How clients find and choose a firm, side by side
A law firm (a solicitor's practice in England and Wales, an attorney's practice in the US) is often chosen on a recommendation and then checked. The two surveys counted different people in different years, so read the columns as two pictures.
| England and Wales | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Who was asked | 3,802 people who had used legal services in the previous two years, 2026 | 2,000 US adults with a legal need in the past 12 months, in a 2024 FindLaw survey (FindLaw is a legal-marketing vendor) |
| Recommendation | They or a family member having used the provider before (21%) and family or friends recommending it (18%) remained the most common factors | 48% of those who learned about their attorney used referrals from family, friends or trusted coworkers |
| Comparing | 42% shopped around before choosing | Nearly nine in ten of those who searched online visited at least two websites before contacting an attorney |
| What decides | Among the 1,606 who shopped around, it depends on the matter (sections below) | Expertise, specialisation, cost and overall reputation are the top factors, expertise first |
The check is where marketing does its work. In the US, 82% of those who contacted an attorney after learning of them online used online reviews, and nearly 40% said reviews were their primary source. In England and Wales, 63% first found the price by discussing it with the provider, so the first call is part of how the price is found, and intake belongs to the marketing. Because the deciding factor changes with the matter, the work below is split by practice area, each with the two countries side by side.
Injury and claims work: speed, and who you may approach
England and Wales: among those who shopped around, speed ranked higher in accident and injury claims (37% against 25% overall). For an injury practice, then, reply time counts, and three choices in its marketing are fenced by rules: who the adverts reach, what the fee line says, and how enquiries are paid for.
Reach comes first. The SRA Code says solicitors do not make unsolicited approaches to members of the public to advertise their services, apart from current or former clients, while its guidance allows advertising to the public that is non-intrusive and non-targeted. Its worked breach is a firm that identifies from online media a list of people recently involved in a major road traffic accident and sends them a letter. The SRA's warning notice of 19 December 2024, aimed particularly at firms doing high-volume consumer claims work, adds a caution about re-marketing where a third party tries to re-engage people who first enquired with it. In the US, the Florida Bar's stated position is that a social post shown only to prospective clients who have self-identified as having a specific legal need must comply with the requirements for targeted direct electronic media under rule 4-7.18(b) and must be filed for review.
The fee line is next. The same SRA notice says marketing that highlights no win, no fee should clearly explain what that means, and the ASA's January 2026 note on mass claims ads expects the ads, or at least the landing pages, to set out how that works before contracts are signed. In the US the question is costs: Texas says a contingent fee advertisement must state whether the client will be obligated to pay other expenses, such as costs of litigation, and California treats a "no fee without recovery" message as misleading unless it discloses whether the client is liable for costs.
In England and Wales, paying for injury enquiries has a rule of its own. LASPO section 56 puts a regulated person in breach if they are paid for referring prescribed legal business, or pay for it to be referred to them, where that business includes claims for damages for personal injury or death, and the SRA notice says the approaches prohibition also applies to clients referred by lead generators.
Put together, an injury practice in either country runs paid media aimed at the search and the place rather than at named people, a landing page that explains the fee before the form, and an intake line that answers fast. Track first-reply time and signed retainers per campaign, and get the regulator's view before agreeing pay-per-lead or pay-per-case terms.
Conveyancing, wills and probate: work that is price-shopped
England and Wales: price was compared more for conveyancing (62%) and will writing (67%) than overall (57%). A firm that publishes, as part of its usual business, that it offers the services the Transparency Rules list must publish cost information on its website, clear, accessible and in a prominent place. The consumer list includes residential conveyancing and uncontested probate, the business list includes debt recovery up to £100,000, and the required information includes the total cost or, where that is not practicable, an average or range, and the basis of charges. The site must display the SRA number and digital badge in a prominent place, and the SRA tells the public that its clickable logo shows the firm is regulated and follows its rules. For residential conveyancing, the Conveyancing Quality Scheme is a recognised quality standard for SRA-regulated firms.
United States: fee advertising is set state by state. Texas says a lawyer who advertises a specific fee or range must honour it for the period during which the advertisement is reasonably expected to be in circulation or otherwise expected to be effective in attracting clients, subject to limits the rule sets out, and one of Florida's fee rules is that fee advertisements must disclose whether the client will be responsible for costs or any other expenses in addition to the fee.
For this work the fee page is the landing page. SEO builds one page per service, with the cost information the rules require, and the enquiry form asks for the property value or the kind of estate, so the first call starts from a quote. Read the month as enquiries from each fee page, quotes sent, and instructions (signed retainers in the US) per quote. Commercial work is read differently, on conversations with named decision makers and proposals sent.
Reviews, results and titles, side by side
| England and Wales | United States | |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews | CAP rules 3.46 and 3.47 bar publishing reviews in a misleading way and, unless a testimonial is obviously fictitious, require documentary evidence that it is genuine, plus contact details for the person who gave it | The FTC's 16 CFR Part 465 lists several unfair or deceptive practices, one of them writing or selling a fake consumer review or testimonial |
| Testimonials | Rule 3.47 above, and the same section says ads must not feature a testimonial without permission, among other conditions | Florida allows them only on conditions, including that the person is qualified to evaluate the lawyer and describes their actual experience and that the lawyer did not write it |
| Results claims | The ASA's mass claims note says it ruled "up to £10,000" claims misleading in ads for JLG Legal, as the firm could not show that a significant proportion of claimants would receive that amount, and the ads did not make clear the figure was before fees and insurance were deducted | New York eliminated the rule requiring "Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome", though NYSBA adds that lawyers may want to consider using the disclaimer |
| "Specialist" | Check with the SRA before using the word | Texas sets out wording a lawyer may state, "Board Certified" with the area and the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, in the cases its rule describes; California bars calling yourself a certified specialist unless conditions are met; Florida allows "specialization" or "expertise" claims only if objectively verifiable, among other conditions |
| Where clients check you | The SRA number and digital badge, above | Each state's attorney search; California's offers a search for certified specialists |
Before instructing a firm, a client in England and Wales may also look for what happens if things go wrong, which the 2026 survey found among the hardest information to access: only 56% of those who shopped around found information on professional indemnity insurance and ombudsman rights easy to locate. SRA-authorised firms must publish on their website their complaints procedure, including how and when a complaint can be made to the Legal Ombudsman and the SRA. Link the complaints page from every service page, next to the fee information, so a client comparing two firms can find it. A critical review is part of the same picture, and the SRA tells consumers that firms should not be aggressive with you or pressure you into removing the review, so leave it up, reply on the review site and point to the complaints route.
New York's advertising amendments took effect on 1 June 2026 and its required "attorney advertising" label was eliminated, so older guidance on New York ads needs rechecking. In the UK, Google's Local Services help page, read on 5 October 2026, says the professional services verticals are being piloted and are only available in Greater London. We take on law firms in the UK and the US, work across both countries' time zones, and quote in GBP or USD.
