The worst time to find out who owns your marketing is the day you give notice. The traps are well known: a domain registered in the agency’s name, a website on a platform that can’t be moved, a Business Profile the agency owns, call-tracking numbers that disappear, and years of ad history in an account the firm can’t open. All of it is avoidable, and most of it takes ten minutes to check. This guide is the checklist, plus what to export and when. If you’re still choosing your next agency, read our guide on how to choose a law firm marketing agency alongside it.
Why “hostage assets” happen
Most agencies don’t set out to trap clients. Accounts get created under the agency’s login because it’s faster at onboarding, and nobody goes back to fix it. The problem surfaces at exit, when the firm asks for something it assumed it owned.
The fix is a simple rule: everything is in the firm’s name, on the firm’s payment method, with a firm login as the top-level owner, and the agency as a user it can remove. Google’s own help pages describe this model for several products. For Business Profiles, Google says only profile owners control who has access and can change permissions at any time (Google).
The 10-minute check
The public exit kit
Ten minutes, seven assets: what 'the firm owns it' looks like
| # | Asset | Where to look | The firm owns it when… | Minutes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Domain name | Your registrar’s account, or a public registration lookup | The registrant is the firm, the registrar account is the firm’s, with two-factor login | 1 |
| 2 | Website | Hosting account; the contract’s ownership clause | Hosting is billed to the firm or the site can be exported; the contract assigns the site to the firm | 2 |
| 3 | Google Ads and Microsoft Ads | Admin, then Access and security | A firm login has admin access; billing is the firm’s card or invoice | 1 |
| 4 | Local Services Ads | The Local Services account settings | The account and billing are the firm’s; leads can be downloaded | 1 |
| 5 | Google Business Profile | Profile settings, then People and access | A firm login is primary owner; the agency is a manager | 1 |
| 6 | Analytics and Search Console | GA4 admin access; Search Console users and permissions | A firm login has administrator (GA4) and owner (Search Console) rights | 2 |
| 7 | Call tracking and CRM data | Call-tracking account; CRM admin | Numbers are in an account the firm controls or can port; the CRM is the firm’s, with export rights | 2 |
Anything that fails goes on a fix list. Ask for each fix in writing, one line at a time, and keep the replies. Most agencies will make the changes quickly if you ask before notice.
Asset by asset: what to check and how to fix it
1. The domain
The domain is the most important asset, because email and the website both depend on it. ICANN’s Transfer Policy says registrants must be able to transfer their domain registrations between registrars, and it requires registrars to provide the transfer code (the “AuthInfo” code) (ICANN). That right belongs to the registrant. If the agency registered your domain under its own name, the first step is a change of registrant to the firm.
Know one timing rule: after a change of registrant, the registrar must impose a 60-day lock on transfers to another registrar, unless the registrant opted out beforehand (ICANN). So fix the registrant early, not in the week you leave.
2. The website
Two questions: can the site be moved, and does the firm own it?
- Moving it. If the site sits on the agency’s own platform, ask how you’d export it: pages, images, forms and the list of every URL, so redirects can be set when the site moves. A site you can’t export is a site you’ll rebuild. Our law firm websites guide lists what a firm should own in its site from day one.
- Owning it. Copyright in a website starts with whoever created it. A commissioned website usually isn’t a “work made for hire” under federal law, because that label covers employees’ work and a short list of commissioned categories, with a signed agreement (17 U.S.C. § 101). A transfer of copyright is valid only with a signed writing (17 U.S.C. § 204). So the contract matters. Read its ownership clause, and ask your counsel if it’s unclear.
3. Google Ads and Microsoft Ads
In Google Ads, admin access is the top level: admins can give access, change access levels, and unlink manager accounts (Google). Agencies usually connect through a manager account. That’s fine, as long as the firm has its own admin login on the account itself. Google also notes that a manager account with “ownership” can edit users and links in your account, so check whether the agency’s manager account holds it (Google).
Check billing too. If the agency pays the platform and invoices you with a markup, the account’s payment profile is the agency’s, and moving it takes planning.
4. Local Services Ads, and the move into Google Ads
This one has a deadline. Google is moving Local Services Ads into Google Ads: a first phase from August 2026 for selected U.S. advertisers, broader expansion in late 2026, and remaining categories in 2027 (Google). Past leads, including contact details, messages and older call recordings, transfer automatically. But Google says previous performance reports won’t carry over, and the dedicated download page is described only as coming soon (Google).
