Did You Know Florida has New Lawyer Advertising Rules?

If your law practice and marketing touches Florida, you probably already know how finicky the Florida Professional Ethics Rules are when it comes to lawyer advertising. Florida has detailed rules and approval procedures for digital and physical legal advertising. If you are not up-to-date with the latest changes, you could find yourself facing fines, censure, or other disciplinary action by the Florida Bar. 

Recently, some small but important changes came into effect. You can read the full text of the changes here but because we know your time is precious, we’ve put together a brief summary to help keep you on top of things:

When did the changes to the Florida lawyer advertising rules come into effect?

The latest changes to the Florida lawyer advertising rules came into effect on August 21, 2023. 

What Florida lawyer advertising rules have changed?

1. Required Information and Disclaimers Must Be “Clear and Conspicuous”

Certain information and disclaimers that were previously required to be “reasonably prominent” and “prominently displayed” must now instead be “clear and conspicuous.” This applies to information in an advertisement or disclaimer, such as the location of the physical office or a dramatization disclaimer.

Specifically, this change affects the following rules: 

4-7.12 (Required Content)

4-7.13 (Deceptive and Inherently Misleading Advertisements)

4-7.14 (Potentially Misleading Advertisements)

4-7.18 (Direct Contact with Prospective Clients)

2. Elimination of Mandatory Disclaimer Language

Florida previously required specific disclaimer language to be used when a person in an advertisement is not a lawyer or employee; an actor is used; or a scenario is a dramatization. This requirement is changed to allow law firms to use any language that is a “clear and conspicuous disclaimer.”

This affects Rules 4-7.13(b)(5), (b)(6), and (b)(7) (Examples of Deceptive and Inherently Misleading Advertisements.)

3. Change to Certification Disclosure 

A lawyer must not claim to be board certified unless certified by the Florida bar, another state bar, or another accredited organization, and must disclose the area of certification and the name of the certifying organization. This has not changed. However, this rule no longer requires a lawyer certified by an organization other than the Florida Bar to include the disclaimer: “Not Certified as a Specialist by The Florida Bar.”

This affects Rule 4-7.14 (Potentially Misleading Advertisements.)

4. Removal of First Sentence Requirement in Targeted Written Communications

Targeted direct mail and direct electronic advertisements previously had to begin with: “If you have already retained a lawyer for this matter, please disregard this.” This sentence is no longer required, though direct written solicitations of prospective clients who already have legal representation are still prohibited.

This affects Rule 4- 7.18(b)(2)(E) (Direct Contact with Prospective Clients).

5. New Restriction on Qualifying Providers

Qualifying providers include lawyer referral services, matching services, pooled advertising programs, and lead generators. The revised Florida rules prohibit a lawyer from participating in a qualifying provider that has less than 4 participating lawyers from different law firms. This is to prevent an individual lawyer from deceptively funneling clients to one firm by using a qualifying provider to advertise.

This affects Rule Rule 4-7.22 (Referrals, Directories and Pooled Advertising.)

What do the changes mean for your legal marketing?

If your law firm advertises legal services in Florida, practices in Florida, or has attorneys licensed in Florida, these changes may apply to you. 

Many of the amendments are good news for law firms because they ease the strict Florida ethics rules, but not all. It is important to review your current advertising to ensure that you are still in compliance with ethical requirements in Florida and in any other state that regulates you and your attorneys.

These changes are also an important reminder to lawyers and legal marketers in every state to know and comply with, the professional conduct rules that are applicable to you. If you have questions about ethical considerations in your legal marketing, contact our team of experienced legal marketers for more information.