Lawyer advertising rule changes, 2024 to 2026

As of October 26, 2026, many states have changed their lawyer advertising rules since late 2024. New York, Alabama and Georgia rewrote theirs, and California added required content to every ad. This log lists each change, plus a federal rule on reviews from October 2024, with its date and official source, newest first.

Key facts

• New York: amended advertising rules took effect June 1, 2026, and they “essentially adopt” the ABA’s model rules (NYSBA).
• Alabama: the Supreme Court of Alabama’s order of May 13, 2025 rewrote Rules 7.1 to 7.3, effective January 1, 2026 (Alabama State Bar).
• Georgia: the Supreme Court of Georgia amended Rules 7.1 to 7.5 on November 18, 2025, effective March 1, 2026 (order).
• Pennsylvania: an order dated October 15, 2024 amended the advertising rules, effective November 14, 2024 (Disciplinary Board).
• Federal: the FTC’s rule on consumer reviews and testimonials went into effect on October 21, 2024 (FTC).

Which lawyer advertising rules changed from 2024 to 2026?

The table lists every change we confirmed at a primary source, newest first. “Effective” is the date the change applies to ads; “Adopted” is the date of the order, statute or opinion. Ethics opinions are included only where they change everyday ad practice; the full list is in our ethics-opinion tracker.

The caption: three states rewrote their core advertising rules in 2026 alone, and two of them, New York and Georgia, moved toward the ABA model. The direction is fewer set phrases and more weight on the general ban on misleading ads.

What changed in New York on June 1, 2026?

New York replaced Rules 7.1 and 7.3 with versions of the ABA model rules. According to the New York State Bar Association, the rule that ads be labeled “Attorney Advertising” “has been eliminated,” and so has the required line “Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome” (NYSBA). The old rule requiring the principal office address and phone number moved into Rule 7.1(d), which now asks only for “the name and contact information of at least one lawyer or law firm responsible for its content.”

The court order is linked in our sources; its server blocked our automated read, so the date and text above rest on the NYSBA’s published summary and its rules compilation. Our New York note lists what to change.

What changed in Alabama on January 1, 2026?

The Supreme Court of Alabama’s order of May 13, 2025 rewrote Rules 7.1, 7.2 and 7.3, effective January 1, 2026 (Alabama State Bar). Under the new text:

• A copy of each communication, with its date and recipients, is kept for six years and handed to the Bar’s Office of General Counsel on request (Rule 7.2(a)).
• A communication that shows a lawyer includes the city, town, county or location of a bona fide office (Rule 7.2(b)(3)).
• Targeted letters and email carry “advertisement” in bold, larger than any other print, and a targeted mail or email solicitation opens with a set sentence (Rule 7.3(f)-(i)); the wording is on our disclaimers page.
• A lawyer may email or write to a person with a known personal injury, but only “twenty-one days (or later) after the accident,” per the Bar’s guide.

Our Alabama note covers the rest.

What changed in Georgia on March 1, 2026?

After briefing and an oral argument in February 2024, the Supreme Court of Georgia approved new Rules 7.1 (communications), 7.2 (specific rules) and 7.3 (solicitation), and reserved Rules 7.4 and 7.5, by an order of November 18, 2025 effective March 1, 2026 (order). The Court noted that its approval “does not constitute a definitive determination” of the constitutional questions it had asked about. Our Georgia page has the details that matter for ads.

What changed in Pennsylvania in 2024?

By order dated October 15, 2024, effective November 14, 2024, Pennsylvania renamed Rule 7.2 “communications concerning a lawyer’s services: specific rules” and repealed subsection (b), which had required a copy of each ad to be kept for two years (Disciplinary Board). New Rule 7.2(k) requires the name and contact information of at least one responsible lawyer or firm. Rules 7.4, 7.5 and 7.7 (the old lawyer referral service rule) were removed and reserved. Firm names tied to a place must now say the firm isn’t a public entity (Rule 7.1, comment 5).

What changed in New Jersey and Illinois?

New Jersey made two court-level changes and one committee change. On May 22, 2025, the Supreme Court held that buying a competitor’s name as a keyword “does not, in itself, constitute a violation” of the rules, but requires a clear disclaimer on the landing page (NJ Courts). The ethics committee published the exact wording on December 8, 2025. Separately, Committee on Attorney Advertising Opinion 49 (September 30, 2025) set the rules for testimonials, including that “lawyers cannot pay for endorsements or testimonials.” Our competitor-keyword page covers the bidding split across states.

Illinois amended Rule 7.2 on April 1, 2025, effective July 1, 2025, to cover “intermediary connecting services”: lead generators, directories and matching services. A lawyer must tell the client about the relationship and any connecting fee, and take reasonable steps, “such as obtaining written verification” from the service, that it follows the rules (Rule 7.2). Our page on whether lawyers can pay for leads compares the states.

What changed in California and Florida?

California. Since January 1, 2026, Business and Professions Code §6157.2(b) requires every ad to show the name of a California lawyer, the firm or the certified referral service responsible, plus “the city, town, or county of at least one bona fide office location or the address of record listed with the State Bar” (§6157.2). Our SB 37 note explains the consumer lawsuits it allows. The State Bar’s current compilation also carries Rule 7.3(f), which bars soliciting the respondent in a domestic violence restraining order case until proof of service appears on the docket. We could not confirm its effective date at a primary source on October 25, 2026, so the row above is marked.

Florida. The Florida Bar News reported on May 21, 2026 that filing fees would rise on July 1, “if approved by the Florida Supreme Court,” to $250 for ads filed at least 20 days ahead and $750 for late filings, “for the first time in 20 years” (Florida Bar News). The Bar’s filing page now lists those fees and online filing from July 2026 (The Florida Bar). How to file is on our bar submission page.

What changed nationally?

The FTC’s rule on consumer reviews and testimonials “went into effect on October 21, 2024” and lets courts impose civil penalties for knowing violations (FTC). It applies to law firms like any other business, on top of state bar rules. Our page on gifts for Google reviews explains how it meets bar opinions and Google’s own policy.

How we keep this log

• Primary sources only. An entry goes in when we read the order, statute, rule text or the bar’s own page. Where a server blocked us, we say so and name what we relied on.
• Dated, never silently edited. New changes are added at the top with the date we confirmed them. Corrections are noted on the page.
• Checked monthly. We re-read each state’s court rules notices and bar advertising pages once a month, and our state rules library is updated at the same time.

What this means for your firm

• Recheck any state on this list. Ads, landing pages and email templates written before the change may now be wrong, or carry wording you no longer need.
• Fewer set phrases doesn’t mean less risk. New York and Georgia lean on the general ban on misleading ads, which is broader than a checklist.
• Watch for the next change. Rules change several times a year across the states; a dated archive of your ads protects you either way.

We track these changes and handle your state’s ad rules for you, on Google ads and on getting found on Google and in AI answers. See where your firm stands, or get a free review.

Reviewed by our rules reviewer. Marketing information, not legal advice. Confirm every rule with your state bar and your own counsel before you run an ad.