So, whether or not you’re leaving your agency: download your leads and save your performance reports now. Google suggests screenshots in the meantime. Our Local Services Ads guide explains how the program charges and what to track.
5. Google Business Profile
A profile has one primary owner, other owners, and managers. Managers have nearly the same access as owners but can’t add or remove users or remove the profile (Google). The firm should be primary owner; the agency should be a manager.
Mind the waiting period. New owners and managers must wait 7 days before they can remove other users or transfer primary ownership (Google). If you’re adding a firm login now, do it at least a week before you’ll need it.
6. Analytics and Search Console
In Google Analytics, check that a firm login has the administrator role on the account or property (Google). In Search Console, there are verified owners, who proved ownership with a token on the site, and delegated owners, added by a verified owner (Google). If the agency’s token is the only verification, add the firm’s own verification before the agency removes anything from the site.
7. Call tracking and CRM data
Tracking numbers appear in your ads, your profile, your site and sometimes on printed materials. If they vanish, so do the calls. Under the FCC’s rules, a subscriber who switches providers in the same area can usually keep the number, and the old provider can’t refuse to port it because of an unpaid balance (FCC). The question is who the subscriber is. If the numbers sit in the agency’s tracking account, ask in writing for them to be ported to an account in the firm’s name.
For the CRM, confirm that the firm holds the subscription and an admin login, and that you can export leads, stages, sources and notes. Lead history with sources is what lets your next agency, or your own team, see which channels signed cases.
Exports to take before you leave
| Platform | What to export | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Google Ads, Microsoft Ads | Campaign, keyword and search-term reports for 24 months; conversion actions and offline upload history | Your cost-per-signed-case baseline |
| Local Services Ads | All leads; performance reports or screenshots | Reports won’t carry into Google Ads |
| Analytics | Key reports by channel and landing page for 24 months | History doesn’t move between properties |
| Search Console | Performance by query and page | The only first-party view of organic search |
| Call tracking | Call logs with source, duration and recordings your policy allows | Ties calls to channels |
| Website | Full export, URL list, form settings, redirect map | Rebuilds don’t lose rankings |
| Agency reports | Every monthly report and change log | Context for the next team |
What client information leaves the firm, including recordings, is your responsible attorney’s decision.
Timing: notice, renewal and the handover
- Read the contract first: notice period, auto-renewal date, ownership clause, any exit fee, and what the agency must hand over.
- Run the check at least 30 days before any notice deadline, so fixes have time, including the 7-day profile wait and any domain change.
- Give notice in writing, listing the transfers and exports you expect and the date you expect them.
- Run both teams briefly, if you can. A short overlap keeps campaigns running while the new team gets access.
- Remove access last. Only after every transfer and export is confirmed do you remove agency users from each account.
If the agency is slow to respond on an asset you clearly own, Google’s third-party page explains how to report third-party violations for Business Profiles (Google). For contract disputes, talk to your counsel.
What a good handover looks like
A clean exit takes days, not months, if ownership was right from the start. Ask the outgoing agency, in writing, for:
- An access list: every account, every user the agency added, and every login the firm will need.
- A change log for the last 12 months: bids, budgets, keywords, pages and settings changed, with dates. It explains swings in the data your next team will inherit.
- Conversion settings: which actions count as conversions, what call length counts as a lead, and how signed cases were sent back to the ad platforms, if they were. Our guide to sending signed cases back to Google Ads explains why that history matters.
- Open items: pending ad approvals, bar filings in progress, renewals and anything paid in advance.
- Confirmation of removal: once transfers are done, a written note that agency users are removed and the agency’s copies of firm data are deleted.
Give the outgoing and incoming teams one short call together if you can. Ten minutes of explanation can save a month of rebuilding.
What this means for your firm
- Run the 10-minute check this week, whether or not you plan to leave. It’s the cheapest insurance in marketing.
- Fix ownership while things are friendly. Every asset in the firm’s name, with a firm login at the top.
- Export Local Services Ads history now, before your account moves into Google Ads.
- Put your renewal date on the calendar, with a reminder 60 days before.
- Expect any good agency to welcome the check. One that resists it is telling you something.
Probative is AI-first SEO and ads for law firms. Every account we work in stays in your name, and an exit kit is issued at onboarding and kept current; how we work and our terms in plain English set out exactly how leaving works. For the questions to put to your next agency, see the agency audit checklist.
Marketing information, not legal advice. Contract terms, copyright and what client data leaves the firm are questions for your own counsel and your responsible attorney.