Choosing an agency
What should a law firm ask a marketing agency before signing?
Fifteen questions in five groups, what a good answer sounds like, and the red flags, from account ownership to the bar rules on paying for leads.
By Santiago Alvarez, Founder, Ad Hoc Digital
Last updated
The short answer
If you read one part of this page, read this.
Ask who owns the accounts, how you leave, who does the work, what gets reported, and how the agency handles the bar rules. A good answer is specific and checkable before you sign: you should be able to log in as an admin to your own Google Ads account and Meta business portfolio, and see the agency there as a guest.
The fifteen questions below are grouped so you can run them in one call. Where Google, Meta or the ABA Model Rules settle the answer, we cite their pages. Where we give our own answer, it's one the site already states.
None of this needs marketing expertise. It needs you to ask, write down the answers, and check the ones you can. We work with law firms across the US and Canada, and also in Australia and the UK.
Group 1: ownership
Start with who owns the accounts, the site and the data.
Ownership decides what you keep if the relationship ends. Google and Meta both let an agency work inside accounts the firm owns, so there's no technical reason for anything else.
- 1. Whose name are the Google Ads, Local Services Ads and Meta ad accounts in?
Good answer: yours. The agency links your Google Ads account to its manager account, and Google says your own users keep signing in as usual and your admins can end the link at any time. On Meta, the ad account and Page sit in your business portfolio and the agency is added as a partner. Meta says only the organization that owns an asset can share it with another business.
Red flag: "We run it from our account and send you reports."
- 2. Who owns the website, landing pages, domain and phone numbers?
Good answer: the firm, registered in the firm's name, with a clear way to move hosting if you leave. Ask specifically about tracking numbers printed on your site and Business Profile.
Red flag: a site or number you'd have to rebuild or change after leaving.
- 3. What happens to our leads, call recordings and CRM data if we leave?
Good answer: they stay in a CRM the firm owns, or are exported to you in a usable format. Your intake history is part of your firm's records.
Red flag: data that lives only in the agency's own system.
Our answer: the firm owns its accounts and everything we build, and ad spend goes straight to Google or Meta on the firm's own card.
Group 2: contract and exit
Then ask how the money works and how you'd leave.
The contract tells you what the agency expects to happen if results don't come. Read the exit clause before the scope.
- 4. How long is the contract, and what does leaving involve?
Good answer: a short notice period, and a written list of what gets handed back on exit (access, files, data).
Red flag: a long lock-in with no performance review point.
- 5. How is your fee structured, and is ad spend separate?
Good answer: the agency fee and the ad spend are two lines, and the ad spend is billed by Google or Meta directly to the firm. Agency fees vary by scope; what matters is that you can see every dollar that reaches the platform.
Red flag: one bundled monthly number, or a fee tied to a share of your legal fees. The ABA comment to Rule 7.2 says payment to a lead generator must be consistent with Rules 1.5(e) and 5.4, the rules on dividing fees and professional independence. Ask your bar before you sign anything like that.
- 6. What do you need from us in the first month?
Good answer: a specific list. Access to accounts, documents for Google's verification, approval of ads and pages, and someone who answers leads fast.
Red flag: "Nothing, we handle everything." Somebody at the firm has to answer the phone and approve what goes out.
Our answer: no long-term contracts, and ad spend is always its own line, paid by the firm to the platform. Agency fees, ours included, depend on scope and are discussed on a call.
Group 3: who does the work
Find out who you'll talk to, and who actually builds the campaigns.
The person on the sales call and the person in your account can be different people. Ask for names.
- 7. Who will I speak to every week, and who builds and changes the campaigns?
Good answer: named people, and the person deciding where your budget goes is on your calls.
Red flag: an account manager relaying messages to a team you never meet.
- 8. Which practice areas and markets have you worked in?
Good answer: specifics, including where they haven't worked. A family law firm and an injury firm buy very different searches.
Red flag: every answer is "yes, lots".
- 9. Do you work with other firms in my practice area and market?
