Family law ad rules in Texas

What are the key facts for family law ads in Texas?

• Ad filing. File each non-exempt ad with the State Bar of Texas Advertising Review Committee within 10 days after first use, with a $100 fee. An unfiled non-exempt ad can draw a $250 fine plus the $100 fee. Optional pre-approval at least 30 days ahead; a finding of compliance binds in the lawyer’s favor (Rule 7.04).
• What each ad must include. The name of a responsible lawyer and that lawyer’s primary practice location (Rule 7.02(a)).
• Results and “specialist” claims. Saying a lawyer “practices”, “focuses” or “concentrates” in an area is fine if objectively true.
• Referral services and lead generators. Anyone who refers potential clients to lawyers is a lawyer referral service and needs a certificate; only a government body or a qualifying nonprofit can be certified (Occupations Code ch.

Divorce is a named sensitive category, so ads cannot imply that the viewer is going through one.

How does Texas sit on the basics a family law firm runs into?

• Ad filing in Texas: Filed after first use
• Call recording in Texas: One-party consent
• Texting law in Texas: State law with private suits
• Privacy law in Texas: Comprehensive law in force

What have Texas’s ethics opinions said?

• State Bar of Texas, Professional Ethics Committee, opinion 702 (2024-08), on paid educational presentations marketed by a private company; later contact by viewers: A lawyer may be paid for general legal education videos a company sells; the talk is not solicitation, so the lawyer may represent viewers who later call. What to do: Give educational talks with a not-legal-advice warning, and let viewers contact you rather than pitching them during the talk.
• State Bar of Texas, Professional Ethics Committee, opinion 685 (2020-01), on asking clients for positive online reviews and star ratings: A lawyer may ask clients to post good online reviews, but must not encourage false statements and should try to fix any that appear. What to do: Ask clients for honest reviews, give nothing in return, and act to correct or remove any false review you learn about.
• State Bar of Texas, Professional Ethics Committee, opinion 662 (2016-08), on responding publicly to a former client's negative online review: A lawyer may answer a former client's negative online review only with a short, restrained reply that reveals no confidential information. What to do: When you get a bad review, reply briefly without any client details, or do not reply at all.
• State Bar of Texas, Professional Ethics Committee, opinion 654 (2016-03), on offering free bail bond and warrant information to attract visitors to a law office: A lawyer may advertise and give free bail-bond and warrant-check information to office visitors; it is not paying to solicit, but the offer must be honored. What to do: If you advertise free information, give it to everyone who asks, never make it depend on hiring you, and supervise staff who hand it out.
• State Bar of Texas, Professional Ethics Committee, opinion 651 (2015-11), on website email links and warnings to prospective clients about confidentiality: A Texas firm need not post a no-confidentiality warning on website email links, but without an accepted warning it may have to treat what prospects send as confidential. What to do: Put a clear click-to-accept notice before your website contact form or email link if you want to be free to use unsolicited information.

Which Google, Local Services and Meta policies matter for family law ads?

• Google Ads: Personalized advertising: Relationship hardships. Divorce services are a named example of a sensitive interest category, so family-law ads can't use advertiser-curated audiences such as Customer Match, remarketing or lookalike segments.
• Google Ads: Personalized advertising: Abuse and trauma. A person's status as a victim of abuse, crime or another traumatic event is a sensitive interest category. Google's examples are domestic abuse shelters and victim advocate services.
• Local Services Ads: Local Services Ads: service categories (US). Google's US list has 17 lawyer categories: bankruptcy, business, contract, criminal, disability, DUI, estate, family, immigration, IP, labor, litigation, malpractice, personal injury, real estate, traffic, and a general 'Lawyers' category. Unlike some other categories, none of the lawyer categories is limited to certain states.
• Meta: Privacy Violations and Personal Attributes. Meta ads can't assert or imply that the viewer has a personal attribute, including a health condition, disability, vulnerable financial status or criminal record. Meta's own 'not allowed' examples include 'Are you bankrupt?' and 'Are you a convicted felon?'.

The full list for every platform is in the ad platform policy tracker.

What else in Texas touches family law marketing?

• Ads in Spanish and other languages. Required statements appear in each language the ad uses.
• Call recording. One-party consent: a person on the call may record it.
• Privacy and health data. The Texas Data Privacy and Security Act covers businesses above the SBA’s small-business size.

How much Spanish-speaking demand is there in Texas?

• Texas: about 7,932,949 (±30,524) people aged 5 and over who speak Spanish at home. ACS 2020-2024 survey estimate.
• Texas: about 3,034,861 (±21,917) Spanish speakers aged 5 and over who speak English less than "very well". ACS 2020-2024 survey estimate.
• Texas: about 271 (±26.3) Spanish speakers with limited English (less than "very well") for every Spanish-speaking lawyer, judge or judicial worker. ACS 2020-2024 survey estimate.

Test Spanish pages and ads next to English ones.

Which Texas metros do we cover?

Each metro page covers how clients there find a lawyer, what AI answers show and the local courts:

• Austin law firm SEO, AI search and Google AdsHow Austin clients and tech workers find a lawyer, Spanish demand, Western District venue and Texas ad filing for firms of any size.
• Dallas-Fort Worth law firm SEO, AI search and adsTwo cities, one metro: search habits, the strongest Spanish-access gap in our data, three federal venues and Texas ad filing for DFW firms.
• Houston law firm SEO, AI search and Google AdsHow Houston clients find a lawyer, what AI answers show, Spanish demand, Southern District venue and Texas ad filing for firms of any size.
• San Antonio law firm SEO, AI search and Google AdsHow San Antonio clients find a lawyer, military and Spanish-speaking clients, Western District venue and Texas ad filing for firms of any size.

What does this mean for your firm?

• Check the Texas filing duty before the first family law ad runs, and ask your attorney to approve each ad.
• Plan each family law campaign around the platform’s own policies, so ads are not disapproved after launch.
• Test Spanish and English side by side where the Spanish-speaking audience is large.

Not legal advice. Probative Growth is a marketing firm, not a law firm. Rules change; your attorney decides what runs.

Questions firms ask about family law ads in Texas

Does a family law firm have to file its ads in Texas?

File each non-exempt ad with the State Bar of Texas Advertising Review Committee within 10 days after first use, with a $100 fee. An unfiled non-exempt ad can draw a $250 fine plus the $100 fee.

What must a family law ad say in Texas?

The name of a responsible lawyer and that lawyer’s primary practice location (Rule 7.02(a)).

Can a family law firm in Texas run Local Services Ads?

Google's US list has 17 lawyer categories: bankruptcy, business, contract, criminal, disability, DUI, estate, family, immigration, IP, labor, litigation, malpractice, personal injury, real estate, traffic, and a general 'Lawyers' category. Unlike some other categories, none of the lawyer categories is limited to certain states.

How much Spanish-speaking demand should a family law firm plan for in Texas?

Texas: about 7,932,949 (±30,524) people aged 5 and over who speak Spanish at home. ACS 2020-2024 survey estimate.