Law firm social media: what your state bar allows

Attorney advertising rules apply to social media as soon as a post promotes your practice. Each state bar writes its own version, so the same Facebook post can be fine in one state, need a disclaimer in another and need to be filed for review in a third. This guide answers the questions firm owners ask most, with the rule text from Florida, Texas and California, and then sorts common post ideas by how much risk they carry.

Does every post count as an advertisement?

Not every post, but most posts from a firm page do.

• Florida. The Florida Bar's guidelines for networking sites say that pages "used to promote the lawyer or law firm's practice are subject to the lawyer advertising rules." A personal page used only to stay in touch with family and friends is not.
• Texas. The rules separate posts that sell from posts that inform. Rule 7.05 exempts from filing a social media communication "which does not expressly offer legal services" and is "primarily informational, educational, political, or artistic in nature."
• California. Since January 1, 2026, the state's legal advertising statute defines an advertisement as "any communication, through any written, recorded, or electronic means" that gives information about a lawyer's services "for the purpose of encouraging individuals to secure the services of the lawyer." A firm's social media post fits that easily.

So treat your firm page as advertising by default, and an explainer that sells nothing as the exception.

What must a post include?

The easy fix in all three states: put the responsible lawyer's name and the office city in the caption template, so it is on every post without anyone having to remember.

Can we post wins and client reviews?

This is where most trouble starts.

• Florida prohibits "references to past results that are not objectively verifiable, predictions or guaranties of results," and testimonials that do not meet the conditions of Rule 4-7.13(b)(8).
• Texas says that if you advertise a verdict and know it was later reduced or settled for less, each ad must state "the amount of money that was ultimately received by the client" with equal or greater prominence. The comments add that a lawyer should not claim a result without having played a substantial role in it.
• California bans "a guarantee or warranty of success," promises of "immediate cash or quick settlements," and any "misleading, deceptive, or false statements" about a lawyer's record. A dramatization or an actor playing a client needs a disclosure. A contingent fee offer must say whether the client pays costs when there is no recovery. Awards can be mentioned only if they were not given for membership and the organization did not charge or ask for a fee.

Check that last point before you post a badge: if you paid to be listed or ranked, California's statute may not let you mention it.

Do posts have to be filed with the bar?

• Florida. The Bar's position is that a firm's page on a networking site is similar to a website and does not need to be filed. But posts "that lawyers pay to appear in the feed of consumers" with no prior relationship, the ones called sponsored or boosted, must be filed for review under Rule 4-7.19, unless they contain only the basic "tombstone" information of Rule 4-7.16.
• Texas. Rule 7.04 requires filing an ad with the State Bar's Advertising Review Committee "no later than ten (10) days after the date of dissemination," with an application and a fee, unless Rule 7.05 exempts it. Exempt items include informational social media posts that do not expressly offer services, and ads that list only basic facts such as names, practice areas and contact details.
• California. The statute is about what an ad says, and it has teeth: a consumer who was misled can file a complaint with the State Bar, and if the Bar finds substantial evidence of a violation and the ad is not withdrawn, the consumer can sue for statutory damages of $5,000 to $100,000 per advertisement.

In practice: plain posts on your own page mostly need to follow the content rules, while paid promotion is where filing obligations start. If you plan to boost posts, read how much a small business should spend on Facebook ads and budget for the review step too.

Post ideas, sorted by risk

Lower risk: education that sells nothing

• "What to do in the first 24 hours after a car accident," as a 45-second video.
• A plain-English explainer of a new local rule or court procedure.
• "Three documents to bring to your first estate planning meeting."
• Your firm at a community event, a charity run or a school career day.

Medium risk: anything about you

• Meet the team: a lawyer's background, bar admissions, languages spoken. Texas exempts resume-type facts from filing. Words like "the best" or "the top" are claims about skill that you would have to back up.
• Office news: a new location, a new practice area, a new hire. Include the responsible lawyer and the city.
• Awards, with the check on who gave them and whether money changed hands.

Higher risk: results and other people's words

• Case results and settlement amounts.
• Client reviews and video testimonials.
• Anything boosted or targeted at people with a specific legal problem.

If a post sits in the last group, have the responsible lawyer read it against your state's rule before it goes out, and keep a copy of what ran.

This is general information about the rules in Florida, Texas and California as they stood on the date of this article, not legal advice. Your own state bar's ethics department, its advertising review staff or an ethics lawyer can answer questions about a specific post.

Where we fit, and where we don't

We are not lawyers and do not file anything with a bar for you. What we can do is the steady, low-risk part: turn the photos and clips you send into explainers, team introductions and community posts, with the lawyer's name and office city in every caption, and nothing goes out until you approve it. That starts with the Starter plan at $49 a month for 8 posts. If your marketing depends on case results, testimonials or paid campaigns in a state that reviews ads, a legal marketing firm that already works with your bar's process is a better fit. Compare the plans.