Personal injury ad rules in Texas

What are the key facts for personal injury 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.

Ads that name an injury or imply the viewer was hurt are where the platform limits bite hardest.

How does Texas sit on the basics a personal injury 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

Can a personal injury firm contact people directly in Texas?

• No written, in-person or phone solicitation about a personal injury or accident before the 31st day; early contact is a Class A misdemeanor, and paying someone to solicit is a third-degree felony (Penal Code §38.12).

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 689 (2020-09), on using a nonlawyer employee to staff an advertising booth after hail storms: A staffer may run a booth with signs and brochures, but neither lawyer nor staffer may start conversations about hiring the firm, and no bonus per new client. What to do: At events, let people come to you, train staff not to start the pitch, and never pay staff per signed client.
• State Bar of Texas, Professional Ethics Committee, opinion 674 (2018-08), on direct solicitation by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit law firm offering below-market flat fees: A nonprofit law firm may not directly solicit people who are not its members for paid work, even at low flat fees, because any fee is still pecuniary gain. What to do: Do not make in-person or live calls to strangers for paid work, even if you are a nonprofit charging low fees.
• State Bar of Texas, Professional Ethics Committee, opinion 672 (2018-03), on letters to employees suggesting they may have claims like the lawyer's clients: A letter or email to non-clients that claims to seek information is a written solicitation if it is really meant to get hired. What to do: Treat 'fact-finding' letters to possible claimants as solicitations and follow the written-solicitation rules for them.
• 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 573 (2006-07), on paying to join an internet service that forwards potential clients' information to paying lawyers: A Texas lawyer may pay an online service that forwards potential clients' problems to paying lawyers only if it meets the opinion's conditions, which the lawyer keeps checking. What to do: Before buying leads from an online service, confirm it does not pick lawyers for clients, charges a reasonable advertising fee, does not cap participants, and label your first contact as advertising.

Which Google, Local Services and Meta policies matter for personal injury ads?

• Google Ads: Healthcare and medicines: Restricted drug terms. In the US you may use prescription drug names in ad text and landing pages without certification, but you must be certified by Google to keyword-target those drug names.
• Google Ads: Personalized advertising: Health. Personal health content is a sensitive interest category. Google's definition includes disabilities and invasive medical procedures. Ads that fall in it can't use advertiser-curated audiences.
• Local Services Ads: Local Services Ads: what each legal category covers. Google's descriptions place workers' comp, SSA claims, SSI and veterans' disability under 'Disability lawyer'; dog bites, product liability and wrongful death under 'Personal injury lawyer'; and foreclosure and repossession under 'Bankruptcy lawyer'.
• 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 personal injury marketing?

• 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.
• 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 personal injury ad runs, and ask your attorney to approve each ad.
• Plan each personal injury 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 personal injury ads in Texas

Does a personal injury 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.

Can a personal injury firm contact people directly in Texas?

No written, in-person or phone solicitation about a personal injury or accident before the 31st day; early contact is a Class A misdemeanor, and paying someone to solicit is a third-degree felony (Penal Code §38.12).

Can a personal injury firm in Texas run Local Services Ads?

Google's descriptions place workers' comp, SSA claims, SSI and veterans' disability under 'Disability lawyer'; dog bites, product liability and wrongful death under 'Personal injury lawyer'; and foreclosure and repossession under 'Bankruptcy lawyer'.

How much Spanish-speaking demand should a personal injury 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.