Good answer: a straight yes or no, and if yes, how they keep budgets and leads separate. Two firms in one agency bidding on the same searches is a fair thing to ask about.
Red flag: a vague answer to a direct question.
Our answer: we've worked only with law firms since 2022, and clients work directly with the founders, not account managers. On one injury account the idea for a new campaign came from the client herself. With no account team in between, getting from her idea to a plan took hours rather than weeks, and one case from that campaign settled for $1.5 million.
Group 4: reporting
Ask what they report, and whether it reaches signed cases.
Clicks and impressions are easy to report and easy to make look good. Signed cases need tracking from the first call to the retainer.
- 10. What will you report: clicks, leads, or signed cases?
Good answer: leads, consultations and signed cases by source, against ad spend. Our guide to cost per signed case shows the math.
Red flag: reports built on impressions, clicks and "engagement".
- 11. How do you track calls and forms back to the channel?
Good answer: tracking numbers per channel, form source fields, and a CRM where your team marks what signed. Our guide to attribution covers how that works.
Red flag: "Google Ads shows us conversions" with no link to what your intake team saw.
- 12. How often do we meet, and how fast do you reply?
Good answer: a fixed rhythm of calls and a reply time in writing.
Red flag: a monthly PDF and an inbox.
Our answer: regular check-in calls with the people running your account (many clients meet with Santiago weekly), written updates on what's running and what we're changing, and replies within one business day at the latest.
Group 5: rules compliance
Last, ask how the agency handles the bar rules.
The rules bind you, not the agency. Under Rule 5.3, lawyers who supervise a nonlawyer, inside or outside the firm, must make reasonable efforts so that person's conduct fits the lawyer's obligations.
- 13. How do you handle my state's advertising rules?
Good answer: they know where your state differs (testimonials, past results, "specialist", filing), and send ads and pages for your approval before launch. Our lawyer advertising rules hub links each jurisdiction.
Red flag: "Nobody checks that."
- 14. Do you sell or share leads, or sell my leads to other firms?
Good answer: a clear no, or a full explanation. ABA Model Rule 7.2(b) bars giving anything of value for a recommendation, with exceptions that include the reasonable costs of advertising. Its comment allows paying for leads only if the lead generator doesn't recommend you or imply it analyzed the person's problem. Our guide on paying for leads goes state by state.
Red flag: shared leads sold as "exclusive".
- 15. Who approves ads, posts and pages before they go live?
Good answer: you, or a lawyer you name, every time.
Red flag: content published without anyone at the firm seeing it.
This is a plain summary for marketing planning, not legal advice. Check the current rule with your bar or law society.
Check before you sign
Five answers you can verify yourself, not just hear.
Most answers on a sales call are promises. These five can be checked in a browser in under an hour.
| Check | Where | What you should see |
|---|---|---|
| You're an admin on Google Ads | The access settings in your own Google Ads account | A partner at your firm listed with Admin access; the agency as a linked manager |
| You own the Meta assets | Settings in your Meta business portfolio | Your Page and ad account under your portfolio; the agency under Partners |
| You own the domain | Your domain registrar | The firm as the registrant, with your login |
| Reviews are real | The agency's reviews page and Google profile | Named reviewers you can look up, describing specific work |
| Results are specific | Case studies | A practice area, a channel and a number, not just "growth" |
Our own reviews are on our reviews page, with the names and locations our clients gave us.
How to run the call
One call, the same questions, every agency.
Asking every agency the same questions in the same order is what makes the answers comparable.
Write down your numbers first
Practice areas, cities, roughly how many new matters a month you want, and how many you can handle. Our marketing plan guide helps you get there.
Send the questions ahead
An agency that answers ownership and exit questions in writing before the call is telling you something.
Ask for the person who'll run the account
If they won't be on the call, ask to meet them before you sign.
Score the answers the same way
Specific and checkable, vague, or missing. Vague on ownership is a no.
