How Can Law Firms Market Themselves in Australia Within the Advertising Rules?

Law firms in Australia can market themselves through websites, search, content, referral relationships, events and paid ads, as long as the advertising is not false, misleading or deceptive, offensive or prohibited by law, and does not overstate specialist expertise. Some areas carry extra limits. In Queensland, advertising personal injury services is heavily restricted by legislation. The safest approach is to market on clarity, accessibility and expertise you can prove, and to check anything uncertain with your law society.

This guide gives a general overview of the rules and a practical plan for more enquiries from the right clients.

This is general information, not legal or professional advice. Rules differ between states and territories and change over time. Check the current rules and guidance from your law society or regulator before relying on anything here.

Which advertising rules apply to Australian law firms?

Most solicitors work under a version of the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules. Which version applies depends on where you practise:

Uniform Law states. The NSW Office of the Legal Services Commissioner says the Legal Profession Uniform Law commenced in New South Wales and Victoria on 1 July 2015, and the Legal Practice Board of Western Australia says Western Australia entered the scheme on 1 July 2022. In these states the Legal Profession Uniform Law Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules 2015 apply.
Queensland. The Queensland Law Society refers to the Australian Solicitors Conduct Rules 2023 (Qld).
Other states and territories. Each has its own legislation and rules. Check with your local law society.

Across these versions, rule 36 deals with advertising. As set out by the Queensland Law Society and the Law Society of NSW:

Rule 36.1: a solicitor or principal of a law practice must ensure that any advertising, marketing or promotion in connection with the solicitor or law practice is not false; misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive; offensive; or prohibited by law.
Rule 36.2: a solicitor must not convey a false, misleading or deceptive impression of specialist expertise, and must not use the words "accredited specialist" or a derivative unless accredited by the relevant professional body.

The Australian Consumer Law also applies. The Queensland Law Society notes that it prohibits misleading or deceptive conduct, false or misleading representations about services, and misleading conduct about the nature of services.

What are the rules on personal injury advertising in Queensland?

This is the area where Queensland firms need the most care. Chapter 3, Part 1 of the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld) restricts advertising of personal injury services. In summary:

Section 66 says a practitioner must not advertise personal injury services except by a statement that states only the name and contact details of the practitioner or law practice, together with information about any area of practice or speciality, published by an allowable publication method. The Act gives advertising on a "no win, no fee" or other speculative basis as an example of advertising that contravenes the section. The maximum penalty is 300 penalty units.
Section 65 lists the allowable publication methods, which centre on printed publications, independently published directories and public signage, and excludes public exhibition in or on a hospital.
Section 66(2) allows a practice's own website to include statements about the operation of the law of negligence and a person's legal rights under it, and the conditions under which the practice is prepared to provide personal injury services.
Section 67 prohibits touting at the scene of an incident or at a hospital.

Other states have their own approach. The Law Society of NSW, for example, explains the history of personal injury and work injury advertising restrictions in NSW. If you practise in personal injury anywhere in Australia, get specific guidance from your law society before running any campaign.

What can law firms do to attract more clients?

The rules limit what you say, not whether you can be helpful and visible. Outside restricted areas, most of the standard client acquisition toolkit is available.

Tactic	Why it works for law firms	Care point
Plain English practice area pages	People search for their problem, such as a contested will or an unfair dismissal	Explain the process and options, not likely outcomes
Google Business Profile	Local searches for a lawyer near me often start on the map	Keep reviews genuine and never filter or edit them
Educational content and FAQs	Builds trust and answers the questions clients ask before they call	General information only, with a clear note that it is not advice
Referral relationships	Accountants, financial advisers, real estate agents and other firms refer regularly	Follow your rules on referral arrangements and disclosure
Seminars and webinars	Lets people meet a lawyer in a low-pressure setting	Keep the content educational
Paid search and social ads	Reaches people at the moment they need help	Every ad must meet rule 36 and, where relevant, area-specific restrictions
Fast, organised intake	People often contact several firms and engage the first that responds well	Run conflict checks before taking detailed confidential information

