Key Takeaways
- The current Texas advertising rules took effect July 1, 2021: Rules 7.01 to 7.06 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, and they reach every page of a law firm website.
- Only the homepage has to be filed. Rule 7.05(b) exempts a law firm website from filing except the homepage; Comment 2 says the whole site must still comply with Rules 7.01 and 7.02.
- The filing clock is ten days after dissemination under Rule 7.04(a). Rule 7.04(c) allows pre-approval by filing 30 days ahead, and a finding of compliance is binding in the lawyer’s favour.
- The only specialization wording allowed is “Board Certified, [area] -- Texas Board of Legal Specialization” under Rule 7.02(b)(1).
- Spanish pages carry every disclaimer in Spanish under Rule 7.01(d), and the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, effective July 1, 2024, governs the intake form and the analytics tag.
By ByteZero Editorial Team · Updated September 13, 2026
A law firm website in Texas is an advertisement, and the rules say so. This is a marketing team’s page-by-page reading of Texas lawyer advertising rules as they apply to a website; the firm’s ethics counsel has the final word.
The Rules, and the Date They Changed
The Texas Supreme Court amended Part VII of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct effective July 1, 2021. Rules 7.01 to 7.06 govern advertisements, solicitation communications, filing and the employment that results from them.
Rule 7.01: Nothing False or Misleading
Rule 7.01 says a lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the qualifications or services of a lawyer or law firm; every other rule in Part VII applies that sentence.
Unjustified Expectations
The rule says a communication is misleading if it is likely to create an unjustified expectation about results the lawyer can achieve. A verdict figure is not forbidden; a verdict figure presented as what the next client should expect is the problem the rule names. The compliant version describes scope and process, which is also the version an answer engine can quote, as our content standard for Texas firms sets out.
Trade Names and Disclaimers in Every Language
Rule 7.01(c) allows a lawyer to practice under a trade name that is not misleading: a name other than the partners’ surnames is permitted, provided it does not imply a connection with a government agency or a public or charitable legal services organization.
Rule 7.01(d) provides that any required disclaimer or disclosure must be understandable and made in each language used in the communication. Houston is 44.2% Hispanic or Latino, Dallas 42.6%, San Antonio 64.6% and El Paso 81.2% (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, V2025). A Spanish practice page carries every disclaimer its English counterpart carries, in Spanish.
Rule 7.02: What Every Advertisement Must Carry
A Responsible Lawyer and a Primary Practice Location
Rule 7.02(a): “An advertisement of legal services shall publish the name of a lawyer who is responsible for the content of the advertisement and identify the lawyer’s primary practice location.”
On a website that is a named attorney and a city, typically in the footer and on the homepage. A Dallas firm with a Houston landing page may describe Houston work; it still identifies where the responsible lawyer actually sits.
The Only Specialization Wording Allowed
Rule 7.02 says a lawyer may not state or imply that the lawyer is “certified”, a “specialist” or similar unless certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization or an accredited body, and the certification must be stated accurately. Rule 7.02(b)(1) prescribes the form: “Board Certified, [area] -- Texas Board of Legal Specialization”.
A firm with no TBLS-certified attorney does not use the words specialist or specialize anywhere, including page titles, meta descriptions and schema. A firm with a certified attorney uses the prescribed wording, names the area, and attaches it to the individual lawyer rather than the firm.
Contingent-Fee Disclosure
Rule 7.02(c) provides that an advertisement that mentions a contingent fee “must state whether the client will be obligated to pay for other expenses, such as the costs of litigation.” Every “no fee unless we win” line triggers this sentence, and the disclosure belongs next to the claim.
Rule 7.03 and Barratry: What Not to Build
Rule 7.03 restricts solicitation: no in-person or live-contact solicitation of a prospective client who did not ask for it, with specific requirements for written solicitations to a particular person. Separately, Texas Penal Code § 38.12 makes barratry a crime.
For a website the practical rule is that no tactic may target identified accident victims. Retargeting an anonymous audience is advertising. Contacting a named person because a crash report surfaced them is the conduct the statute exists to punish, and we do not build it.
Rules 7.04 and 7.05: What Has to Be Filed
The Ten-Day Filing and the Thirty-Day Pre-Approval
Rule 7.04(a) provides that, unless exempt under Rule 7.05, a lawyer must file with the Advertising Review Committee of the State Bar of Texas, no later than ten days after the date of dissemination, a copy of the advertisement, a completed application and the filing fee. Rule 7.04(b) allows the Committee to demand substantiation of any claim. Rule 7.04(c) allows submission at least 30 days before first dissemination for pre-approval, and a finding of compliance is binding in the lawyer’s favour.
The pre-approval route is the one to use for a homepage: it converts an after-the-fact filing into a document the Committee has already reviewed, and every Texas site we build has its homepage prepared as a filing-ready document for that purpose.
