What ABA Rules and State Bars Actually Require for Personal Injury Law Firm Websites

Personal injury law firm websites fall under attorney advertising regulations in every U.S. jurisdiction. The foundation is ABA Model Rules 7.1 through 7.3, though your state may have adopted modified versions with stricter or different requirements.

Model Rule 7.1: Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services
This is the broadest rule. It prohibits any communication about your services that is false or misleading. A statement is misleading if it creates unjustified expectations about results, compares your services to other lawyers' without factual basis, or omits material information. Your homepage claim of being the "best personal injury lawyer in Houston" likely violates this rule unless you can substantiate it.

Model Rule 7.2: Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services — Specific Rules
This covers advertising mechanics: required disclosures, payment for recommendations, and referral arrangements. For SEO purposes, this matters when you pay for directory listings, sponsored content, or any arrangement where a third party recommends your services.

Model Rule 7.3: Solicitation of Clients
The direct solicitation prohibition historically focused on in-person and phone contact, but some states extend it to targeted digital marketing. If you're running remarketing ads to people who visited accident-related pages, check whether your state considers this prohibited solicitation.

Important: These are model rules. Your state bar has adopted its own version, which may differ materially. Always verify current rules with your licensing authority before implementing any marketing strategy.

Case results are your most powerful marketing asset — and your highest compliance risk. Many personal injury firms avoid publishing results entirely out of fear, while others publish without proper disclaimers and invite bar complaints.

What Most State Bars Require for Case Result Disclosures:

• A clear disclaimer that past results do not guarantee future outcomes
• No implication that similar results are likely or typical for the reader's case
• Factual accuracy — the numbers must be verifiable from case records
• Context about the case type, venue, and circumstances when material

Some jurisdictions go further. Florida, for example, requires case results to include a disclaimer in a specified format and font size. New York prohibits case results that could create unjustified expectations, which gives the bar significant discretion.

Practical Implementation for SEO:

Your case results page should include a prominent disclaimer before any results are displayed. Each individual result benefits from brief context: case type, injuries involved, whether it settled or went to verdict, and the year resolved. This context actually helps SEO by adding relevant content while demonstrating compliance.

Avoid ranking modifiers like "our biggest win" or "record settlement" unless you can verify the claim. "Significant recovery in trucking accident case" is defensible; "largest settlement in county history" requires proof.

This is educational guidance, not legal advice. Consult your state bar's ethics hotline before publishing case results.

Client testimonials face dual regulation: attorney advertising rules from your state bar and endorsement guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission. Violations on either front create problems.

Bar Rule Requirements for Testimonials:

Most jurisdictions prohibit testimonials that state or imply the lawyer can obtain similar results for other clients. A testimonial saying "Attorney Smith got me $2 million for my car accident" without disclaimers violates this standard in most states. The testimonial must be factually accurate and cannot be fabricated or materially edited.

Some states (like Florida's old rules) historically prohibited client testimonials entirely. Those blanket bans have largely been struck down as unconstitutional, but restrictions remain. Check your current state rules.

FTC Endorsement Guidelines:

The FTC requires disclosure of any material connection between endorser and business. If you provided any incentive for a review — even a discount on future services — that relationship must be disclosed. Reviews solicited by the firm should be identified as such if any benefit was provided.

Managing Google Reviews for Compliance:

• Never offer incentives for reviews (violates both FTC guidelines and most state bar rules)
• Do not ghost-write reviews for clients to post
• Responding to reviews has its own rules — never disclose confidential information, even if the client mentioned their case
• Negative review responses must not include anything that could be construed as threatening

The safest approach: request reviews without incentives, never edit or fabricate them, and add appropriate disclaimers on your testimonials page.

State advertising rules differ enough that multi-state firms need jurisdiction-specific compliance review. Here are notable variations in high-population states:

Florida: Historically one of the strictest jurisdictions. Requires specific disclaimer language, regulates the use of actors in advertising, and mandates certain font sizes for required disclosures. The rules were updated in recent years — verify current requirements with the Florida Bar.

