Marketing in the UK
How do law firms in the UK market under the SRA rules?
The channels open to a solicitor firm in England and Wales, the regulators that watch each one, and what PECR and UK GDPR change about follow-up and intake.
By Santiago Alvarez, Founder, Ad Hoc Digital
Last updated
The short answer
If you read one part of this page, read this.
UK firms use the same channels as firms anywhere: Google search ads, the Business Profile and reviews, social ads, comparison sites and AI search. What's different is the frame around them. The SRA bans unsolicited approaches to the public, statute bans paying for personal injury referrals, the website has set duties, and the ASA polices the ads and the firm's own pages under the CAP Code.
Two more laws shape the follow-up. PECR requires specific consent before marketing emails or texts to individuals, with a narrow soft opt-in, and UK GDPR governs the details people type into an intake form, including health information in injury claims.
This guide covers England and Wales, where the SRA regulates solicitors. This is a plain summary for marketing planning, not legal advice. Check the current rule with the SRA. We work with law firms across the US and Canada, and also in Australia and the UK.
The frame
Four bodies of rules sit around every UK firm's marketing.
The SRA regulates the solicitor, the ASA regulates the ad, the ICO regulates the data and the messages, and consumer law sets limits on reviews. The table points to the guide for each.
| Area | The rule | Read more |
|---|---|---|
| Ads, pages, listings | SRA Code 8.8: accurate and not misleading; CAP Code on paid ads and the firm's own site | SRA marketing rules |
| Reaching people | SRA Code 8.9: no unsolicited approaches except to current or former clients | SRA marketing rules |
| Website duties | Transparency Rules: prices for listed services, complaints, SRA number and badge | Transparency Rules guide |
| Paying for clients | LASPO s 56 bans personal injury referral fees; SRA Code 5.1 on introducers | Paying for leads |
| Reviews | DMCC Act bans fake and concealed-incentive reviews; SRA encourages asking | Asking for reviews |
| Emails and texts | PECR: specific consent, or the soft opt-in | Below |
| Intake data | UK GDPR: privacy information at collection; special category data | Below |
The overlap is the part US-trained marketers miss. The CAP Code's scope reaches paid search listings and, under clause I(h), a firm's claims on its own website and social pages, so one injury landing page answers to the ASA and the SRA at the same time. Write the page to satisfy both, and keep the evidence for every claim on file.
Channels
Search ads, the Business Profile, social ads and AI search all work; the US pay-per-lead product mostly doesn't.
The SRA's guidance on unsolicited approaches names online and social media adverts as acceptable because they don't target anyone individually. The channel question is mostly about what Google offers in the UK.
Business Profile and reviews first
Free, and it feeds Maps, local results and Google's AI answers. The SRA's online reviews guidance encourages firms to ask clients for reviews, for example with a link.
Google search ads by matter type
Available across the UK, with keywords per matter type. For a covered service like conveyancing or probate, the ad lands on a page that links to the published prices.
Local Services Ads only in Greater London
Google's UK page lists legal categories as "Currently available in Greater London only," with no automatic lead credits. Our LSA in Canada and the UK guide has the checks and the differences.
Social ads where the practice suits them
Family, employment and injury practices reach people on Facebook and Instagram. Accuracy rules apply to every ad, and "no win, no fee" needs explaining.
AI search and comparison sites
People ask ChatGPT and Google's AI for a solicitor, and the SRA's comparison website guidance says listing there is allowed. Both draw on the same reviews and facts.
AI search works the same way in every country we cover. As an example of the channel from outside the UK, not a UK result: a family law firm we work with now shows up first in ChatGPT, and that has added 50 to 100 calls a month over the last three months. Our AI search service does that work, and the ChatGPT guide explains the plan.
Titles and wording
"Solicitor" and "barrister" are protected, and the regulatory line has set wording.
Section 21 of the Solicitors Act 1974 makes it an offence for an unqualified person to pretend to be a solicitor, and section 181 of the Legal Services Act 2007 does the same for barristers.
- "Solicitor" in ads and pages for solicitors, and "barrister" only for barristers. Staff who aren't qualified are described by their actual role.
- Letterhead and emails carry the SRA number and "authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority" (Transparency Rule 4.2). There's no US-style advertising label.
- Separate businesses that aren't SRA-regulated must never be presented as if they were (Code 8.10).
- Spelling and terms the way UK clients search: "defence", "conveyancing", "probate", "employment tribunal." A US-written page reads as foreign in seconds.
Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own law societies and their own practice rules. This guide covers England and Wales only, and a Scottish or Northern Irish firm should start from its own regulator's rules.
Follow-up messages
PECR needs specific consent for marketing emails and texts, and the soft opt-in is narrow.
The ICO says you must not send marketing emails or texts to individuals without specific consent. The exception, often called the soft opt-in, covers people who bought or discussed buying a similar service from you.
- What the soft opt-in needs
The person bought, or discussed buying, a similar service from you, and you gave them a clear chance to opt out both when you collected their details and in every message after. The ICO says it doesn't apply to new contacts or bought-in lists.
- What counts as a message
Emails, texts, picture and video messages, voicemails and direct messages on social media are all covered. There's no email or text equivalent of the telephone preference service, because consent is required up front.
- Who counts as an individual
Sole traders and some partnerships are treated as individuals, so a message to a small business client may need consent too.
