Banner Ads and the Florida Bar Advertising Rules

According to the Florida bar hotline, Google banner ads have always fallen under the full advertising rules. To comply with the new guidelines, firms need only list:

The firm name or the name of an individual attorney responsible for the ad (whichever is shorter).
The city (you don’t need the full address to comply with the “office location” rule).

So, if PaperStreet was a law firm, we would only need to list: PaperStreet, Ft. Lauderdale or Pete Boyd, Ft. Lauderdale

I’ve copied the actual rule below for reference (emphasis added):

RULE 4-7.12 REQUIRED CONTENT

(a) Name and Office Location. All advertisements for legal employment must include:

(1) the name of at least 1 lawyer, the law firm, the lawyer referral service if the advertisement is for the lawyer referral service, or the lawyer directory if the advertisement is for the lawyer directory, responsible for the content of the advertisement; and

(2) the city, town, or county of 1 or more bona fide office locations of the lawyer who will perform the services advertised.

We are following up with the bar on the difference between PPC and Banner ads next (if there is one).