LSA categories
Which Local Services Ads categories and job types can a law firm choose?
Google's US legal categories, what each one covers, which to pick for your practice, and what to do when yours isn't on the list.
By Charlotte Thompson, Co-Founder, Ad Hoc Digital
Last updated
The short answer
If you read one part of this page, read this.
In the US, a law firm can choose from 16 practice categories on Google's Local Services Ads list (bankruptcy, business, contract, criminal, disability, DUI, estate, family, immigration, IP, labor, litigation, malpractice, personal injury, real estate and traffic) plus a general "Lawyers" category, then switch on the job types inside each one that match the work it takes.
There's no category named elder law, workers' compensation or landlord-tenant, and tax lawyers sit in an odd spot: Google's screening page has a "Tax lawyer" entry, but its US category list shows only "Tax services." Your service areas have to stay inside the places your lawyers are licensed, and each lawyer's license is checked for each category you add.
Picking categories is one of the first decisions we make with a firm in Local Services Ads, because Google no longer credits leads for the wrong job type or the wrong area. We work with law firms across the US and Canada, and also in Australia and the UK.
The US list
Google lists 16 legal practice categories in the US, plus a general Lawyers category.
These are the legal entries on Google's US getting started page, checked October 11, 2026. Each one runs its own verification, including a state bar check for every lawyer in that category.
- Bankruptcy lawyer services
- Business lawyer services
- Contract lawyer services
- Criminal lawyer services
- Disability lawyer services
- DUI lawyer services
- Estate lawyer services
- Family lawyer services
- Immigration lawyer services
- IP lawyer services
- Labor lawyer services
- Litigation lawyer services
- Malpractice lawyer services
- Personal injury lawyer services
- Real estate lawyer
- Traffic lawyer services
- Lawyers (general)
Outside the US the list changes. Google's UK page offers a different set, including employment, insolvency, probate, property and road traffic, "Currently available in Greater London only", and its Canada page lists no legal categories at all. Our Canada and UK guide has both lists.
Job types
Inside each category, job types decide which searches can show your ad.
Google lets you choose "from a list of potential services" for each category. When people search for those services, your ad is eligible, and it can also show on general searches for the category.
Google adds a condition worth knowing: "In some cases, your ad will only appear for general category searches if you offer common services for your category." A family firm that switches off divorce may find it shows on far fewer family searches than it expected.
Google's advice is to "select all job types you perform." The weight is on perform. Since Google stopped crediting leads for "job type not serviced," a job type you switch on but don't take is a lead you'll pay for and turn away. Our lead credits guide explains what Google still credits.
By practice
Which category to start with for each practice area.
The middle column is the Google category; the note uses the matters Google's US screening page lists for it. Check the job types inside your account before switching anything on.
| Practice | Category to start with | What Google says it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Personal injury | Personal injury | Auto, bicycle and motorcycle accidents, dog bites, product liability, wrongful death |
| Family law | Family | Adoption, child support, divorce, guardianship, prenups, spousal support |
| Criminal defense | Criminal | Domestic violence, drug possession, felonies, federal crimes, restraining orders |
| DUI defense | DUI, plus Traffic if you take tickets | DUI and reckless driving; Traffic covers speeding tickets and suspended licenses |
| Estate planning | Estate | Wills, trusts, deeds, probate, guardianship, power of attorney |
| Elder law | No elder law category; Estate is closest | Guardianship and power of attorney sit under Estate |
| Immigration | Immigration | Asylum, visas, green cards, citizenship, deportation |
| Employment law | Labor | Employment contracts, sexual harassment, unpaid overtime, wrongful termination |
| Workers' compensation | No category by that name | Google's Disability description mentions "worker's comp" |
| Medical malpractice | Malpractice | Diagnosis errors, treatment errors, medical negligence |
| Business law | Business, and Contract | Formation, transactions, shareholder disputes; contract review and disputes |
| Intellectual property | IP | Copyright, patents, trademarks, licensing, trade secrets |
| Real estate | Real estate lawyer | Residential and commercial property, title, purchase agreements, HOA disputes |
| Landlord-tenant | No category by that name | Real estate is closest, but its description doesn't name landlord-tenant work |
| Civil litigation | Litigation | Case assessment, civil litigation, mediation, settlement |
| Commercial litigation | Litigation, and Business | Business lists business litigation and shareholder disputes |
| Tax law | Check eligibility in the account | Screening page lists Tax lawyer; the category list shows only Tax services |
| Bankruptcy | Bankruptcy | Chapter 7, 11 and 13, foreclosure, debt resettlement, repossession |
| Disability | Disability | SSA applications, appeals, SSI, veterans' disability |
No category
If your practice has no category, borrow one carefully or use search ads for it.
