Law firm website design is the work of answering seven client questions on a phone in seconds, within the bar's rules. The practice-area pages, the lawyer pages, the results and testimonial pages, the fees page and the contact path do the answering; the design makes them fast, readable and reachable; the rules decide what the results and testimonial pages may say.
This guide is part of our professional services series. What the site should cost to keep running is in website maintenance cost; how long a build takes is in how long it takes to build a website; the budget the site sits in is in law firm marketing budget.
The seven things a client checks
In roughly the order they ask:
- Do you handle my problem? A practice-area page in the client's words ("my landlord will not return my deposit"), not the firm's ("residential tenancy litigation").
- Who will I deal with? A lawyer page with a real photograph, admissions, the matters handled and a direct contact.
- Have you done this before? Experience described within the rules: matters handled, outcomes only where the rules allow and with the required context.
- What will it cost? How fees work (hourly, fixed, contingency, consultation fee or not), stated plainly even where the number cannot be.
- What do other clients say? Testimonials and reviews, within the rules and the FTC's disclosure requirements.
- How do I reach you now? A tappable phone number, a short form, the hours, and what happens after the client makes contact.
- Can I trust you? A real address, the bar and law society memberships, a privacy page, a professional and current site.
The pages that answer them
A home page that says in one screen who the firm is, whom it serves and what to do next; a practice-area page per problem, written for the client; a lawyer page per lawyer; a fees page; a results or experience page and a testimonials page, both written to the rules below; a contact page and a contact block on every page; an about page with the real address and memberships; a privacy page; and, where the firm publishes, a resources section that answers the questions clients ask before they call, each piece carrying a not-legal-advice line. The table below sets each page against the question it answers and the rule it must follow.
The rules on results and testimonials
State bar rules, based on the ABA Model Rules 7.1 to 7.3, govern every page. Texas's Rule 7.01 is a clear statement of the US standard: a lawyer shall not make or sponsor a false or misleading communication about a lawyer's services, and a communication is misleading if it contains a material misrepresentation of fact or law, omits a fact needed to keep it from being misleading, is substantially likely to create unjustified expectations about the results the lawyer can achieve, or makes a comparison with other lawyers' services that cannot be substantiated. Its comment allows a lawyer to claim credit for a prior judgment or settlement only with a substantial role in it, and Rule 7.01(g) requires that an advertised verdict later reduced or reversed be shown, with equal or greater prominence, with the amount the client received. Professional designations must not mislead. Texas also requires most advertisements to be filed with the State Bar's Advertising Review Committee within ten days of dissemination; other states screen or require disclaimers in their own ways.
Testimonials carry two sets of rules. The bar's: nothing misleading, no unjustified expectations, no promised outcomes. The FTC's Endorsement Guides (revised 2023): any connection between the endorser and the firm that a reader would not expect, such as payment or a discount for the review, must be disclosed clearly and conspicuously, and the testimonial must reflect the person's honest experience. In Canada the provincial law society's marketing rules apply in place of the bar's: Ontario's Rule 4.2-1 allows marketing only if it is demonstrably true, accurate and verifiable and not misleading, its commentary requires any statement of past results to say that past results are not necessarily indicative of future results and warns against testimonials with emotional appeals, and Rule 4.2-1.1 requires marketing to identify the lawyer as licensed. The practical rule for a website: draft the results and testimonial pages first, have the responsible lawyer review them against the current rule text, and keep the sources for every claim. This is a summary, not legal advice.
Phone first: speed and reach
Pew Research puts US smartphone ownership at 91% of adults (19 October 2026); a client with an urgent problem is on a phone, often in a car park or a corridor. The site must load fast: web.dev's Core Web Vitals targets are a Largest Contentful Paint within 2.5 seconds, an Interaction to Next Paint within 200 milliseconds and a Cumulative Layout Shift within 0.1, each at the 75th percentile of visits (page updated 31 October 2024). The phone number must be tappable, the form must be short enough to complete with a thumb, and the page must not shift while the client reaches for the button. Our guide to landing page best practices covers the pattern for the practice-area pages.
Accessibility and plain language
Clients in legal trouble are often stressed, older, or reading in a second language, and some use screen readers. Plain language, readable type, strong contrast, labeled forms and images with alt text are both good design and, in many jurisdictions, a legal expectation of a public-facing business. Write the practice-area pages at the reading level of the client, not the court.
The local search connection
Most law firm sites are found through local search, and Google's local ranking help says results are ranked on relevance, distance and prominence, with complete business information and replies to reviews helping and no way to pay for a better position. The site supports that with an office page per location carrying the real address and hours, consistent name, address and phone, and practice-area pages that match the terms clients search. Our local SEO service ties the profile and the site together.
What a law firm website costs
The cost follows the pages and the rules work. A small firm rebuilding on a template with five practice areas and three lawyers is a small-business site; a firm with several offices, many lawyers and practice areas, a results page that needs lawyer review and state filing, and intake integration is a larger marketing site, in the bands set out in our guides to how long it takes to build a website guide and WordPress website development cost. Running costs (hosting, domain, maintenance) are in website maintenance cost guide. We publish no rate card; a firm's site is quoted against a written page plan.
Common law firm website mistakes
The faults we see most:
- The firm's story first. The client's problem is the first screen; the history is the about page.
- Practice areas in legal language. Clients search and read in their own words.
- Results without the rules. Verdicts without the reduced amount, credit without a substantial role, comparisons that cannot be substantiated.
- Testimonials without disclosure. A review given for a discount, undisclosed, breaks the FTC's guides as well as the bar's.
- No fees page. Silence reads as expensive; even "we quote fixed fees after a consultation" is an answer.
- Slow on a phone. The client with the urgent problem leaves before the page loads.
- Stock photographs of courthouses and gavels. Clients trust real people in a real office.
Conclusion
Law firm website design is the work of answering seven client questions on a phone, fast, within the rules. Practice-area pages in the client's words, lawyer pages with real people, a fees page, results and testimonial pages written to the bar's standard and the FTC's disclosure guides, and a contact path that works with a thumb. Draft the regulated pages first and have them reviewed; make the whole site fast and accessible; connect it to local search.
PromotEdge International is an international strategy, technology, marketing and design company, and our delivery team is in India. Our web design and WordPress teams build law firm sites this way, and our professional services marketing team drafts the regulated pages for your lawyers' review. This guide is not legal advice.
Facts we rely on: see our company facts for what we state about ourselves and where each fact comes from.