New York rules
What changed in New York's lawyer advertising rules on June 1, 2026?
New York swapped its detailed ad rules for the ABA's short ones. What's gone (the label, the results disclaimer, filing, the 30-day wait) and what still binds.
By Santiago Alvarez, Founder, Ad Hoc Digital
Last updated
The short answer
If you read one part of this page, read this.
On June 1, 2026, New York replaced its detailed lawyer advertising rules with versions of the ABA Model Rules. A Joint Order of the Appellate Division dated May 27, 2026 amended Rules 1.0, 7.1, 7.3 and 7.4. The "Attorney Advertising" label, the "Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome" disclaimer, filing of solicitations, the old record-keeping rules and the 30-day wait before soliciting injury victims are all gone.
What remains is short: no false or misleading communications, the name and contact information of a responsible lawyer or firm on every communication, no "certified specialist" claim without a named, approved certifier, and no live person-to-person solicitation for money. Rule 7.2(a) on paying for recommendations didn't change, and Rule 4.5 still limits defense-side contact after an accident.
We've updated the checks we run on New York ads and pages to match. This is a plain summary for marketing planning, not legal advice. Check the current rule with your bar or law society. We work with law firms across the US and Canada, and also in Australia and the UK.
Before and after
Most of what New York firms used to add to every ad is no longer required.
The old Rule 7.1 ran to many paragraphs of required and banned content. The new one is four short paragraphs, closely following the ABA's 2018 text.
| Topic | Before June 1, 2026 | Since June 1, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| What the rule covers | "Advertisements", a defined term, excluding communications to existing clients | All communications about the lawyer's services, including to clients and other lawyers (new 7.1, comment [1]) |
| "Attorney Advertising" label | Required on most ads and on the website home page (old 7.1(f)) | Not required |
| Results, comparisons, testimonials | Allowed only with factual support and "Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome" (old 7.1(d), (e)) | Allowed if not misleading; the disclaimer is optional |
| Name and contact line | Name, principal law office address and telephone number (old 7.1(h)) | Name and contact information of a responsible lawyer or firm (new 7.1(d)); comment [10] says a phone number or physical office address should always be included |
| Actors and dramatizations | Specific disclosure rules (old 7.1(c)) | Covered only by the general misleading test |
| Keeping copies | Ads kept 3 years, online ads 1 year, website copies at least every 90 days (old 7.1(k)) | No copy-keeping rule in the new 7.1 |
| Filing solicitations | Filed with the disciplinary committee when sent (old 7.3(c)) | No filing |
| Waiting period after an injury | No solicitation before the 30th day (15th in some cases) for injury or wrongful death (old 7.3(e)) | No plaintiff-side waiting period |
NYSBA's published summary of the change puts it simply: the new rules essentially adopt the ABA's 2018 rules and comments as Rules 7.1 and 7.3, move the specialist rule into 7.1(c), and leave Rule 7.2 on payment for referrals unchanged. Our ABA Model Rules guide explains the text New York borrowed.
What still binds
The misleading test, the name line, Rule 7.2(a) and Rule 4.5 all still apply.
Shorter rules aren't no rules. Four provisions do most of the work for New York firms now.
- Rule 7.1(a): nothing false or misleading
Comment [3] carries over the ABA's warning that true results can mislead if they suggest the same outcome for others without regard to each case's facts, and that a disclaimer "may preclude" that finding. NYSBA's summary notes lawyers may still want to use the old results disclaimer voluntarily.
- Rule 7.1(d): name and contact information
Every communication names at least one responsible lawyer or firm with contact information. The comment's phone-or-address line is the detail most likely to matter in short digital ads, covered below.
- Rule 7.2(a): no paying for recommendations
Unchanged: a lawyer may not give anything of value to a person or organization to recommend or obtain employment, with narrow exceptions for qualified legal assistance organizations and lawyer referral fees under Rule 1.5(g).
- Rule 4.5: the defense-side wait
Lawyers for actual or potential defendants, or their insurers, still may not make unsolicited contact with an injured person or family before the 30th day after the incident (15th day where a filing is due within 30 days).