A near-fit category brings the searches that category gets, not the ones you want. Sometimes that's close enough. Often it isn't.
- Elder law
Estate covers guardianship and power of attorney, which overlap with elder law work. It also brings people asking for a simple will, so decide whether you take those before switching it on.
- Workers' compensation
Google's Disability description includes "worker's comp" alongside SSA claims and veterans' disability. A workers' comp firm running Disability will hear from Social Security claimants too, so check the job types inside it closely.
- Landlord-tenant
Real estate is the nearest category, but its description is about transactions, title and neighbor disputes. Landlord and tenant cases are usually better reached with Google search ads, where you choose the exact searches.
- Tax law
Check what your account offers. "Tax specialists" is a separate category that Google excludes from lead credits, call recordings and message leads, so it isn't the same thing as a tax lawyer listing.
Our Local Services Ads vs Google Ads guide covers running search ads alongside LSA for the practices LSA can't single out.
General law searches
The general law searches setting decides whether you show for "lawyer near me."
Google opts advertisers into broad category searches by default. For lawyers, a separate setting called "Appear in general law searches" controls searches that don't name any practice.
- Broad search
With broad search on, you show for general searches in the practice areas you chose, like "personal injury law." Turning it off stops those. If you run several categories, Google says turning broad search off applies to all of them.
- General law searches
This toggle, under Job types on the Profile and budget page, covers searches such as "lawyer near me" that don't mention a practice. The people behind them could need anything.
- The trade-off
On leaves you open to more volume from people who haven't decided what kind of lawyer they need. Off keeps you to people who named your practice. A multi-practice firm can absorb the mix; a single-practice firm pays for every caller it has to refer elsewhere, since wrong job type is no longer a credit reason.
Service areas and licenses
Set service areas where you take clients, and never outside where your lawyers are licensed.
Google's policy says a business whose license is limited to an area "should not advertise your business as servicing outside of that area." Inside that limit, where you actually take clients is the better guide.
Start from where clients come from
List the counties and cities your recent clients came from, then the ones you'd like more of. When we onboard a firm, service areas come from where it takes clients, never just from where its lawyers hold a license: a second state on someone's bar card doesn't mean the firm serves it.
Check every area against the licenses
Each lawyer's state bar license is checked, and Google's policy says you may only take work you're licensed for. An area outside every lawyer's license comes off the list.
Add counties, cities or zip codes
Google shows your ad to people estimated to be in an area you added, and to people elsewhere who name that area in their search. Google's own tip is to set areas broadly, such as a whole county rather than single zip codes.
Exclude what you don't serve
You can exclude zip codes inside a city, but Google warns that people located only at city level can still see your ad. Exclusions narrow the list; they don't wall it off.
Revisit after the first month
Google no longer credits "geo not serviced" leads, so out-of-area calls in your lead log are a settings problem. Trim the areas they come from.
Adding categories
Every category you add brings new checks, a share of the budget and its own lead mix.
More categories means more searches you can show for. It also means more verification and a budget split more ways.
- New checks for each lawyer
Google's screening page lists a state bar license check for each lawyer in each legal category. When you add a category, Google sends you to Business Verification to upload what it needs. Our Google Verified guide lists the checks.
- One budget across them
A small budget spread over many categories gives none enough leads to learn from. After the move into Performance Max, Google applies one target across a campaign and suggests separate campaigns to keep separate bidding. Our budget and bidding guide covers this.
- What counts as a good lead
When we launch a firm, we agree which practice areas count as a relevant lead, often fewer than everything the firm takes. Starting there keeps the first month's lead ratings honest and shows which categories earn more budget.
