Florida Law Firm Websites-Update on the New Bar Rules

The Florida Supreme Court Has Granted a Motion to Stay the Effective Date for Compliance With the New Advertising Requirements for Legal Websites.

/lawyermarketing101.com/Kevin Quinlan/ 06/18/2010

Kevin Quinlan, lawyer marketing dude, reports on the delay in implementing the new advertising rules for Florida attorney websites until the Supreme Court can review the proposed amendments and the potential impact on SEO for lawyers and lawyer websites.

 

Law firms across the state of Florida that have nervously waited for the new Florida Bar rules for attorney websites and other web based communications to take effect on July 1, 2010, can now take a sigh of relief. On Thursday, June 10 the Supreme Court of Florida granted the Florida Bar's emergency motion to stay the effective date that the new advertising rules for websites for lawyers in Florida will become applicable.

Prior to the adoption of the new rules, it was generally assumed that since a consumer had to deliberately access an attorney's website, there was a distinction made between active forms of advertising and consumer based research by the public to find the appropriate law firm for their needs.

The new rules treat web based communications identically to all other forms of advertising, which means that the advertising rules (Rule 4-7.2) established by the Bar also apply to lawyer websites, except for the filing requirement. As with all other forms of advertising, websites must not contain any misrepresentations of fact or law, characterize the quality of the firm's services, promise results or claim specialization in any area of law unless an attorney is board certified in that practice area.

At the final Bar meeting of the year, held in Key West on May 28, the practicality of implementation was discussed in addition to the approval of proposed amendments to the new rules, as required by the Florida Supreme Court. These amendments propose that visitors to Florida law firm websites must take an affirmative action prior to viewing web pages that include testimonials, verdicts and settlements or discuss the relative qualifications of the lawyers in the firm. This affirmative action could be in the form of clicking an additional link, or by checking a box on a disclaimer landing page that indicates the visitor understands the nature of the web content they will be accessing and accepts responsibility.

The stay will remain in effect for 90-days from the date of the Court's ruling on the amendments approved and submitted by the Bar. It would be prudent for lawyers to review their web content and put in place contingency plans so that they are prepared to address the changes when they become effective. Much of the web content addressed by the advertising rules is deemed critical by law firms to try to differentiate themselves from their peers in an advertising environment that is designed to inhibit that goal. The choice is simple; either remove any content that characterizes the quality and successes of your work, including testimonials, or be prepared to add the appropriate mechanisms for consumers to take that affirmative action.

Aside from the loss of differentiation, there is also potential impact on SEO for lawyers. As is often discussed, "content is king" and the removal of web pages or large quantities of content can impact how a law firm website is indexed with the search engines. It will be important not only to plan for how to deal with the Bar rules, but also to maintain the search engine rankings you have already achieved. Additionally, pages that may not be accessed directly through a search engine bypassing the disclaimer pages may not be crawled by the search engines' spiders.

The best way to make sense of the new advertising rules and to be certain that your law firm's website complies is to partner with an attorney web design firm that has an extensive history of working with the Florida Bar on a broad array of advertising media and a successful track record of designing compelling web sites for law firms and providing SEO for attorneys..

For more information on law firm website design or SEO for attorneys or an evaluation of your current website, contact Kevin Quinlan.

 

Social Media Tags:  attorney websites, lawyer websites, advertising rules, proposed amendments, SEO for lawyers