Texas: Requires advertisements to be filed with the Advertising Review Committee. Prohibits testimonials about legal work unless accompanied by a disclaimer. Has specific rules about firm names and trade names that affect domain selection.

California: Generally follows ABA Model Rules more closely than Florida or Texas. Still prohibits guarantees and misleading statements, but fewer prescriptive format requirements. The State Bar of California provides guidance on digital marketing.

New York: Requires attorney advertising to be filed and retained. Has specific rules about the use of dramatizations and prohibits content that could create unjustified expectations. The term "advertising" is defined broadly to include websites.

Other Considerations:

• Some states require advertising to include office address — relevant for SEO and GBP optimization
• Domain names that imply specialty (e.g., "BestPersonalInjuryLawyer.com") may violate rules in some jurisdictions
• Foreign language advertising may have additional requirements

This table is for general orientation only. Rules change, and this content may not reflect current requirements. Verify with each state bar where you're licensed before implementing marketing strategies.

Many attorneys mistakenly believe advertising rules only apply to paid ads. In most jurisdictions, your website content — including blog posts, practice area pages, and FAQ sections — constitutes attorney advertising subject to the same rules.

Blog Posts and Educational Content:

Informational content that doesn't explicitly solicit clients gets more leeway, but the line is blurry. A blog post titled "What to Do After a Car Accident" is likely educational. The same post ending with "Call us today for your free case evaluation" has crossed into advertising. Once it's advertising, all disclosure and accuracy requirements apply.

Practice Area Pages:

These are almost certainly advertising. Your truck accident practice area page exists to attract clients. Claims about experience, results, and capabilities must be accurate and substantiated. Stating you have "decades of experience" when you've practiced seven years violates Rule 7.1.

Keyword Optimization Considerations:

• Avoid keyword-stuffing phrases like "best personal injury lawyer" unless you can substantiate the claim
• Competitor comparison content ("Why choose us over other firms") requires factual basis
• Location-based claims must reflect where you actually practice, not just where you want to rank

Compliant SEO Is Still Effective SEO:

The good news: ethical constraints don't prevent effective optimization. Accurate, well-written content about your actual experience, real case results with proper disclaimers, and genuine client testimonials perform well in search. The firms that get in trouble typically cut corners that wouldn't have improved their rankings anyway.

Understanding where firms actually get in trouble helps you avoid the same mistakes. These scenarios are based on patterns in bar disciplinary actions and ethics opinions.

Scenario 1: Unsubstantiated Specialty Claims
A firm's website states the attorney is a "specialist" in personal injury law. In most states, you cannot claim specialty status unless certified by an organization recognized by your state bar. The fix: Use "focuses on" or "concentrates in" rather than "specializes in" unless you hold actual board certification.

Scenario 2: Misleading Case Results
A firm publishes "$10 Million Settlement" prominently without context. The case involved catastrophic injuries, multiple defendants with high policy limits, and clear liability — circumstances unlikely to repeat. Without context and disclaimers, this creates unjustified expectations. The fix: Add factual context and required disclaimers to every result.

Scenario 3: Incentivized Reviews
A firm offers existing clients a $50 gift card for posting Google reviews. This violates FTC endorsement guidelines and likely state bar rules against paying for recommendations. The fix: Request reviews without any incentive, ever.

Scenario 4: AI-Generated Content Without Review
A firm uses AI to generate blog content that includes fabricated statistics, invented case citations, or misleading claims about the firm's experience. The attorney is responsible for all content on their website, regardless of who (or what) wrote it. The fix: Human review of all published content against accuracy and compliance standards.

Consequences of Violations:

• Bar discipline ranging from private reprimand to suspension
• Malpractice insurance implications
• Forced removal of website content
• Reputational damage that undermines the SEO investment