Florida Bar Changes Guidelines for Advertising Past Results
By Peter Boyd on January 31, 2014 in Internet Marketing
Recently the Florida Bar revised the guidelines that dictate what is appropriate when advertising the past results of cases.
Do the New Guidelines Affect Websites?
At the meeting on December 13th the conversation mainly focused on billboard and electronic advertisements, but any advertisement that mentions past results will need to follow the new guidelines.
What Is Changing?
Effective immediately, lawyers must adhere to the following guidelines when advertising their past results on billboards, television and their websites.
You can read the official guidelines, but some of the basic guidelines are below.
- Any winning amount that is advertised must be the net amount. If the client received a structured settlement, the amount must be given in current dollars.
- Advertisements that mention a winning sum must include this disclaimer, “Most cases result in a lower recovery. It should not be assumed that your case will have as beneficial a result.
- Lawyers cannot claim a win if there are opposing claims, mixed results or if the judgment amount was substantially less than sought or less than a settlement offer.
The Florida Bar released a statement with more specific information, be sure to read the release for more detailed information about what you can and cannot do with respect to mentioning past results.
What Do The New Guidelines Mean For My Website?
Many law firm websites include one or more of the following pages:
- Results – Often clients will advertise monies that their client was awarded.
- Testimonials – Quotes from happy clients about the attorney’s ability to win cases and respond promptly.
- Case Studies – Detailed information about cases that may have impacted law or received a lot of attention from the media.
- Verdicts & Settlements – Detailed information about difficult cases that the firm has won.
It is common, and encouraged, for clients to share their positive results on a webpage. This information is specific to your firm and helps highlight your accomplishments.
You can still create these pages, just be sure you are following the new guidelines. If you need to make updates to your website, it may be as simple as adding a proper disclaimer on the page itself, or in the footer.
Need Help?
If you are unsure if your website is abiding by the new Florida bar advertisement guidelines, contact the PaperStreet content team. All of our content writers are practicing lawyers. We can work with you to ensure that the content on your website follows these new guidelines. If it doesn’t, no worries—we can write new copy for you.