Narrow beats wide at the start. The DUI defense solo who made $13,500 from $600 in ad spend in 12 days was running a practice with a clear category and urgent callers. That's the shape LSA rewards.
Common mistakes
Where firms go wrong.
These are the category and service area mistakes we see when firms set up Local Services Ads themselves.
Switching on every job type in a category
Google says to select the ones you perform. Job types you turn away are leads you pay for, now that wrong job type isn't a credit reason.
Turning off the common services
Google says that in some cases your ad only shows on general category searches if you offer the category's common services. Removing them can cut more than you meant to.
Service areas copied from bar admissions
A license in a state is permission, not a market. Set areas where the firm takes clients, inside the licensed area.
Leaving general law searches on by accident
It's a setting many firms never look at. For a single-practice firm it can bring callers who need a different kind of lawyer, and those calls are charged.
Adding categories before the first one works
Each new category adds checks for every lawyer and splits the budget. Get one category signing cases first.
Real results
What this looked like for real firms.
A Local Services Ads result from a DUI and criminal defense solo running a focused set of categories.
Identifying details are anonymized to protect our clients. Individual result, not a promise or prediction of any specific outcome for your firm.
FAQ
Questions lawyers ask us.
Straight answers to the questions that come up most.
What Local Services Ads categories are there for lawyers?
In the US, Google lists bankruptcy, business, contract, criminal, disability, DUI, estate, family, immigration, IP, labor, litigation, malpractice, personal injury, real estate and traffic, plus a general Lawyers category. The UK has a different list in Greater London only, and Canada has none.
Is there a Local Services Ads category for elder law or workers' comp?
Not by those names. Estate covers guardianship and power of attorney, and Google's Disability description mentions workers' comp. Both bring other kinds of callers too, so many firms in those practices pair LSA with Google search ads, where the searches are chosen exactly.
Can I advertise in a state where only one of our lawyers is licensed?
Only for work that lawyer is licensed to do there, and only if the firm actually takes those clients. Google's policy says not to advertise outside the area a license covers, and each lawyer's bar license is checked per category.
Should my firm appear in general law searches?
It depends on how many practices you take. A multi-practice firm can usually use the extra volume. A single-practice firm will hear from people who need other lawyers, and Google no longer credits leads for the wrong job type. Start with it off if you'd refer most of those callers away.
How many categories should a small firm start with?
As few as cover the cases you most want. Each one adds checks for every lawyer and splits the budget, and a thin budget across many categories learns slowly. Add the next category once the first is signing cases, and expect the new one to need its own few weeks to settle.
Do categories carry over to Performance Max?
Google says your targeted locations, service types and business categories transfer automatically. Separate targets per category don't: one campaign-level target is applied, and Google suggests separate campaigns to keep them apart. Manual max per lead bids end in the new campaign type.
Can you check our categories and service areas?
Yes. We compare your categories, job types and areas with the calls your firm takes and turns away, and with every lawyer's license. Out-of-area calls and turned-away job types in your lead log usually show where to start. To go through yours, schedule a consultation.
Where we do this
The services this guide touches.
What this looks like when we run it for a firm, with a demo for your practice on each page.
Sources
Where these facts come from.
Official pages we read when writing this page. Platforms and rules change, so check the current version before you act on any of it. This is marketing guidance, not legal advice.
- Google Local Services Help, Getting started with Local Services Ads (United States)
- Google Local Services Help, Getting started with Local Services Ads (United Kingdom)
- Google Local Services Help, Getting started with Local Services Ads (Canada)
- Google Local Services Help, Business screening and verification requirements (United States)
- Google Local Services Help, Edit your industries, service areas, and job types
- Google Local Services Help, About reaching customers with your Local Services Ads
- Google Local Services Help, Improve your Local Services Ads performance
- Google Local Services Help, About Automated Local Services Ads lead credits
- Google Advertising Policies Help, Local Services Ads requirements
- Google Ads Help, Local Services Ads transition to Performance Max campaigns with pay-per-lead goals
Written by
Co-founder of Ad Hoc Digital. Leads social media and content, runs onboarding for new client firms, and is on the regular check-in calls with clients.
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