Law firm website design is the job of building a site that helps an anxious person understand what the firm does and reach a lawyer without friction. A working firm site has a page for every practice area, bios the lawyers wrote or approved, plain contact paths, quick pages on a phone, a layout everyone can use, and whatever disclaimers the firm’s state requires. The firm owns every piece of it. Below is the full spec, part by part, written so a managing partner can hand it to any designer.
Advertising for Law Firms is an independent referral service, not a marketing agency. When you send the form, your details go to an independent marketing agency that prepares any proposal and does any work. Nothing on this site is legal advice.
What every law firm website needs
Strip away the visual taste and every good lawyer website design has the same skeleton. Check a draft against this list before anyone argues about colors:
| Piece | Why it is there |
|---|---|
| A home page that says who the firm helps and where | Visitors decide in a glance whether they are in the right place |
| One page per practice area | Each kind of matter is searched in its own words and needs its own answer |
| Lawyer bios | People hire a person, and they want to read about that person first |
| Contact paths on every page | A visitor ready to reach out should never have to hunt |
| An office page with the address and hours | It matches the firm’s Google Business Profile and tells people where to go |
| Required disclaimers and the responsible lawyer’s name | State lawyer advertising rules can apply to a firm’s website |
| A privacy page | It says what the contact form collects and what happens to it |
Practice-area pages: one kind of matter per page
Give each area of law its own page, written for the person who needs it. A single “Practice Areas” page with a bulleted list serves nobody: the parent searching for a custody lawyer and the owner facing a contract dispute want different answers. Each page should explain what the firm handles in that area, what a first conversation looks like, which documents help, and how to get in touch.
These pages are also where law firm SEO does most of its work, so the structure matters from day one. Google describes its ranking systems as built to favor “helpful, reliable information that’s created to benefit people”. A page a client would find useful before the first meeting fits that description. A page stuffed with a search phrase does not.
Attorney bios the lawyers write
A bio is where a reader meets the lawyer, so it should come from the lawyer. A designer can shape it, cut it and lay it out well. The facts in it, such as bar admissions, schools, the courts the lawyer appears in and the matters they take, belong to the lawyer, who confirms every line. Add a real photo taken at the office, a short paragraph in the lawyer’s own voice, and a direct way to reach the firm from the bottom of the page.
Keep descriptions of credentials exact. A bio that inflates a title or blurs a credential is exactly the kind of statement lawyer advertising rules look at, and the firm, not the designer, answers for it.
Contact paths, and a short form with limits
Give people two or three ways in and make each one obvious: a phone number that opens the dialer on a phone, a short form, and the office address with directions. Put the main contact action at the top of every page and once more below the last paragraph, so nobody scrolls back up to find it.
Keep the website form short and general. Collect who the person is, how to reach them, and a broad matter type picked from a short list. Do not ask the visitor to describe their legal problem in a free text box before the firm has decided how it handles new inquiries. The firm’s lawyers set their own intake steps; the website form should simply start the conversation and leave the details for the lawyer. Say near the button what the form is for and who will see it.
Where form messages go
Decide before launch who reads form messages and how fast the firm follows up, then test it. A form that sends to a former employee’s inbox wastes every visit the marketing paid for. Send copies to a shared intake address the firm controls, not to an address at the design agency.
Speed and the phone screen
Design the phone version first and the desktop second. On a narrow screen the firm’s name, what it does and the contact action should all show before any scrolling. Tap targets need room between them. Text should be large enough to read without zooming.
Speed is mostly about restraint. Compress every image, size it for the screen it lands on, and skip the autoplay video in the header. Cut the plugins nobody uses. Host the site with a company that keeps it current and backed up. A lean site is easier for Google to crawl and easier for a stressed visitor to use.
Accessibility is part of the build
Design the site so every visitor can use it, including people who rely on a screen reader or a keyboard. In practice that means clear headings in order, text with strong contrast against its background, a written description on every meaningful image, forms with labels a screen reader can announce, captions on videos, and menus that work without a mouse. Build these in from the start; adding them after launch means reworking pages that are already live. Whether a particular law applies to your firm’s site is a question for a lawyer.
Disclaimers and the responsible lawyer’s name
Everything on a firm’s site describes the firm’s services, and each state’s lawyer advertising rules can reach it. Colorado’s Rule 7.2(d), which follows the ABA model, is one example of a content requirement: “Any communication made under this Rule must include the name and contact information of at least one lawyer or law firm responsible for its content.” Your state’s version may differ. Your state’s lawyer advertising rules apply; your firm decides what runs.
