Law Firm Contact Forms

Increasingly, State Bar Associations are enacting regulations and requirements relative to law firm websites. In particular, they are focusing on the “contact us” forms law firms frequently use to encourage prospectice clients to contact the firm through firm websites. The regulations often require firms to add disclaimers to these forms that state that a prospective client’s completion of the form does not create a professional relationship with the firm.

Other risks also exist that these regulations don't necessarily address. For example, prospective clients may disclose facts or other information to the law firm that could create an ethical conflict with the firm’s representation of its current clients. For this reason, law firms should limit the amount of information prospective clients can disclose through their website "contact us forms.

One way firms can prevent the disclosure of such information is to limit the amount of information clients can include in the "contact us" forms.  Instead of using an open-ended question, such as "How can we help you?," these forms should include drop-down items from which the client must choose.  Such items may include not only the prospective client’s title but also limit the legal area relating to the client’s matter. Further, law firms can limit the number of characters that can be added in any "contact us" description box, which can also help prevent the client from disclosing more information than the law firm might want to know at this stage.

One final ethical issue can occurs if a prospective client from another state seeks legal advice from the law firm.  If the lawyer or law firm is not authorized to provide legal advice for the jurisdiction, the firm can set up an auto-responder in conjunction with the "contact us" form to provide a short message to the person thanking the person for the inquiry but also advising that the lawyer cannot provide advice on the matter because it falls outside the lawyer’s jurisdiction.

Esquire Interactive can work with your law firm to create the type of contact us forms that will encourage potential clients to contact your firm and minimize any potential ethical issues.

EI Ten Word Learning: Minimize problem-specific information in “Contact Us” forms.