Lawyer Solicitation Rules: What ABA Model Rule 7.3 and State Bars Allow

Lawyer solicitation is a lawyer's offer of legal services to a specific person known to need help in a particular matter. Under ABA Model Rule 7.3, you may solicit in writing, by letter, email, or direct message, but you may not solicit live, in person, by phone, or by real-time video for a fee, outside three narrow exceptions.

Your state's version of the rule governs, and several states add waiting periods, labels, or filing. For advertising in general, see our guide to lawyer advertising rules.

What is lawyer solicitation?

The definition in ABA Model Rule 7.3(a)

Since 2018, Model Rule 7.3(a) defines solicitation as a communication "initiated by or on behalf of a lawyer or law firm that is directed to a specific person the lawyer knows or reasonably should know needs legal services in a particular matter," offering, or reasonably understood as offering, legal services for that matter. If one element is missing, it is not a solicitation, though Rule 7.1 still bans false or misleading statements.

Solicitation vs. advertising

Comment [1] excludes communications "directed to the general public," such as a billboard, a banner ad, a website, or a TV commercial, as well as replies to a request for information and messages "automatically generated in response to electronic searches." A letter to every business owner in a county is advertising. An email offering to defend a company you just saw named as a defendant in a court docket is a solicitation.

Is solicitation about money?

Not directly. The live-contact ban applies "when a significant motive for the lawyer's doing so is the lawyer's or law firm's pecuniary gain." Comment [5] adds that the rule does not target the constitutionally protected activities of public or charitable legal-service organizations, so a legal aid group offering free help is not in the same position as a firm seeking a fee.

Can lawyers solicit clients? The live-contact ban and its three exceptions

What "live person-to-person contact" covers

Rule 7.3(b) bans soliciting professional employment by "live person-to-person contact" for pecuniary gain. Comment [2] defines it as in-person, live telephone, and "other real-time visual or auditory" communications that leave no "time for reflection," and excludes "chat rooms, text messages or other written communications that recipients may easily disregard." A cold call or a surprise video call is banned; a letter, email, text, or direct message is not.

The three exceptions

Live solicitation is allowed when the person is:

• A lawyer.
• A family member, close personal contact, or prior business or professional contact, such as a former client.
• A routine business user of the type of legal services you offer. Comment [5] cites companies that routinely hire outside counsel and small business owners who routinely hire lawyers for lease or contract issues.

In 2018, the third exception replaced a reference to persons experienced in the legal services involved for business matters, according to an American Inns of Court analysis. It helps business firms but never covers a consumer facing a divorce, an arrest, or an injury.

Limits on every solicitation, written or live

Under Rule 7.3(c), no solicitation is allowed once the person "has made known to the lawyer a desire not to be solicited," or when it "involves coercion, duress or harassment." Comment [6] adds that live contact with people especially vulnerable to coercion, such as the elderly, the disabled, or those whose first language is not English, is ordinarily not appropriate. Paragraphs (d) and (e) exempt communications authorized by law, such as class action notices, and certain prepaid legal plans.

Why the rules draw the line at live contact

The Supreme Court cases behind Rule 7.3

In Ohralik v. Ohio State Bar Association (1978), the Supreme Court allowed discipline of a lawyer who had approached a young accident victim in her hospital room. Shapero v. Kentucky Bar Association (1988) protected truthful targeted letters, and Florida Bar v. Went For It (1995) upheld Florida's 30-day ban on direct mail to accident victims. Written outreach can be regulated; live pressure for a fee can be banned.

Comments [2] to [4] explain why: a person with a legal problem "may already feel overwhelmed," and what is said live "can be disputed and may not be subject to third-party scrutiny." A letter leaves a record and time to think.

The 2018 overhaul and the "Advertising Material" label

In August 2018, the ABA House of Delegates rewrote the advertising rules. For Rule 7.3, it added the definition of solicitation and the routine business user exception, revised the live-contact provisions, and deleted the requirement to mark solicitations "Advertising Material." States adopt these changes on their own schedule, so some labels survive: Florida's "Advertisement" mark below, and New York's "Attorney Advertising" label, required on most ads until June 1, 2026.

State lawyer solicitation rules: Florida, New York, Texas, and federal law

Your licensing state's version applies, and so may the rules of states whose residents you target.

Florida: a 30-day wait and an "Advertisement" label

Florida's Rule 4-7.18 is stricter. Live solicitation, including phone and video calls, is allowed only with family or a prior professional relationship, with no routine business user exception, and a lawyer may not charge or collect a fee for work obtained in violation. Targeted letters and emails must:

• Wait more than 30 days after the event in personal injury, wrongful death, accident, or disaster matters.
• Carry the word "advertisement" on the envelope and each enclosure, or at the start of an email's subject line.
• Describe your background, training, and experience in that area of law.
• Disclose how you learned of the matter, without revealing the problem on the envelope.
• Never resemble a pleading or other legal document.

The bar reviews filed advertisements against these requirements (Rule 4-7.19). The labeling and disclosure duties do not apply to other lawyers, your current or former clients, your family, or anyone who asked you for information.

New York: the 2026 reset

Effective June 1, 2026, New York adopted the ABA's 2018 versions of Rules 7.1 and 7.3, per the New York State Bar Association. Its commentary lists what disappeared: filing solicitations with the disciplinary committee, keeping recipient lists for three years, the "Attorney Advertising" label, and the 30-day ban on solicitation in personal injury, wrongful death, and mass tort matters. Judiciary Law § 480, on entering a hospital to negotiate a settlement or obtain a release or statement, remains.

