Web Design8 min read
Web Design for Lawyers: A Buyer's Guide to Legal Web Design
Legal web design is not ordinary web design with a gavel on the homepage. Here is what lawyers should expect from a web designer, what it costs and the questions to ask before you hire one.
On this page
- What is legal web design?
- How is web design for lawyers different from ordinary web design?
- What should a lawyer expect a web designer to deliver?
- How much does web design for lawyers cost?
- How long does legal web design take?
- What questions should you ask a law firm web designer?
- Should a lawyer choose custom web design or a template?
- How LawFirmWebAgency handles web design for lawyers
- Sources
Key takeaways
- Legal web design differs from ordinary web design in structure, compliance and intake, not in visual style.
- Expect a sitemap, attorney-reviewed copy, phone-first design, intake, required disclaimers, search setup and a full handover.
- The ABA puts freelancers at $1,000 to $5,000+ and agencies at $5,000 to $20,000+; compare the total over three years, not the launch price.
- Ask every designer who will own the domain, the site and the content, and get the answer in writing.
- A lawyer at your firm must review the copy, because website content is attorney advertising.
Short answer: Web design for lawyers is website design built around how clients choose an attorney and around the rules lawyers have to follow: a page for every practice area, tap-to-call and a short intake form, real attorney bios, the disclaimers your state bar requires, and the search setup that gets the firm found. Choose a designer who works with law firms, quotes a fixed scope, leaves your firm owning the site and the domain, and can show live examples in your practice area.
What is legal web design?
Legal web design is the design and build of websites for lawyers and law firms. It looks like any other web design from the outside, but three things make it a specialty: every page is attorney advertising governed by your state's version of ABA Model Rule 7.1, every contact form collects information from prospective clients owed confidentiality under Model Rule 1.18, and clients search by practice area and place, so the site has to be structured the same way.
How is web design for lawyers different from ordinary web design?
Web design for lawyers differs from ordinary web design mostly in structure, compliance and intake, not in visual style. This table shows where the work changes.
| Area | General web design | Legal web design |
|---|---|---|
| Site structure | A few service pages | A page per practice area and per location |
| Copy | Marketing claims | Accurate claims checked against bar advertising rules |
| Contact form | Asks for everything up front | A few fields and a confidentiality notice |
| Proof | Testimonials anywhere | Reviews and results only where the state allows, with the required notices |
| Imagery | Stock photography | Real attorneys and offices |
| Search setup | Generic | Practice and location pages, LegalService or Attorney markup, Google Business Profile |
What should a lawyer expect a web designer to deliver?
A lawyer should expect a web designer to deliver a working client-intake tool, not just a look. A complete law firm website project includes:
- A sitemap with a page for each practice area and location, agreed before design starts.
- Copy, or close help with it, written in the words clients use and reviewed by an attorney at the firm.
- A custom design built for phones first, because Google indexes and ranks the mobile version of a site.
- Tap-to-call, a short intake form and a confidentiality notice.
- The disclaimers, past-results notices and responsible-lawyer details your state bar requires.
- Search basics: unique page titles and descriptions, structured data, a sitemap and Google Business Profile setup.
- Hosting, plus a handover of the code, the domain and the logins in the firm's name.
What the words on each page should say is covered in our guide to law firm website content.
How much does web design for lawyers cost?
Web design for lawyers costs from about $1,000 to $5,000 or more with a freelance designer and $5,000 to $20,000 or more with a full-service agency, according to the American Bar Association's Law Technology Today, while do-it-yourself builders run about $15 to $100 or more a month. LawFirmWebAgency charges a fixed $2,995, or $3,995 with branding, with no monthly retainer. The full breakdown, including fees after launch, is in our law firm website design cost guide.
How long does legal web design take?
Legal web design takes anywhere from about a week to a few months, depending on the designer and the scope. General agencies often plan in weeks or months because they start from a blank page. LawFirmWebAgency typically launches a complete law firm website 7 days after the kickoff call, because copy, design and build run in parallel from a structure already proven for each practice area.
What questions should you ask a law firm web designer?
Ask a law firm web designer questions that reveal experience, ownership and total cost before you sign. These eight cover most of the risk.
- Do you work with law firms? Ask how many, and in which practice areas.
- Who will own the domain, the site and the content? The answer should be your firm, in writing.
- Is the price fixed, and what do I pay each month after launch? Compare the total over three years, not the launch price.
- Can I see live sites in my practice area? Click through them on a phone.
- Who writes the copy, and who checks it against bar rules? A lawyer at your firm should always have final review.
- How do you handle intake and confidentiality? Look for short forms and a clear notice.
- What happens after launch? Hosting, updates, edits and support should be spelled out.
- How will we know it is working? Calls and form submissions by page, not just traffic.
Should a lawyer choose custom web design or a template?
A lawyer should choose custom web design when the firm wants a page for every practice area and location, fast mobile pages and a look of its own, and a template when the budget is very tight and the practice is new. Our guide to law firm website builders and templates compares the routes, and 15 law firm website design examples show what custom design looks like in practice.
How LawFirmWebAgency handles web design for lawyers
LawFirmWebAgency only designs websites for U.S. law firms. Every site is custom-coded around its practice area, with a page per practice area and location, intake built for phones, bar-aware disclaimers and local SEO setup, for a fixed $2,995 with no retainer, and your firm owns the code and the domain. See our law firm web design service, or the personal injury lawyer website design page for a practice-specific example.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Confirm current rules with your state bar.
Sources
This article is general information for law firms about websites and marketing. It is not legal advice, and LawFirmWebAgency is not a law firm. Check your state bar's current rules before you publish any advertising.
