Connecticut Attorney Advertising Rules for Websites (2026)

Which Connecticut rules apply to a law firm website?

Rules 7.4 (fields of practice) and 7.5 (firm names and letterheads) were repealed as of January 1, 2020, so older checklists citing them are out of date; firm-name guidance now sits in the commentary to Rule 7.1.

Filing with the Statewide Grievance Committee

Section 2-28A requires any attorney who advertises through any media to file a copy of each advertisement with the Statewide Grievance Committee before or at the same time as its first dissemination, in the format the committee prescribes. The filing includes "a list of domain names used by the attorney primarily to offer legal services, which shall be updated quarterly." Subsection (b)(7) then exempts the contents of any website that appears under those domain names.

So the website itself isn't filed page by page, but the domain list is a real obligation. A practice-area microsite on a new domain, or a campaign landing page on a separate domain, has to be added to the list. Paid search ads, social ads and videos are advertisements in their own right and are filed unless an exemption applies; exemptions include name-and-basic-information ads, communications to existing or former clients and other lawyers, and communications a prospective client requested. Keep a domain register with your filings so no unlisted domain goes live.

Statewide bar counsel reviews filed advertisements selected at random, and the committee can ask you to substantiate any statement. For a large campaign, § 2-28B lets you request an advance advisory opinion at least 30 days before first dissemination, for a fee; a finding of compliance binds in your favor in a later disciplinary proceeding if your submission was accurate.

Rule 7.1: results, reviews and comparisons

Rule 7.1 itself is short: a communication is false or misleading if it contains a material misrepresentation of fact or law, or omits a fact necessary to make it, considered as a whole, not materially misleading. The commentary does the heavy lifting for websites. A truthful report of a result for a client "may be misleading if presented without a disclaimer" that the result depended on the particular facts of that case. An unsubstantiated claim or comparison, such as the best divorce lawyer in Fairfield County, may be misleading if it's specific enough to suggest it can be proven. And an appropriate disclaimer or qualifying language may prevent a statement from being found misleading.

A practical approach is to make case results a component with a required disclaimer rendered beside each result, not in the footer. Superlatives go on a list the content team checks before publishing. Reviews follow the same logic, with two outside limits: the FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule (in effect since October 21, 2024) prohibits fake reviews and sentiment-based incentives, and Rule 7.2(c) bars giving anything of value for recommendations beyond narrow exceptions, such as nominal gifts limited to two per year per recipient.

Rule 7.2 details your website must get right

• Responsible lawyer on every page

  Rule 7.2(e): any communication must include the name and contact information of at least one lawyer admitted in Connecticut who is responsible for its content. A site-wide footer line handles it, including on landing pages.

• Court costs next to fee claims

  Rule 7.2(f): any mention of fees, including contingent fees or "no fee unless we win," must disclose whether and to what extent the client pays court costs and litigation expenses, in the same print size and type as the fee information.

• Published fees are promises

  Rule 7.2(g): a specific fee or fee range must be honored for at least 90 days unless the communication states a shorter period. Date-stamp any page that lists flat fees.

• Specialist claims need certification

  Rules 7.2(d) and 7.4A: don't state or imply you're a specialist unless you're currently certified by a board approved by the Rules Committee or an ABA-accredited organization, and the certifying organization is named. Certification can't be attributed to the firm as a whole.

• Careful with lead vendors

  Rule 7.2(c) limits payments for recommendations; Rule 7.2(h) allows online client-matching services only if they comply with the rules.

Firm names, domains and social handles

The commentary to Rule 7.1 allows a firm to use the names of current members, the names of deceased or retired members where the firm's identity has continued, or a trade name that isn't false or misleading. A lawyer or firm may also be identified by "a distinctive website address, social media username or comparable professional designation that is not misleading." A name is misleading if it implies a connection with a government agency, a lawyer who never practiced with the firm or its predecessor, a nonlawyer, or a public or charitable legal services organization.

So a keyword domain built around a town and practice area can work, but anything that sounds like a court, an agency or legal aid can't. Lawyers admitted only in New York should say so in their bios; the commentary requires letterhead to show jurisdictional limits.

Archiving: copy the site every three months, keep it for three years

Rule 7.2(b)(1) is unusually specific. A copy or recording of a communication must be kept for three years after its last dissemination, along with a record of when and where it was used, and "an electronic communication regarding the lawyer's services shall be copied once every three months on a compact disc or similar technology and kept for three years after its last dissemination." The compact disc is dated; the obligation isn't.

Automate it: a scheduled job captures every public page each quarter and on every deploy, stores the captures in write-once storage with timestamps, and keeps a log that doubles as the record of when each page was live. Export copies of paid ads and email campaigns into the same archive. Relying on a public web archive isn't a substitute, because you don't control what it captures or when.

Chat, forms and email: where solicitation starts

Rule 7.3 defines solicitation as a communication initiated by or for a lawyer, directed to a specific person the lawyer knows or should know needs legal services in a particular matter, offering to provide those services. When a visitor submits a form or starts a chat on your site, your reply is a communication they requested. Practice Book § 2-28A(b)(6) exempts requested communications from filing, and Rule 7.3(e) exempts communications solicited by the recipient from the "Advertising Material" label.

Outbound messages are different. Written or electronic solicitations to people known to need legal services in a particular matter must be labeled "Advertising Material" (for electronic messages, at the beginning and end). Solicitations about personal injury or wrongful death are barred until more than 40 days after the accident, with limited exceptions. Have ethics counsel review any outbound campaign built from purchased lists or court records.

Connecticut law firm website checklist

• Domain register

  Every domain used primarily to offer legal services listed with the Statewide Grievance Committee and updated quarterly.

• Responsible lawyer

  Name and contact information of a Connecticut-admitted lawyer on every page, including landing pages.

• Results disclaimers

  A disclaimer beside every case result explaining that outcomes depend on the facts of each matter.

• Fee pages

  Court-cost disclosures in the same size and type as the fee, and a date on any flat-fee page.

• Reviews

  No incentives tied to ratings, no staff-written reviews, and nothing of value for recommendations beyond Rule 7.2(c)'s exceptions.

• Quarterly archive

  Automated captures every three months and on each deploy, kept for at least three years after a page is retired.

• Outbound campaigns

  "Advertising Material" labels where Rule 7.3 requires them and a 40-day hold on accident-related solicitations.

How we build law firm websites in Connecticut

We design and build websites for law firms on the same fast stack as our web design work, and can build in the responsible-lawyer footer, results disclaimers and quarterly archive from the start. A full firm site starts at $2,500 and a single practice-area landing page starts at $699; both are on our pricing page. If your firm also runs a client intake portal or document workflow, that's a custom software project starting at $10,000.

Frequently asked questions