Run the five checks
Admin access, Meta assets, domain, reviews, results. Use the table above.
Read the exit clause last
What you get back, by when, and what notice you give. If it isn't written down, ask for it in writing.
What we see
Many firms come to us after an agency that sounded right on the call.
The pattern in their stories isn't bad luck. It's promises nobody could check.
One personal injury client had worked with several marketing companies before us and kept hearing about "unique mechanisms" that delivered nothing for months. After more than a year and a half of steady cases with us, a single $250,000 settlement meant $82,000 in revenue for the firm. A DUI defense solo had tried SEO, PPC, social and bought leads before he got $13,500 from $600 in ad spend in 12 days.
When we onboard a firm, our first job is finding every profile and account it already has and getting access to what's running. That step tells us quickly whether the firm owns its own marketing. If you're weighing an agency against a hire instead, read our guide on agency vs in-house, or see what we run on our Google Ads and Meta ads pages.
Common mistakes
Where firms go wrong.
What we see firms regret after signing.
Choosing on the proposal deck
A good deck shows the agency can sell. Ask who will run your account and what you'll own, then check it.
Signing before checking ownership
Once campaigns run in someone else's account, the history and the setup can stay there. Check Admin access before the first dollar is spent.
Judging the agency on leads alone
Cheap leads that never sign look good in a report. Ask for signed cases by source from the start.
Agreeing to a fee tied to your legal fees without checking the rules
The ABA comment on lead generators points to the fee-sharing and independence rules. Ask your bar first.
Not asking who approves what goes live
Your name is on every ad. If nobody at the firm sees it first, the responsibility is still yours.
Real results
What this looked like for real firms.
Three firms that came to us after other marketing companies, or chose us for direct access: an injury firm with one settlement worth $82,000, a DUI solo who turned it around in 12 days, and a $1.5 million case from a campaign that started as the client's own idea.
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 are the red flags in a law firm marketing agency?
Ad accounts in the agency's name, ad spend bundled into the fee, long lock-ins with no review point, reports built on clicks instead of signed cases, and nobody at the firm approving what goes live. Any one of these is worth a direct question. Two or more, and keep looking.
Should my law firm own its Google Ads account?
Yes. Google lets an agency link your account to its manager account while your users keep signing in as usual, and your admins can end the link at any time. Keep Admin access with a partner at the firm.
Is it okay for an agency to charge per signed case or a share of fees?
Check with your bar first. The ABA comment to Rule 7.2 says payment to a lead generator must be consistent with Rules 1.5(e) and 5.4, which cover dividing fees and professional independence, and states have their own versions. Our guide on paying for leads collects the rules.
How long should a law firm marketing contract be?
Long enough to judge, short enough to leave. Most channels need about three months before the numbers mean much, which is why we don't use long-term contracts: a firm stays because the cases come in. Our guide on how long marketing takes explains the timing.
What should a monthly report from an agency include?
Ad spend per channel, leads, consultations and signed cases by source, cost per signed case, what changed and why, and what changes next. If the report stops at clicks, ask for the rest.
Should I trust an agency that promises a number of cases?
Be careful. Results depend on your market, your practice and how fast your firm answers leads, so honest agencies talk about ranges and past results, not promises. Ask what they'd need to see after three months to call it working.
How do I check an agency's reviews and results?
Look for named reviewers you can find, reviews describing specific work, and case studies that name a practice area, a channel and a number. Ours are on our reviews page and about page. To ask us these fifteen questions directly, 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 Ads Help, About manager accounts
- Google Ads Help, About access levels in your Google Ads account
- Meta Business Help Center, Create a Business Portfolio in Meta Business Suite
- Meta Business Help Center, Give a Partner Access to Business Assets in Your Business Portfolio
- American Bar Association, Model Rule 7.2: Communications Concerning a Lawyer's Services: Specific Rules
- American Bar Association, Comment on Rule 7.2
- American Bar Association, Model Rule 5.3: Responsibilities Regarding Nonlawyer Assistance
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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