Some states review ads, and their rules can cover websites. In Florida, ads are filed and reviewed under Rule 4-7.19 of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, and the Bar publishes a checklist for “Lawyer or Law Firm Websites, Social Media Pages, and Video Sharing Channels”. Texas reviews ads through the State Bar’s Advertising Review Department. The site’s lawyer advertising rules guide sums up the model rules.
Check your state’s rules
Before launch, have a lawyer at the firm read every page, the bios and the footer against your state’s rules. Which disclaimers your site needs, whether it must name a responsible lawyer, and whether anything has to be filed are questions to ask your state bar or a lawyer who handles ethics questions. A designer can put the words in place; the firm chooses the words.
Design choices that suit a law firm
Calm beats clever. Pick one or two typefaces that read well at small sizes, a short color palette with one strong color for buttons, and plenty of white space around text. Use photos of the firm’s real office, the lawyers and the city they work in. Real pictures say more than another gavel or set of scales, and they match what a client sees on arrival.
- Write headings that say what the section answers, not slogans
- Keep paragraphs short; people read these pages under stress
- Use one button style for the main action across the whole site
- Show the office address and hours the same way everywhere they appear
- Avoid sliders and pop-ups that cover the text on a phone
Who owns the domain, hosting and site
The firm should own all of it. Register the domain in the firm’s name with the firm’s email as the contact. Put the hosting account in the firm’s name and on the firm’s card. Keep an administrator login to the website for someone at the firm, and get copies of the design files, photos and page text. Colorado’s comment [3] to Rule 7.2 notes that a lawyer may pay vendors engaged for marketing services “such as … website designers”. Paying a designer is normal; handing them the keys forever is not.
Ask one question before signing: if we part ways, what do we walk away with? The right answer: the domain, the hosting, every page and photo, and all the logins.
How a law firm web design project runs
Most projects follow the same order, and each step needs something from the firm:
- Discovery. The agency learns the practice areas, the places served and the matters the firm wants more of.
- Site map. A list of every page and how they connect, approved by the firm.
- Drafts. Page text for each practice area, plus bios built from what the lawyers supply.
- Lawyer review. A lawyer at the firm reads every page against the state’s rules and signs off.
- Design and build. Layout, photos, forms and speed work on a private test address.
- Testing. Forms, phone links, menus, screen readers and every screen size, checked before launch.
- Launch. The site goes live on the firm’s domain, with old addresses redirected so nothing breaks.
After launch: SEO, ads and local listings
A new website is where the rest of the marketing lands. Law firm PPC sends paid clicks to its practice-area pages, law firm local SEO ties it to the firm’s Google profile, and law firm marketing explains how every channel fits into one plan.
Getting a website proposal for your firm
Use the form to share your practice areas, the places your firm serves and a link to your current site if there is one. An independent marketing agency that works with law firms reviews it and replies by phone or email, with questions first or with a written proposal for the build. Asking is free and binds the firm to nothing, so send the proposal form whenever the firm is ready.
Planning a new firm site or fixing the one you have? Describe the firm and get a written website proposal from an independent agency.
Questions firms ask
What should a law firm website include?
A home page that says who the firm helps and where, one page for each practice area, lawyer bios, contact paths on every page, an office page with the address and hours, a privacy page, and any disclaimers the firm’s state requires. Your state’s lawyer advertising rules apply, and your firm decides what runs.
Who should write the attorney bios?
The lawyers. A designer or writer can edit and lay them out, but every fact, such as bar admissions, schools and the kinds of matters taken, should come from the lawyer and be confirmed by them before the page goes live.
What should the contact form ask?
Keep it short: who they are, how to reach them, and a broad matter type chosen from a list. Do not ask visitors to describe their legal problem in detail on a marketing form. The firm decides how to gather those details through its own intake steps.
Does a law firm website need a disclaimer?
It depends on the state. Lawyer advertising is regulated state by state, and some states’ rules reach firm websites. Colorado’s Rule 7.2(d), for example, says a communication must name, with contact details, a lawyer or firm that answers for its content. Ask your state bar or a lawyer who handles ethics questions what your site needs.
Do law firm websites have to be filed with the bar?
Some states review lawyer ads. In Florida, ads are filed and reviewed under Rule 4-7.19, the Bar publishes a checklist for lawyer and law firm websites, and Texas reviews ads through its Advertising Review Department. Whether your site must be filed is a question for your state bar.
Who should own the domain and hosting?
The firm. Register the domain and the hosting account in the firm’s name, keep an administrator login for someone at the firm, and get copies of the design files, photos and text. If the firm changes agencies, it keeps everything.
Is a lawyer website design project different from other web design?
The build is similar, but two steps are added. Every page needs a lawyer’s review against the state’s advertising rules before launch, and the contact form has to be written with care, because visitors are often worried and should not be asked about their matter in detail.