NYSBA's summary also points out what the rule change didn't touch: New York Judiciary Law section 480 on entering a hospital to negotiate a settlement or obtain a release, and federal statutes limiting unsolicited contact after airplane and rail accidents.
Specialist claims
"Specialist" is now allowed when true; "certified specialist" still needs a named certifier.
The old Rule 7.4 barred claiming to be a specialist unless certified. That rule is now "[RESERVED.]" and the subject moved to Rule 7.1(c).
- Rule 7.1(c): no stating or implying certification as a specialist unless the certifier is approved by a state, the District of Columbia or a U.S. territory, or accredited by the ABA, and is named in the communication.
- Comment [7]: a lawyer is generally permitted to say they concentrate in, are a specialist in, or specialize in a field based on experience, training or education, subject to the misleading test.
- A speaker at NYSBA's program on the new rules advised using "focuses on" or "practice is limited to" and keeping any specialist claim provable. We agree: the plain wording sells as well and never needs defending.
Solicitation
New Rule 7.3 bans live person-to-person solicitation for money, and drops the filing and the 30-day wait.
Solicitation now means a communication to a specific person you know needs help with a particular matter. Only the live, real-time version is banned outright.
- Still banned
Rule 7.3(b) bars soliciting by live person-to-person contact when pecuniary gain is a significant motive, unless the person is a lawyer, has a family, close personal, or prior business or professional relationship with the lawyer, or routinely uses that type of legal service for business. Rule 7.3(c) bars any solicitation after the person says no, or involving coercion, duress or harassment.
- Not live contact
New York's comment [2] defines live contact as in-person, face-to-face, live phone and other real-time visual or auditory communication, and says it doesn't include text messages or other written communications people can easily ignore.
- No more blackout for injury cases
NYSBA's news coverage describes the change as "no blackout dates" for personal injury. Written outreach to an injured person is now judged by the same rules as any other communication: truthful, not coercive, and stopped when the person asks.
For personal injury firms, the practical difference is timing on written outreach, not paid ads. Search and social ads were never solicitation, because they go to the public rather than to a person you know needs help.
NYSBA opinions
Three NYSBA ethics opinions still shape how New York firms pay for leads and ask for reviews.
Two of them concern Rule 7.2(a), which didn't change, so their reasoning still holds. The third concerns review requests.
| Opinion | Question | Answer |
|---|---|---|
| 1294 (March 12, 2026) | May an employment lawyer pay a platform for contact with users whose workplace logs suggest a claim? | Yes, as a payment to a lead generator, if the platform doesn't recommend the lawyer, uses neutral, disclosed criteria to pick who makes contact, and charges the same whether or not a retention follows |
| 1267 (June 18, 2024) | May lawyers pay a website that promises carefully vetted lawyers with excellent qualifications? | No. That's a recommendation, so paying for it breaks Rule 7.2(a) |
| 1286 (September 29, 2025) | May an immigration lawyer ask former clients for Google reviews and offer a small gift? | Yes, if the lawyer doesn't draft the review or condition the gift on its content, and doesn't use confidential information against the former client |
One caution on 1286: Google's content policy bans offering incentives such as payment, discounts or free services in exchange for a review, so a gift the bar allows can still get reviews removed. Our guides on asking for reviews under bar rules and paying for leads cover both sides.
This week
Five changes a New York firm can make to its marketing now.
None of these is urgent in the sense of a deadline. All of them either remove clutter the rules no longer ask for, or close a gap the new rules still care about.
Decide on the label
The "Attorney Advertising" label is no longer required. Removing it from the website and email footers is allowed; keeping it is harmless.
Keep a results line where results appear
The disclaimer isn't mandatory now, but comment [3] still warns about unjustified expectations. Where a page shows a verdict or settlement, keep the facts and a not-a-promise line beside it.
Check the name and contact line
Every page, profile and ad should carry the firm or a responsible lawyer's name, plus a phone number or office address per comment [10].
Review specialist wording
"Certified" needs a named, approved certifier. "Focuses on" needs nothing but the truth.
Keep your own archive
The copy-keeping rule is gone, but a dated record of what ran is still the evidence you'd want if a complaint arrives.
