A lead fills out a contact form at 10 p.m., and the intake team wants to text back before a competitor calls. With text message marketing for law firms, the answer depends on who gets the text and why.
Bar rules control a marketing text’s content, while the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) sets the consent required.
A firm generally cannot send autodialed marketing texts to a lead who never agreed in writing. This is general information, and rules vary by state.
Text message marketing for law firms falls outside ABA Model Rule 7.3’s ban on live solicitation, yet federal law treats a text as a call.
Get written consent before any autodialed marketing text and honor opt-outs within ten business days.
How Rule 7.3 and the TCPA Classify a Text
Rule 7.3 and the TCPA classify a law firm’s text differently. ABA Model Rule 7.3(b) bars seeking clients through live person-to-person contact when the lawyer’s financial gain is a significant motive. In Comment 2 to Rule 7.3, live contact excludes texts and other written messages that recipients “may easily disregard.”
In Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, the Supreme Court said a text to a cell phone “qualifies as a ‘call'” under the TCPA. An autodialed marketing text needs prior express written consent under the FCC’s rule at 47 CFR 64.1200, meaning a signed agreement that authorizes marketing messages to a named number. Solicitations may go out only from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., recipient’s local time, and generally not to numbers on the national Do Not Call Registry. Consent can be revoked by any reasonable method, honored within ten business days.
Under 47 U.S.C. 227, a person can recover the greater of $500 per violation or actual loss, and a court may triple the award for willful or knowing violations. Quiet hours and do-not-call rules still cover marketing texts after Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, which narrowed only the autodialer definition. Sales texts also count as telephonic sales calls under Florida’s section 501.059.
Texting Clients About Their Case vs. Marketing Texts to Leads
Texting clients about their case and texting leads are separate jobs. A case update to a client carries no advertisement, while a text promoting the firm to a lead is one under the FCC rule. Sample wording (examples only):
- Client update: “Your deposition moved to Tuesday at 10 a.m. Please call the office to confirm.” No advertising.
- Lead follow-up: “Thanks for contacting Firm Name. Would you like to schedule a consultation?” Marketing.
- Opt-out reply: “Firm Name: you are unsubscribed from marketing texts.” The FCC rule allows one such confirmation.
On September 30, 2026, the FCC adopted FCC 26-67 to modernize TCPA rules so consumers can stop specific categories of robocalls. Separate rules govern email, including any law firm email newsletter.
What Bar Rules Require in Law Firm Texts
Bar rules on law firm marketing texts set required content and vary by state. ABA Model Rule 7.2(d) requires an advertising text to name at least one responsible lawyer or firm, with contact information. Check your state’s legal advertising rules for labels and filing duties.
Under the Florida Bar’s email and text checklist, every required item goes inside the text. The checklist asks whether a text ad:
- Uses “Advertisement” as the first word.
- Includes an opt-out for recipients.
- Says how the lawyer obtained the information prompting it.
- Waits 30 days after an injury or accident in personal injury and wrongful death matters.
A Florida-style first text might read “Advertisement: Firm Name, attorney Jane Doe, 555-0100. You asked about a claim on our website. Reply STOP to opt out.”
Under Comment 19 to ABA Model Rule 1.6, lawyers sending client information must take reasonable precautions against unintended recipients. “Please call about your file” is safer than a text naming a diagnosis or settlement figure.
Four Steps Before Your Firm Sends a Marketing Text
Before a law firm sends a marketing text, work through four steps:
- Build consent wording that names marketing texts and the number into the intake process that closes leads, with a signature or checked box. Never make consent a condition of hiring. Sample checkbox: “Firm Name may send me automated marketing texts at this number. Agreeing is not required to hire the firm.”
- Add an opt-out line with standard STOP wording recommended in CTIA’s messaging best practices.
- Record consent dates, wording, numbers and opt-outs. Keep do-not-call requests for five years.
- Write the first text as you would any other law firm copywriting, with the firm name, a responsible lawyer’s contact, any required label and no case details.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a law firm send marketing texts to people who contacted it?
A law firm can reply to people who contacted it, but autodialed marketing texts need prior express written consent, which a contact form without consent wording does not supply.
Is text message marketing for law firms considered solicitation under ABA Rule 7.3?
Text message marketing for law firms falls outside ABA Model Rule 7.3’s live solicitation ban, because Comment 2 excludes texts. Rule 7.2(d) and state labeling rules still apply.
What hours can a law firm send marketing texts?
Law firm marketing texts can go out only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m., recipient’s local time, under the FCC rule.
Can lawyers text clients about their case?
Lawyers can text clients about their case when the client gave the number and the text has no advertising. Rule 1.6 calls for reasonable precautions, so keep sensitive details out unless the client agrees.
Help With Text Message Marketing for Law Firms
Lexicon’s legal content experts write intake and follow-up texts with these rules in mind. Call 877-486-8123 or contact us online.
David Arato, JD is the founder of Lexicon Legal Content, an attorney-owned legal content marketing agency serving law firms since 2012. Lexicon also publishes a free AI legal blog topic generator for law firms. David is a frequent contributor to Attorney at Law Magazine and Attorney at Work and a recurring guest on legal marketing podcasts.
