Lawyer Web Site Must Be Designed Carefully

2007-03-08 10:33:40

( Legal )



While many business-people have been quick in utilizing the Internet to reach out to their customers, attorneys have been more circumspect about putting up their own lawyer Web sites.

Concerns about client confidentiality, the ethics of advertising by posting a Web site, and the lawyer's desire for proper decorum are other issues that impact upon how attorneys want their lawyer Web sites to appear. You would also worry about accusations of offering legal advice online. For this reason, many law firm web sites have primarily listed the firm's addresses and telephone numbers, and their attorney's names, but not much other information.

Your lawyer Web site may simply provide such data to clients and potential clients, or you can take a more aggressive marketing stance. Marketing may take the form of making discussions on legal topics available to whoever is interested, and some law firm web designs have used this approach. These may be prepared in such a way to suggest that the reader may need representation regarding the topics discussed.

When you create your lawyer Web site, you should consult very closely the local rules governing attorney advertising and solicitation, and the regulations in other states. Some states require lawyers to print out copies of their home pages and send this to an advertising review commission with a filing fee; if you make substantive changes to your lawyer Web site, you repeat the procedure. Other states warn against communicating with their residents without having authority to practice law in their state.

Prudence dictates that you should include requisite disclaimers in your lawyer Web site. For instance, some parties may unilaterally send information to lawyer websites, in good faith and for the purpose of seeking some kind of legal advice. To avoid potential conflicts like this, you might want to have a prominent disclaimer specifically warning against such transmittals.


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