California’s New Advertising Rules for Law Firms and Lawyers: SB 37 and Section 6153 of the Business and Professions Code

Effective January 1, 2026, California’s SB 37 expands the scope of attorney advertising and allows firms to be sued over misleading or deceptive ads. The new key section of importance is SEC. 5. Section 6157.2 of the Business and Professions Code.

What it Covers

• Websites
• Landing Pages
• Paid Search Ads
• Paid Social Ads/Sponsored Posts/Boosted Posts
• Lead generation

The bill specifically states:

(b) “Advertisement” means any communication, through any written, recorded, or electronic means, whether available to, or directed generally to, members of the public or to a limited group of individuals, that provides information concerning a lawyer or the lawyer’s services for the purpose of encouraging individuals to secure the services of the lawyer or their law firm.

(c) “Electronic medium” means television, radio, or computer networks.

In short, it covers all attorney ads. 

The Big Change: Mandatory Office Disclosure 

This is probably the biggest change. All websites, landing pages, paid search ads, paid social ads, and basically all ads must disclose an office location and the name of an attorney. To be clear, the ad must contain a “disclosure of the city, town, or county of at least one bona fide office location or the address of record listed with the State Bar of California (State Bar) for the lawyer or law firm.”

An advertisement subject to this chapter shall contain the following information conspicuously displayed, or intelligible, if spoken:

(1) The name of at least one lawyer licensed to practice law in California, the law firm, the certified lawyer referral service responsible for the advertisement, or the joint advertiser responsible for the advertisement together with the name of each lawyer or law firm participating in the joint advertisement, as required by subdivision (g) of Section 6155.

(2) Disclosure of the city, town, or county of at least one bona fide office location or the address of record listed with the State Bar for the lawyer or law firm.

So make sure all ads have an office location and a named attorney. This could be an attempt to crack down on virtual offices.  

What it Bans

The prior law already banned:

• Misleading Success Stories: Existing law prohibits, in advertising by electronic media for compliance with certain provisions, a message from being false, misleading, or deceptive, and requires the message as a whole to be factually substantiated. No misleading, deceptive, or false statements regarding skills, experience, record, or awards.
• Guarantees: Advertisements containing a guarantee or warranty regarding the outcome of a legal matter as a result of representation by an attorney, attorney’s agent, or a law firm.
• Fast Cash/Quick Settlements: Statements or symbols stating that the licensee featured in the advertisement can generally obtain immediate cash or quick settlements.
• Spokespersons, unless disclosed as required, such as: 
  • (3) (A) An impersonation of the name, voice, photograph, or electronic image of any person other than the lawyer, directly or implicitly purporting to be that of a lawyer. 
  • (B) An impersonation of the name, voice, photograph, or electronic image of any person, directly or implicitly purporting to be a client of the licensee featured in the advertisement, or a dramatization of events, unless disclosure of the impersonation or dramatization is made in the advertisement. 
  • (C) A spokesperson, including a celebrity spokesperson, unless there is disclosure of the spokesperson’s title.

The new law also bans:

• Paid awards that were essentially purchased. The new law prohibits ads referencing “awards from an organization, unless the recognition or award is not conferred by virtue of being a member of the organization and the organization does not charge or solicit a fee, cost, or payment for the recognition or award.”

You can read the full text below:

(4) Existing law prohibits a legal advertisement from containing or referring to specified statements or representations, including prohibiting an advertisement from containing a guarantee or warranty regarding the outcome of a legal matter as a result of representation by an attorney, attorney’s agent, or law firm.

This bill would additionally prohibit an advertisement from containing misleading, deceptive, or false statements, words, or phrases regarding a lawyers or a law firms skills, experience, or record, and would also prohibit an advertisement from containing references to a lawyers or a law firms recognition by, or awards from, an organization, unless the recognition or award is not conferred by virtue of being a member of the organization and the organization does not charge or solicit a fee, cost, or payment for the recognition or award. The bill would also require a legal advertisement to contain specified information conspicuously displayed, or intelligible, if spoken, including disclosure of the city, town, or county of at least one bona fide office location or the address of record listed with the State Bar of California (State Bar) for the lawyer or law firm, as specified.

Also see: https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202520260sb37 

Why Does This Matter?

It matters because consumers will have the right to sue the law firm for rule violations. If a complaint is filed with the State Bar, the firm has 72 hours to remove the ad. Violators can be liable for actual damages and attorneys’ fees. To be clear:

6156.5. (a) Any person may bring a civil action for a violation of Section 6155 for the following remedies:

(1) Statutory damages of a minimum of five thousand dollars ($5,000) up to a maximum of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) per violation or three times the amount of actual damages, whichever is larger. The amount of statutory damages in this subdivision shall be determined pursuant to subdivision (b).

(2) Attorney’s fees.

(3) Injunctive or declaratory relief.

(4) Any other relief the court deems proper.

A Note About Joint Liability

If you use a third-party agency or a “lead gen” site, you are now legally responsible for their content as if you wrote it yourself. Simply put: If a vendor makes a false claim on a landing page they built for you, both the firm and the individual lawyers can be held liable.

References:

Original Bill
https://sjud.senate.ca.gov/system/files/2025-04/sb-37-umberg-sjud-analysis.pdf 

Bill with Updates

https://legiscan.com/CA/text/SB37/id/3267133 

California Legislative Info

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260SB37