- Florida: lawyer websites are exempt from filing but must meet Rule 4-7's content rules: past results only if objectively verifiable, testimonials restricted.
- New York: Rule 7.1 was rewritten on the ABA model, effective 1 June 2026; the former "Attorney Advertising" label and filing details are gone.
- India: Bar Council of India Rule 36 prohibits soliciting work; a website is limited to factual information, usually behind a disclaimer visitors accept.
- Intake forms collect sensitive details, so the privacy notice, consent and security duties apply in full.
On this page
01
What do the bar advertising rules require of a website?
| Jurisdiction | Rule | What the website needs |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | Disciplinary Rules Part VII (effective 1 July 2021) | Home page filed with the Advertising Review Committee within 10 days unless exempt; no misleading statements; disclaimers on results and testimonials; a responsible lawyer named; principal office location; keep copies |
| Florida | Rule 4-7 | Websites exempt from filing but must comply; past results only if objectively verifiable; testimonials restricted; a responsible lawyer and office location |
| New York | Rule 7.1 (rewritten 1 June 2026) | No false or misleading communications, including results without context; specialist claims only if certified by a named approved body; a responsible lawyer or firm's name and contact; firm and domain names meet Rule 7.5 |
| India | Bar Council of India Rule 36 | No soliciting or advertising; website limited to name, contact, enrolment, qualifications and practice areas; a disclaimer visitors accept; no testimonials, results, rankings or fee promotion |
02
What privacy issues do law firm websites have?
- Intake forms collect sensitive facts, such as injuries, immigration status or criminal matters, which some laws treat as sensitive data needing extra care or explicit consent.
- Chat widgets and analytics load before consent, sending visit data about people researching legal problems to third parties.
- No privacy notice at the form, or a notice that doesn't name the chat, CRM and email tools that receive intake data.
- State privacy laws, such as Texas's TDPSA, apply alongside the bar rules.
- Accessibility: firms are businesses open to the public, so ADA claims apply to their websites too.
03
What does a law firm audit find?
The SafeLaunch sample report audits a solo personal-injury firm's site in Austin, Texas. It scored 54 overall and 41 for Texas. The findings: advertising not filed with the State Bar of Texas, injury details collected with no privacy notice, testimonials without the required disclaimer, analytics and chat loading before consent, unlabelled form fields and missing security headers. Fixing the top five moves Texas from 41 to roughly 88.
One free fix in your inbox each week
A new copy-paste prompt for Lovable, Cursor or Claude Code every week, with the rule behind it and how to check it worked. No spam, unsubscribe in one click.
By signing up you agree to get this weekly email. We send it with Kit, and you can unsubscribe at any time. What we share with Kit is in our privacy notice.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions.
Sources and further reading
- State Bar of Texas: Advertising Review
- The Florida Bar: ethics and advertising
- New York Courts: amendments to the Joint Rules
- Bar Council of India
This article is general information, not legal advice. SafeLaunch is automated software, not a law firm; a report records what was checked on one version and is not a certificate of compliance. Read the disclaimer.
From the founder
SafeLaunch is built by Raghav R Handa, a lawyer-turned-builder in New Delhi. He writes about this topic in plain English:
See what SafeLaunch finds on your product.
Paste a link and get your score, the most serious problems and what already passes, in about a minute.
Keep reading