A step-by-step plan for more enquiries

Choose your focus. Pick the one or two practice areas you most want to grow and the clients you serve best.
Audit your existing marketing. Review the website, profiles, directory listings and any ads against rule 36. Look for words such as "specialist" or "expert" that could imply accreditation you do not hold, and any outcome claims.
Rewrite practice area pages in plain English. What the problem is, how the process works, typical steps and what to bring to a first meeting.
Fix intake. Every enquiry gets a prompt acknowledgement, a short set of intake questions and a clear next step. A person follows up quickly during business hours. See how fast you should respond to a new lead for the research on response time.
Build two referral relationships. Choose professionals who regularly meet your ideal clients, and stay in touch with useful updates.
Add one paid channel. Search ads for the practice areas you chose, if they are not restricted in your state. Start small and check every ad against the rules.
Track matters, not clicks. Record where each new matter came from and its value. Our guide on tracking which ads bring clients explains the basics.

Example (hypothetical): a small Brisbane firm wants more wills and estates work. It rewrites its estates pages in plain English, adds a short checklist on what to bring to a first will appointment, sets up online booking with a few intake questions, and builds relationships with two local financial planners. It removes the word "specialist" from its homepage because none of its lawyers holds specialist accreditation in that area, and replaces it with "a practice focused on wills and estates".

See what slow replies cost your business.

The free Lead Leak Calculator turns your own numbers into a monthly figure in about 60 seconds.

Try the calculator

What should law firms avoid?

Specialist claims without accreditation, including implied ones. Rule 36.2 is explicit.
Outcome promises such as "we always win" or average settlement figures presented without context. These can be misleading under rule 36.1 and the Australian Consumer Law.
Personal injury advertising in Queensland beyond what the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 allows, including "no win, no fee" messaging.
Fake, incentivised or filtered reviews. The ACCC says it is against the law for a business to create fake or misleading reviews or to arrange for others to create them.
Marketing emails without consent. The ACMA says marketing messages need consent, sender identification and an easy unsubscribe option.
Marketing copy nobody in the firm has reviewed. Rule 36.1 places the responsibility on the solicitor or principal, not the agency that wrote the ad.

What we learned in our own business

Two lessons from our team's education business translate well to legal practice.

First, the founder bottleneck. The founder left his corporate job in February 2025 and replaced the salary within 3 months. Then every lead depended on him or his co-founder. Enquiries waited when they were busy, which in practice meant most of the time. We fixed it by connecting ads, AI replies, follow-up, the CRM and tracking into one system. Many small firms have the same pattern, with every new enquiry waiting for the principal to return a call. In a law firm, any automated reply should be limited to acknowledgement, booking and general information, with conflict checks and advice left to lawyers.

Second, data quality. A placeholder phone number we used in testing was texted about 43 times over several months from test and fake sign-ups. The lesson: validate phone numbers and email addresses at the form, and keep test data out of live sends. For a law firm, where confidentiality matters, sending messages to the wrong number is more than an annoyance.

Frequently asked questions

Can lawyers advertise in Australia?

Yes. Solicitors can advertise, but rule 36 of the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules says advertising must not be false, misleading or deceptive, offensive or prohibited by law, and must not convey a false impression of specialist expertise. Some practice areas and states have extra restrictions.

Can Queensland lawyers advertise "no win, no fee" for personal injury?

The Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (Qld) gives advertising personal injury services on a "no win, no fee" or other speculative basis as an example of advertising that contravenes section 66. Get guidance from the Queensland Law Society before advertising in this area.

Can a lawyer call themselves a specialist?

Only with care. Rule 36.2 prohibits conveying a false, misleading or deceptive impression of specialist expertise and restricts use of "accredited specialist" to solicitors accredited by the relevant professional body.

Can law firms use client testimonials or reviews?

The general rule is that advertising must not be misleading. Reviews should be genuine, unedited and not selectively presented, and personal injury advertising in Queensland is restricted to limited content. Check with your law society for your situation.

Which law firms are covered by the Legal Profession Uniform Law?

Firms in New South Wales and Victoria, which have been in the scheme since 2015, and Western Australia, which joined on 1 July 2022. Other states and territories have their own legislation.

Next step

To see what slow intake may be costing your firm, use the free Lead Leak Calculator, or take the scorecard. If you want to build a compliant acquisition system with intake, follow-up and tracking, The AI Marketing Team Accelerator is where owners build it with our team beside them. Firms that refer work to accounting partners may also find how accountants and bookkeepers get more clients useful.