Texas filing and the federal 45-day rules

Texas requires lawyers to file advertisements and solicitation communications with the State Bar of Texas (Rule 7.04). Federal law adds a floor everywhere: after an air carrier accident, 49 U.S.C. 1136 bars unsolicited communications about a personal injury or wrongful death action, by an attorney or the attorney's agents, to an injured person or a relative before the 45th day. 49 U.S.C. 1139 does the same for rail passenger accidents.

Lawyer solicitation online: Google Ads, chat, LinkedIn, and lead buying

The rules are medium-neutral. Ask one question: is this a message to the public, a written message to a specific person, or a live conversation you started?

Google Ads, social posts, and your website

A search ad, a sponsored post, or a practice area page is advertising, not solicitation (comment [1]): see our guides to lawyer advertising rules and Google Ads for law firms. Replying under a stranger's post about a car crash to offer to take the case, however, is a written solicitation aimed at a specific person.

Chat, texts, and LinkedIn messages

Calling back someone who filled in your form or opened a chat responds to a request for information, so it is not solicitation. Log the request; our guide to client intake automation shows how. A cold LinkedIn message or text is written, so it is not banned live contact, but if it targets a known legal need it must be truthful, stop after a no, and follow state rules.

A cold voice or video call on the same platform is live contact. Florida's comment to Rule 4-7.18 allows exchanging profiles on a professional networking platform if you initiate no discussion of specific legal matters.

Lead buying and agencies calling for you

Under Rule 8.4(a), you cannot break the rules "through the acts of another." ABA Formal Opinion 501 (2022) extends this, with Rule 5.3, to employees and marketing firms. Its example: calling people from a sheriff's list of recent arrests is not permitted, while a banker friend passing your name to customers who may need an estate plan can be.

Buying leads is allowed under comment [5] to Rule 7.2 if the vendor does not recommend you, takes no share of fees, and does not mislead. Florida's Rule 4-7.22 treats lead sellers as "qualifying providers" that must not contact the public in ways you could not, and you must report joining one within 15 days unless it is a bar-approved referral service. See our guide to law firm lead generation.

Lawyer solicitation dos and don'ts

Do

• Let prospects come to you through search, content, and ads, then answer fast.
• Log the request behind every callback, chat, or text.
• Keep targeted letters factual, say how you found the person, and offer an easy opt-out.
• Check each state your outreach reaches, including waiting periods after accidents.
• Review your vendors' scripts, lists, and channels in writing.

Don't

• Cold-call, visit, or video-call a stranger who needs a lawyer, including at a hospital.
• Have staff, an investigator, or an agency make the calls you cannot make.
• Write again after someone said no.
• Promise results, invent urgency, or mimic a court document.
• Pay for recommendations, share fees with a lead seller, or write about a matter to someone you know already has a lawyer for it, which Florida bans.

How to get clients without breaking the solicitation rules

Content that brings prospects to you

The safest client development lets the client take the first step. Practice area pages, useful articles, and a complete Google Business Profile reach people when they search, and the call that follows is a response. See our guides to law firm content marketing, local SEO for law firms, and LinkedIn for lawyers. Write to inform, not to sell, and track which pages and campaigns turn into signed cases.

A compliant targeted email

When you write to someone you know needs help, keep it factual and easy to decline. Here is a model built on Florida's requirements:

Subject: Advertisement: Defense of the lawsuit filed against your company

Dear Ms. Carter,

I am a Florida attorney. I saw in the public court docket that a breach of contract lawsuit was filed against Carter Supply LLC on May 4. That docket entry is the only information I have about your case.

I have defended small businesses in contract disputes in Florida courts for 12 years. To discuss your options, call me at (813) 555-0142 or reply to this email. If you prefer not to hear from me, reply "stop" and I will not contact you again.

Dana Reyes, Reyes Law PLLC, Tampa, Florida

Outside Florida, if Carter Supply routinely hires lawyers for contract issues, the Model Rule would even allow a phone call. More templates are in our attorney solicitation letter guide.

Referrals within the rules

Opinion 501 notes that many conversations in which clients praise a lawyer to friends are not solicitation at all. Thank referrers, but Rule 7.2 allows only nominal gifts that were not promised in advance. For a full plan, see how to get clients as a lawyer.

What happens if a lawyer breaks the solicitation rules?

State bars impose sanctions ranging from private admonition and public reprimand to suspension and, in serious cases, disbarment; Ohralik itself began as a disciplinary case. Florida also bars any agreement for, or collection of, a fee for work obtained through prohibited solicitation (Rule 4-7.18(a)(2)). And under Rules 8.4(a) and 5.3, what your staff, agencies, or lead vendors do in your name can be charged to you.

The bottom line on lawyer solicitation

Every state lets you tell people about your services, and the Model Rules let you write to someone you know needs help. None allow real-time pressure on a stranger who needs a lawyer. Write instead of calling, respond instead of chasing, check your state's timing and labels, and hold vendors to the same rules.

At Hendy, we build law firm acquisition around inquiries that prospects start themselves, with intake scripts reviewed against these rules. Want more clients without the compliance risk? Read our guide to law firm marketing or contact us.