What we do for New York firms
We dropped the label from our New York templates and kept the discipline around results.
When we check ads and pages for New York firms now, we apply the new rules. Two things changed in practice, and one question is still open.
- What we stopped adding
The label and the mandatory results disclaimer no longer go on New York pages by default. That frees space on landing pages and in email footers.
- What we kept
Results still appear only with the facts behind them and a line saying they're individual outcomes, the way our own case studies present a settlement. Superlatives and outcome promises still fail every check.
- The open question: phone or address in a 90-character ad
Comment [10] says contact information should always include a phone number or physical office address, and Google's editorial policy doesn't allow a phone number in ad text. No New York source we found applies 7.1(d) to a search ad. We keep the firm name in a pinned description and raise the question with the lawyer before launch. Google's call and location assets are the place the phone number and address can go.
This applies across Google Ads, Meta ads and the firm's site. The rules hub compares New York with Florida, Texas and the other jurisdictions we cover.
Common mistakes
Where firms go wrong.
Mistakes we expect to see as New York firms adjust.
Reading "simpler" as "anything goes"
Rule 7.1(a) still bars misleading communications, and comment [3] still treats context-free results as a risk.
Adding "certified" to a specialist claim
"Specialist" can be fine if true. "Certified specialist" needs an approved certifier named in the communication.
Treating Rule 4.5 as gone
The plaintiff-side wait went away. The defense and insurer wait in Rule 4.5 did not.
Paying a matching site that "vets" lawyers
Rule 7.2(a) didn't change, and Opinion 1267 still applies to platforms that promise carefully vetted lawyers.
Real results
What this looked like for real firms.
How we present a result with its context, a practice New York no longer mandates but we still follow.
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.
Do New York lawyers still need "Attorney Advertising" on their website?
No. Since June 1, 2026 the label is no longer required on websites, emails or other ads. Keeping it isn't a violation if you prefer to.
Is "Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome" still required in New York?
Not as a mandatory line. The new Rule 7.1 comment says a disclaimer may help keep a results claim from misleading, and NYSBA's summary suggests lawyers may still want to use it. We keep a results line wherever a result appears.
Can New York personal injury lawyers contact accident victims right away now?
The plaintiff-side 30-day wait in old Rule 7.3(e) is gone, but live person-to-person solicitation for money is still banned, and Judiciary Law 480 and federal air and rail statutes still apply. Written outreach must not be coercive and must stop when the person says no.
Can a New York lawyer say they specialize in something?
Generally yes, under comment [7] to new Rule 7.1, if it's based on experience, training or education and isn't misleading. Claiming to be a certified specialist still needs an approved or ABA-accredited certifier named in the communication.
Do New York firms still file solicitation letters?
No. The filing and recipient-list requirements in old Rule 7.3(c) were removed on June 1, 2026.
Did the paying-for-referrals rule change?
No. Rule 7.2(a) is unchanged, so NYSBA Opinions 1267 and 1294 still describe where the line sits for lead platforms. Our paying for leads guide compares other states.
Can you update our New York site and ads for the new rules?
Yes. We review what the old rules forced onto your pages, remove what's no longer needed, and keep what still protects you. Schedule a consultation to go through it.
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.
- New York State Unified Court System, Amendments to the Joint Rules of the Departments of the Appellate Division
- New York State Bar Association, The Amendments to the Advertising Rules (August 2026)
- New York State Bar Association, NY Rules of Professional Conduct as amended (August 10, 2026)
- New York State Unified Court System, Rules of Professional Conduct (22 NYCRR Part 1200), pre-amendment text
- New York State Bar Association, Understanding Changes to New York State Lawyer Advertising Rules
- New York State Bar Association, Ethics Opinion 1294
- New York State Bar Association, Ethics Opinion 1267
- New York State Bar Association, Ethics Opinion 1286
- Google Maps User Contributed Content Policy, Prohibited and restricted content
- Google Advertising Policies Help, Editorial
Written by
Founder of Ad Hoc Digital. Leads strategy and works directly with every client firm on AI search, Local Services Ads, Google Ads and Meta ads.
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