Florida Bar Rules About Website Stock Imagery
By PaperStreet on January 27, 2015 in ADA and Bar Rule Compliance
Custom photography can be expensive and the high-end look it creates isn’t always the goal of every law firm. So, many legal professionals with budget in mind default to using stock imagery on their website.
These images will often appear on subpages and the home page slides of a new website. Sometimes the images are included in blog posts that are updated monthly or weekly and almost always they include a face. If they don’t, the human elements of the photo have likely been cropped to comply with various state bar rules.
Are My Photos Breaking the Rules?
When using a stock photo of people and faces, ask these questions:
- Does the advertisement include the voice or image of a person appearing to be a member or employee of the law firm without a prominent disclaimer?
- If a disclosure is included/needed, is it illegible or not reasonably prominent?
- Does the disclosure fail to appear in the same language used in the advertisement?
- Does the advertisement include a dramatization of a real or fictitious event without the prominent disclaimer?
- Does the advertisement include an actor portraying a person in a specific profession or occupation without the prominent disclaimer?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions you need to reconsider the images you are using for your website, as they may be in violation of Florida bar rules.
For more information regarding Florida bar rules and website content check out the links below:
- 12 Changes to Florida Bar Advertising Rules for 2013
- Florida Bar Website Advertising Rules: A Detailed Analysis of the Rules & Our Notes
- Florida Bar Advertising Rules on Posts to Twitter and Facebook Posts