The Website Exemption and Its Homepage Exception
Rule 7.05(b) exempts from filing the information and links on a law firm website, except the contents of the homepage; Comment 2 adds that the entire site must still comply with Rules 7.01 and 7.02. Rule 7.05 also exempts basic identity information such as names, addresses, practice areas, bar admissions and TBLS certifications. Rule 7.05(g) exempts social media posts that are primarily informational and do not expressly offer legal services.
| What on your website | Must it be filed? | What still applies |
|---|---|---|
| Homepage | Yes. File within 10 days of going live under Rule 7.04(a), or submit 30 days ahead for binding pre-approval under Rule 7.04(c). | Rules 7.01 and 7.02 in full; substantiation on demand under 7.04(b). |
| Practice-area pages | Exempt under Rule 7.05(b), if compliant. | Rules 7.01 and 7.02 in full. |
| Blog and guides | Exempt under Rule 7.05(b), if informational. | Rule 7.01; a post that expressly offers services is no longer just informational. |
| Spanish pages | Same status as the English page they mirror. | Rule 7.01(d): every required disclaimer made in Spanish. |
| Attorney bios | Basic identity information is exempt under Rule 7.05. | Rule 7.02(b)(1): the prescribed TBLS wording only. |
| Social media posts | Exempt under Rule 7.05(g) if primarily informational and not an express offer of legal services. | Rule 7.01. |
Source: Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, Part VII, Rules 7.01 to 7.06, as amended effective July 1, 2021. This table is a marketing reading of the rules, not legal advice.
Rule 7.06: Employment From Prohibited Advertising
Rule 7.06 says a lawyer shall not accept or continue employment procured by conduct prohibited by Rules 7.01 to 7.05. A non-compliant page does not merely risk a complaint; the cases it produces are cases the rule says the firm may not keep.
The TDPSA: Your Intake Form and Analytics
Advertising rules govern what the site says. The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 541, effective July 1, 2024, governs what it collects. It applies to businesses that are not SBA-defined small businesses, except that a small business may not sell sensitive data without the consumer’s consent.
The statute provides rights to know and access, correct, delete and obtain a portable copy of personal data, and to opt out of targeted advertising, sale and profiling. A business has 45 days to respond and must offer an appeal; the Texas Attorney General enforces the chapter. From January 1, 2025, § 541.055(e) requires businesses to recognise universal opt-out mechanisms such as Global Privacy Control.
For a law firm website that means three things: the intake form collects what the matter needs and states what happens to it; the analytics and advertising tags honour a Global Privacy Control signal, which our Texas site builds handle at the consent layer; and the privacy policy describes the rights above in the statute’s words, with a working way to exercise them.
How We Build to These Rules
Every Texas site we build is written to Rules 7.01 to 7.06 from the first draft. The homepage is prepared as a filing-ready document and submitted for pre-approval under Rule 7.04(c). Specialization language appears only for TBLS-certified attorneys, in the prescribed form. Results language describes scope, not outcomes. Spanish pages, which matter in Houston, San Antonio and El Paso, carry every required disclaimer in Spanish under Rule 7.01(d).
The commercial argument is the same as the ethical one. The sentence that satisfies Rule 7.01 is a sourced, verifiable sentence, and that is the sentence an AI answer engine quotes. A firm can see how its current pages read to those engines with our free 25-point AI visibility audit; the market data behind them is in our guide to law firm SEO in Texas.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a Texas law firm have to file its website with the State Bar?
Only the homepage. Rule 7.05(b) of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct exempts information and links on a law firm website from filing, except the contents of the homepage, which Rule 7.04(a) requires to be filed with the Advertising Review Committee no later than ten days after dissemination, with a copy, a completed application and the filing fee. Comment 2 to Rule 7.05 says the entire site must still comply with Rules 7.01 and 7.02.
Can a Texas lawyer call themselves a specialist on their website?
Only if certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization or an accredited body. Rule 7.02(b)(1) permits the wording “Board Certified, [area] -- Texas Board of Legal Specialization”. A lawyer who is not certified may not state or imply “certified”, “specialist” or similar terms, and the certification must be stated accurately.
What must every Texas lawyer advertisement include?
Rule 7.02(a) provides that an advertisement of legal services shall publish the name of a lawyer who is responsible for the content of the advertisement and identify the lawyer’s primary practice location. Rule 7.02(c) adds that contingent-fee advertising must state whether the client will be obligated to pay for other expenses, such as the costs of litigation.
Can a Texas law firm get its homepage approved before it goes live?
Yes. Rule 7.04(c) allows a lawyer to submit an advertisement for pre-approval at least 30 days before its first dissemination, and a finding of compliance by the Advertising Review Committee is binding in the lawyer’s favour. This is the route we use for the homepage of every Texas site we build.
Do Spanish-language pages on a Texas law firm website follow different rules?
The same rules, with one addition. Rule 7.01(d) provides that required disclaimers must be understandable and made in each language used, so a Spanish practice page carries every disclaimer its English counterpart carries, in Spanish. With Houston 44.2%, San Antonio 64.6% and El Paso 81.2% Hispanic or Latino (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, V2025), this affects most Texas metros.
Does the Texas privacy law apply to a law firm website?
The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act, Tex. Bus. & Com. Code ch. 541, took effect July 1, 2024. It applies to businesses that are not SBA-defined small businesses, except that small businesses may not sell sensitive data without consent. From January 1, 2025, § 541.055(e) recognises universal opt-out mechanisms such as Global Privacy Control. Rights include access, correction, deletion, portability and opting out of targeted advertising, sale and profiling, with a 45-day response window and enforcement by the Texas Attorney General.
