If you are a Florida attorney, your website is not marketing collateral. It is an advertisement, and it falls under the same chapter of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar as a billboard on I-95. Rules 4-7.11 through 4-7.23 govern what you can put on it.
That surprises a lot of firms, usually right after a web designer has filled the homepage with words like "aggressive," "the best," and "maximum compensation." Below is what the rules actually require, in plain language, with the rule numbers so you can check any of it yourself.
This is a plain-language summary written by a web agency, not legal advice, and the rules change. Verify anything here against the current rules and The Florida Bar's Handbook on Lawyer Advertising and Solicitation before you rely on it.
The good news: you don't have to file your website
Most Florida advertising has to be filed with the Bar at least 20 days before it runs, with a fee. Websites are the exception. Rule 4-7.20 lists what's exempt from the filing and review requirement, and subdivision (g) exempts "information contained on the lawyer's Internet website(s)."
So you can launch a site without submitting it for review. Here is the part firms miss. Exempt from filing is not exempt from complying. Every content rule below still applies to your website in full. You just don't send it in first. If a complaint is made, the rules are enforced after the fact, which is a considerably worse time to find out.
What every law firm website has to say
Rule 4-7.12 sets the required content for any advertisement. Two things must appear:
- The name of at least one lawyer, or the law firm, responsible for the content.
- The city, town, or county of at least one bona fide office location.
The office has to be real. A virtual mailbox you've never sat in is not a bona fide office. And if cases may be referred to another lawyer, the site has to say so, with something to the effect of "your case may be referred to another lawyer."
The rule also requires that anything mandated be "clear and conspicuous." A disclaimer set in 9px grey at the bottom of a page, modifying a claim made in 48px at the top, does not satisfy that. The rule is explicit that a disclaimer should be at least as prominent as the text it modifies.
Past results: only if objectively verifiable
Rule 4-7.13 prohibits deceptive and inherently misleading advertising, and it names past results specifically. You may reference past results only where the information is objectively verifiable.
That means a "$2.4 million verdict" page is not automatically a problem. It becomes one if it implies a typical outcome when it wasn't, or omits material facts. The rule calls out things like presenting an uncontested judgment as though it were a hard-won result. In practice: if you publish results, publish them accurately, be able to document them, and don't let the layout suggest that everyone gets this.
Testimonials and reviews
Testimonials are allowed in Florida, with real limits. Under 4-7.13 a testimonial is prohibited when it:
- concerns a matter the person giving it is not qualified to evaluate;
- was written or drafted by the lawyer;
- is given in exchange for payment, unless that fact is disclosed; or
- is not accompanied, where required, by a statement that a prospective client may not obtain the same or similar results.
Two consequences for website work. First, the very common practice of a marketing agency writing polished testimonial copy and getting a client to approve it is squarely prohibited. The words have to be the client's. Second, a former client saying "he's the best trial lawyer in Florida" is a statement they're not qualified to evaluate, so it's a problem even though you didn't say it.
Google reviews you didn't ask for
This one comes up constantly. Reviews sitting on your Google Business Profile are generally treated differently from testimonials you select and publish on your own site, because you do not control what a stranger writes. The risk arrives when you pull those reviews onto your website, because at that point you are choosing which ones to display, and the content rules attach to what you have chosen to publish.
The cautious approach most firms land on: link to the profile rather than embedding a hand-picked selection, and if you do publish reviews on the site, apply the same test you'd apply to any testimonial.
"Specialist," "expert," and "board certified"
Rule 4-7.14 is where a lot of otherwise-careful sites slip. You cannot describe yourself as specializing or having expertise unless you are certified under the Florida Certification Plan, or under an ABA- or Florida Bar-accredited plan, or the claim is objectively verifiable through your education, training and experience.
"Board certified" is narrower still. It's permitted in three situations, and each carries a disclosure requirement: certification under the Florida Certification Plan (disclosing The Florida Bar as certifier), an accredited program (naming the certifying organization), or another state bar with comparable standards (identifying that bar and the specialty).
There's also a firm-level trap. If a firm advertises specialization but not every lawyer in it qualifies, the rule requires a clear and conspicuous disclaimer that not all lawyers in the firm specialize, and that disclaimer has to match the prominence of the claim.
What you can always do is state your practice areas, provided you actually practice in them. "We handle criminal defense and DUI" is fine. "DUI specialists" is not, unless you've earned it.
Guarantees, predictions, and the word "will"
Rule 4-7.13 also prohibits anything a prospective client could reasonably read as a prediction or guarantee of success or of a specific result. The rule gives examples of the flavour: "I will save your home," "I will get you money."
This is worth reading your homepage against, because the phrasing is so natural in marketing copy. "We'll get you the compensation you deserve" is a prediction. "We fight to recover the compensation our clients deserve" is a description of what you do. The second is defensible; the first is the one that draws a complaint.
Superlatives and comparisons
Comparisons to other lawyers, and characterizations of your own skills, experience, reputation or record, are prohibited unless objectively verifiable. "The best personal injury lawyer in Broward County" is not verifiable and is exactly the kind of claim the rule is aimed at.
Verifiable alternatives exist and are usually stronger anyway: years in practice, number of jury trials tried to verdict, bar admissions, an award with a published and objective selection methodology. Facts do more work than adjectives with a legal audience.
When you're not sure
You cannot submit an entire website to The Florida Bar for review. What you can do is request an advisory opinion on a specific page, provision, statement, illustration, or photograph. So if one claim on your site worries you, that single element is what you ask about.
And if your firm advertises anywhere other than its website, whether that is mailers, television, radio, or paid search landing pages that are not part of your site, those generally do require filing under Rule 4-7.19, at least 20 days ahead. As of July 1, 2026, the filing fee is $250 for a timely filing and $750 for a late one. Any change to an advertisement makes it a new advertisement with a new fee, so it's worth getting it right before it runs.
A pre-launch checklist
- Responsible lawyer or firm name appears on the site.
- City, town, or county of a bona fide office appears on the site.
- Referral disclosure present, if cases may be referred out.
- No superlatives or comparative claims that can't be objectively verified.
- No predictions or guarantees of outcome. Check every heading and button.
- Any past results are accurate, documented, and not framed as typical.
- Testimonials are in the client's own words, unpaid or disclosed, and don't opine on things the client can't evaluate.
- No "specialist" or "expert" language unless certified or objectively verifiable; disclaimer added where the firm claims it and not all lawyers qualify.
- Disclaimers are as prominent as the claims they modify, not 9px grey in the footer.
- Every required item appears in every language the site is published in.
Why this matters beyond compliance
Here's the part that isn't about rules. Almost every claim the Bar prohibits is a weak claim anyway. "Best," "aggressive," "maximum compensation," "we'll win your case." Every competing firm says the identical thing, so none of it distinguishes you. The rules push you toward specifics: what you actually handle, what you've actually done, who is actually going to answer the phone. Those convert better, and they are what actually differentiates a firm in a crowded South Florida market.
We wrote about what that looks like in practice in law firm website design: what actually gets the phone ringing.
One more time, because it matters
This is a plain-language summary written by a web agency to help you ask better questions. It is not legal advice, and not a substitute for reading the rules. The rules and fees change, most recently the fee schedule effective July 1, 2026. Before you publish, check the current text of Rules 4-7.11 through 4-7.23 and The Florida Bar's Handbook on Lawyer Advertising and Solicitation, or run your copy past someone who does this for a living.
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