INTAKE · BAR RULES

The first five minutes after a lead ad

A firm pays for a lead from a Facebook lead ad or a Google Local Services ad. Then the lead sits in a dashboard until someone checks it. By then the person may have asked two other firms. Here is the reply that should go out first, and the rules it has to fit.

Published October 13, 2026 By Aday Interactive, Inc., Coral Gables. We build LegalCRM.pro; we are not attorneys.

A young man on a bus stop bench under palm trees, looking at his phone.

We are not attorneys and this is not legal advice. It points to the rules that bear on answering a paid lead, so your firm knows what to ask its Bar counsel.

THE SHORT ANSWER

A lead from an ad is a person who just asked a law firm to contact them. Answer at once. Reply only to the person who asked. Say who you are and where you are. Offer a time. Predict nothing. Make STOP work. That reply is fast, and it stays inside Florida’s Chapter 4-7 and the ABA Model Rules.

Two kinds of paid lead, one problem

A Facebook lead ad lets a person send their name and number without leaving Facebook. The lead sits in Meta’s tools until someone downloads it or an integration sends it on. If nobody looks, it waits.

A Google Local Services ad sends calls and messages to the firm, and the firm pays per lead. Google lets a firm dispute leads that do not fit. Paying per lead is a question to put to Bar counsel before you start (Rule 4-7.17; ABA Model Rule 7.2(b)).

The problem is the same with both. The person filled in a form or tapped a button on more than one ad. The first firm that answers with a real time to talk usually gets the conversation. We know of no reliable public number for how fast law firms answer, so we will not quote one. Time your own: send a lead to your firm tonight and see when anything comes back.

Is answering a lead a solicitation?

No. The rules on solicitation are about contact the person did not ask for (Rule 4-7.18; ABA Model Rule 7.3). A lead form is the person asking. Your reply is a response.

Two things change that. Texting people who only saw or clicked the ad, but never sent a form, is not a response. And building an audience from accident reports, then advertising to it, is targeted contact with its own rules, including a 30-day wait in accident and wrongful-death matters (Rule 4-7.18). Answer the people who asked. Do not chase the ones who did not.

The reply is still an ad

A response is not a solicitation, but it is still advertising. So it must:

Name the firm and the city. Every ad names a lawyer or the firm, and the city or county of a real office (Rule 4-7.12; ABA Model Rule 7.2(d)).
Predict nothing. No “you have a strong case,” no dollar figure, no “best” (Rule 4-7.13; ABA Model Rule 7.1).
Stay calm. A person who was in a crash an hour ago should not get pressure or fear (Rule 4-7.15).
Offer a time. That is the one thing the person wants, and the rules have no problem with it.

A reply that does all four: “Hi Ana, this is [Firm name] in [City]. We got your message. An attorney can talk with you today at 4 or tomorrow at 10. Which works? Reply STOP to opt out.” It works the same way in Spanish, and it should go out in the language the person used.

Texting consent goes on the form

A person who sends a lead form expects a call or a reply. Automated follow-up texts after that are a different matter under the texting laws, federal and Florida. Put one plain line on the lead form that says the firm may call and text about the inquiry, keep a record of it, and have counsel check the wording. STOP, ALTO, and PARE should end every sequence.

Wire it before you spend the first dollar

Leads flow into your intake system in seconds, not into a spreadsheet someone downloads on Friday.
The first reply goes out at once, in the person’s language, with the firm’s name and city.
A person on your team sees every lead the same day, and the conflict check runs before the consult.
Every lead carries its source, so you can tell which ad produced signed cases, not just leads.
Late-night leads get the first reply right away. Later follow-ups wait for business hours.

Where LegalCRM.pro fits

LegalCRM.pro takes a form, a call, or a text and replies within a minute, in the language the person used. It tags the source, so the report shows which ads sign cases. When we build it for you, we write every message to fit Chapter 4-7 and the ABA Model Rules, and your attorney reviews and approves all of it before we turn anything on. A self-serve firm writes its own messages and reviews them against the same rules.

Each rule, with its ABA counterpart and what stays the firm’s, is on the Advertising Compliance page.

Questions we get asked about this

Is replying to a Facebook lead ad a solicitation under the Bar rules?

No. The person asked the firm to contact them, so the reply is a response (Rule 4-7.18; ABA Model Rule 7.3). It is still advertising, so it names the firm and its city and predicts nothing (Rules 4-7.12 and 4-7.13).

Do we need consent to text someone who sent a lead form?

Put one plain line on the form that says the firm may call and text about the inquiry, keep the record, and have counsel check the wording. Automated follow-up texts fall under federal and Florida texting laws. STOP must end every sequence.

Can the first reply say the consultation is free?

Yes, if it is. That is a fact about the firm's terms. What the reply cannot do is predict a result, put a value on the case, or compare the firm to others (Rule 4-7.13).

What an automated first reply may say The one message every intake sends, sentence by sentence. Read more The 30-day rule and the person who wrote first Why a reply is not a solicitation, and where the line sits. Read more

Time your own reply, then see ours

A 30-minute demo sends a test lead through a build for your practice area and shows the reply your attorney would approve.

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