The Ethics of Online Advertising and Marketing

We're back with a CLE to help demystify the ethical implications surrounding digital/online advertising for lawyers and law firms! In this presentation, we'll cover various ethical implications of digital legal marketing used to engage current clients and reach new clients. Attendees will learn about ethical issues concerning law firm websites & blogs, local directories & reviews, lead generation & pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and social media advertising. We will discuss the ethical issues of targeting certain users with Google, Meta/Facebook and Geofencing ad services. We will examine how changes to Google Ads’ keyword matching implementation may lead to ethical issues for law firms in some jurisdictions. We will also examine the legal and ethical issues presented by fake reviews, both positive and negative, that seem to be a part of many law firms’ online directory profiles.

Topics covered include:

Legal Marketing Legal Ethics

Agenda:

Online Methods of Attorney Advertising and an Ethics Overview

The internet, websites, blogs, social media
ABA Model Rule 7.1: Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services
ABA Model Rule 1.6: Confidentiality of Information

Ethical Considerations for Websites & Blogs

Ethical communications
Office locations
Confidentiality of information
Ethical checklist

Using Directories & Reviews Ethically

Lawyer directories
Office locations
Law firm name
Reviews
ABA Formal Opinion 496: Responding to Online Criticism

Online Advertising: Ethical Pitfalls

Placements
Impressions
Clicks
Leads
Other pricing models
Targeting, Google keyword matching

Advertising Ethically on Social Media

Using different social media platforms
Protecting confidential information
Workplace social media policies

Questions & Answers

Duration of this webinar: 60 minutes

Originally broadcast: May 12, 2023 12:00 PM PT

Continuing Legal Education (CLE) Credits

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California CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Legal Ethics

Earn Credit Until: June 30, 2026

South Carolina CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Legal Ethics/Professional Responsibility

Difficulty: All Levels

Earn Credit Until: December 31, 2025

North Carolina CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Ethics

Earn Credit Until: February 28, 2026

Texas CLE

Status: Approved

Credits: 1.00 Legal Ethics/Professional Responsibility

Earn Credit Until: January 31, 2026

This presentation is approved for one hour of Legal Ethics CLE credit in California, one hour of Legal Ethics/Professional Responsibility CLE credit in South Carolina (all levels), and one hour of Ethics CLE credit in North Carolina. This course has been approved for Minimum Continuing Legal Education credit by the State Bar of Texas Committee on MCLE in the amount of 1.00 credit hours, of which 1.00 credit hours will apply to Legal Ethics/Professional Responsibility credit.

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Speaker

Tim Stanley CEO
Justia

Tim Stanley is the CEO and founder of Justia, one of the most visited legal portals in the world. Justia’s mission is to make law and legal resources free for all. Before founding Justia, Tim founded and was CEO of FindLaw. He is the general counsel and on the Board of Trustees of Public.Resource.Org, and was previously on the Board of Nolo and American LegalNet. Tim has a BS and MS from Stanford University and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School.