- Where the SRA comes in
Paragraph 8.9 applies as well: approaching someone who never asked to hear from you is an unsolicited approach, whatever PECR allows.
When we set up follow-up for any firm, the form says how the firm will contact the person, there's a consent box for marketing messages where the law calls for one, and every automated message has an opt-out. For a UK firm, we'd keep longer nurture messages to people who ticked the box or clearly fall within the ICO's soft opt-in wording. The follow-up sequences guide has the day-by-day plan.
Intake and data
Intake forms collect personal data, and injury and crime enquiries collect the sensitive kind.
Under UK GDPR, the ICO says you must give people privacy information at the time you collect their data: your purposes, how long you keep it, and who it's shared with.
Health data is special category data under UK GDPR, and the ICO notes that a broken leg counts as much as a mental health condition. An injury or clinical negligence intake form asks for exactly that. Criminal allegations and convictions aren't special category data, but the ICO says they're covered by separate rules, which a crime enquiry form also touches.
The practical fixes are small. Link the privacy notice from every form, ask only what the first call actually needs, keep detailed medical questions for after the firm is instructed, and make sure the CRM's access is limited to the people who need it. Recording calls has its own ICO guidance: tell callers you're recording and why. Our call tracking guide covers it.
What changes the plan
Location, matter type and how you get clients change a UK firm's plan more than budget does.
The same budget buys a different plan in Croydon than in Leeds, and a different one again for conveyancing than for injury claims.
- Inside or outside Greater London
Inside, a firm that answers every call can test the LSA pilot alongside search ads. Outside, search ads carry the paid side.
- Covered or uncovered matter types
Conveyancing, probate, immigration, motoring and dismissal claims need published prices and landing pages that link to them. Family and commercial work doesn't, though clear pricing still helps.
- Personal injury
Referral fees are banned by LASPO section 56, introducers must be vetted, and "no win, no fee" wording is policed by the SRA and the ASA. Ads that bring people to the firm directly avoid most of that risk. More on our personal injury marketing page.
A worked example
A hypothetical Bristol employment firm's first quarter.
This is an illustration with an invented firm, to show how the UK rules shape the order of the work. It isn't a client or a result.
Nothing here is exotic. It's the order that matters: the duties the website owes first, then the ads that send people to it. Our employment law marketing page covers how employees search, and our Google Ads service runs the campaigns.
Common mistakes
Where firms go wrong.
These are the UK mistakes that come from importing a US or generic playbook.
Planning around Local Services Ads outside London
Google's UK page limits the legal categories to Greater London. A Birmingham firm can't run them.
Emailing every enquiry indefinitely
PECR needs specific consent or the soft opt-in, with an opt-out offered at collection and in every message.
Asking for medical detail on the first form
It's special category data. Collect what the first call needs and take the rest once instructed.
Buying injury leads
LASPO section 56 bans referral fees for personal injury claims. Build direct channels instead.
US wording on a UK site
"Attorney", US spellings and dollar results with no context tell a UK reader the page wasn't written for them.
Real results
What this looked like for real firms.
There are no UK client results on our site. This is an AI search example from outside the UK, labeled as such, because the channel works the same way there.
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.
Can UK solicitors use Google Local Services Ads?
Only in Greater London, where Google lists legal categories as a pilot. Firms elsewhere in the UK can't trigger them, and UK advertisers get no automatic lead credits. Our LSA in Canada and the UK guide has the checks Google runs on each member of the firm.
Can I send marketing emails to people who enquired?
Only with specific consent or within the ICO's soft opt-in, which covers people who bought or discussed buying a similar service and were offered an opt-out when you took their details and in every message. It doesn't cover bought-in lists or new contacts. Every message needs an easy opt-out.
Does UK GDPR affect my intake forms?
Yes. You must give privacy information when you collect the data, covering purposes, retention and sharing. Injury and clinical negligence enquiries often include health data, which is special category data, and crime enquiries touch criminal offence data, which has its own rules. Ask only what the first call needs.
Can solicitors advertise on Facebook and Instagram?
Yes. The SRA's guidance lists adverts on social media platforms as acceptable because they don't approach anyone individually. The ad must be accurate under Code 8.8, and the CAP Code applies. Our Meta ads service writes to both.
Do the SRA rules apply in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
No. The SRA regulates solicitors in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own law societies with their own practice rules, so start from those. PECR and UK GDPR, which the ICO regulates, apply across the UK.
Do you work with UK law firms?
Yes. We work with law firms across the US and Canada, and also in Australia and the UK. We start from what the SRA, the ASA and Google allow where the firm practices. To see what fits, 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.
- Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs, RFLs and RSLs
- Solicitors Regulation Authority, SRA Transparency Rules
- Solicitors Regulation Authority, Unsolicited approaches (advertising) to members of the public
- Information Commissioner's Office, Guide to PECR: electronic mail marketing
- Information Commissioner's Office, What is special category data?
- Information Commissioner's Office, The right to be informed
- Google Local Services Help, Getting started with Local Services Ads (United Kingdom)
- legislation.gov.uk, Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, section 56
- legislation.gov.uk, Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, Schedule 20, paragraph 13
- Advertising Standards Authority, CAP Code: Scope of the Code
- legislation.gov.uk, Solicitors Act 1974, section 21
- legislation.gov.uk, Legal Services Act 2007, section 181
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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