A personal page for lawyers

What your page should include

• Practice areas, stated plainly
• Bar enrolment or admission details
• Education and notable experience, factual and verifiable
• Publications, talks and articles you've written
• A contact form that doesn't invite confidential details

How clients choose a lawyer

Most legal work still comes through referrals: another lawyer, an accountant, a former client, a friend. Corporate clients add directories and rankings. Individuals with an urgent problem search, then read two or three pages before calling. In every case, the client is trying to judge competence and trustworthiness without being able to evaluate the law. Your page has to make that judgement easy, with facts.

The rules come first

Legal advertising is restricted in many jurisdictions, and the rules vary widely. In India, Rule 36 of the Bar Council of India Rules prohibits advocates from advertising or soliciting work, though since 2008 advocates may publish a website with factual details such as name, contact information, enrolment number, qualifications and areas of practice. In the US, ABA Model Rules 7.1 to 7.3, as adopted by each state, prohibit false or misleading communications and regulate solicitation, and some states add rules on testimonials, specialisation claims and disclaimers. In England and Wales, the SRA Transparency Rules require certain firms to publish price and service information for some services.

This page isn't legal advice on those rules, and you know your obligations better than we do. The practical point is that a featurd page can be as restrained as your rules require: no testimonials, no results, no comparisons, and a disclaimer section at the bottom. Check before you publish.

What to include, within the rules

• Practice areas in plain words: "Commercial contracts and shareholder disputes for startups" rather than "Corporate".
• Enrolment or admission details: bar council, state bar, year of enrolment.
• Education and experience, stated factually: chambers, firms, notable roles.
• Publications, talks and teaching. They demonstrate expertise without advertising.
• Office address and how to reach you, with a map if clients visit.
• Languages you work in, which matter for many clients.
• A disclaimer, where your rules expect one, that the page is for information and isn't legal advice.

Confidentiality and first contact

A web form is not a secure channel. Keep your contact form to name, phone or email and the type of matter, and add a line asking people not to send confidential details until you've confirmed there's no conflict and agreed to act. If you take consultation bookings, use neutral booking questions. Store matter documents in your practice management system, never in a page builder.

Your featurd setup

• Header: name, designation and practice areas; Editorial or Ink keeps it sober.
• Text: "Practice areas" with a sentence on each.
• Experience: chambers, firms and years.
• Links or cards: publications, judgments you can cite publicly, articles and talks.
• Map widget for your chambers or office, free on every plan.
• Book: consultation slots synced with Google Calendar, where your rules allow.
• Contact: the minimal form with the confidentiality line.
• Text: disclaimer and enrolment details.
• Leave out testimonials, results and prices unless your rules clearly permit them.

An example page

Advocate Rahul Menon practises commercial litigation at the Bombay High Court. His page uses Editorial: a serif headline with his name, "Advocate, Bombay High Court · Commercial and arbitration matters", and his Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa enrolment number. Below, three practice areas, his education and chambers, and eight articles he's written on arbitration. There are no testimonials and no claims about results. A map shows his chambers in Fort, a short form asks only for name, contact and a one-line description of the matter type, and a footer carries the BCI-style disclaimer that visitors confirm they're seeking information of their own accord.

Writing that shows expertise

For many lawyers, the most effective and least controversial way to show expertise is publishing. Short notes on recent judgments, explainers on a new regulation, or a talk at a bar association demonstrate how you think without making claims about results. List them with dates on your page; clients and referring lawyers read them, and they keep the page current.

A subscribe section for a monthly case-law note works for some practices. Check whether your rules treat newsletters as advertising first.

Getting started

Upload your CV or LinkedIn PDF and Ivo drafts a factual page; edit every line for your rules. Pick a look in Explore. If you advise businesses outside practice, like a fractional general counsel, see consultants, and check whether your rules treat that page differently.