Legal Considerations – SEO & Website Development

Back from a brief hiatus, today I’d like to start a discussion of some of the legal issues that should be considered i) when directing the construction of a law firm’s website; and/or ii) when initiating a search marketing campaign for a firm. Although there are a number grey areas between what’s already covered by each state’s [tag]Rules of Professional Conduct [/tag] and new topics opened up by the Internet, there are a few guidelines that I advise lawyers pay attention to just to be safe.

An immediate recommendation: visit LegalEthics.com for a more extensive presentation of relevant case law or, better yet, consult your specific state’s Rules of Professional Conduct directly.

State Disclaimers: One of the most important things in posting any sort of [tag]legal advertisement[/tag] is making sure you get your general state [tag]advertising disclaimer[/tag] right. Yes, these rules apply to the web as well as billboards and TV ads. A good place to start is http://www.visibility.org/disclaimer.html. Here, you can find a quick listing of most state advertising disclaimers. How extensively you have to brand your website varies, but you’ll want to (at minimum) include the appropriate disclaimer on your homepage if one is required. (I believe most lawyers have this one covered in the print advertising context, if not a web context as well.)

Other Disclaimers: An offshoot of this, you’ll also want to look into

1. your state’s rules on disclaiming links pointed to other websites;
2. your state’s rules regarding proper contact form disclaimers attesting that no attorney/client relationship has been established. These things are being ruled upon daily, so again I advise checking your state’s regulations.
3. your state’s rules on publication of your firm’s physical address. Some states require it on your homepage.
4. your state’s rules on disclaiming images of people on your website. If your site uses stock photos of professional looking people on it, you may want to consider adding “actor portrayals” or something similar.

Language (aka “The Hard Sell”): The law seems to be very picky when it comes to what you can say about your firm, adjectives you cannot use and how exactly you can urge people to consider your services. There are hundreds of specific examples that can be found but some things you need to investigate before you use:

1. be very careful about using phrases establishing experience like “…specializes in…” or “…a certified xyz lawyer…“. For phrases such as these, there are specific explanitory statements required in some states that must be printed.
2. be very careful about using words like best, great, super and other comparitive terms. Many states don’t want these in ad copy, domain names or email addresses. An extension of this, you’ll even want to be mindful of using phrases like “largest jury verdict”, “attorneys who get results” and “40 years of combined experience”
3. be careful about representing the scope of your practice in both word and image. In other words, don’t say your firm is national in focus if it isn’t. Don’t put a big map of the United States on your homepage if you only handle cases in Peoria.

[tag]Website Filing Requirements[/tag]: law firms should check with their state regulations on advertisement filing requirements. There are rules in Kentucky, Texas, North Carolina and elsewhere that firms keep a copy of their advertisements (websites?) on file for a few years either in-house or actually with the state.

You Are the Expert?!: I am not a lawyer! I can’t speak for every state’s rules and certainly won’t ensure that the items I’ve discussed above are everything you need to think about when undertaking a search engine marketing campaign. In other words, this article is a good starting point for your own investigations. Ultimately, each law firm is responsible for the contents of their site, not CaseDetails.com! Regrettably, this leaves firms in the position of either having to hire state-specific, Internet legal specialists to assure them their site complies with local regulations or, themselves, becoming “experts” on their state’s rules. Neither of these is an enviable position – that’s why I’m laying out what I’ve found and you can take it from there![tags]legal website development,legal SEO[/tags]