Before you sign a law firm marketing agency contract, read five things closely: the term and how you exit, who owns the website and ad accounts, how ad spend is billed, what exactly you're paying for, and how the agency handles prospect data. Most disputes between firms and agencies come from one of those five, and almost all of them were in the contract from day one.
There's no single right answer on most of these points. There are different models with different trade-offs. What matters is that you know which one you're signing, and that the agency told you plainly.
What to Check in a Law Firm Marketing Agency Contract
A law firm marketing agency contract should answer, in writing, how long you're committed, what you get, what it costs, who owns what and what happens when it ends.
| Clause | What to look for | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Term | Month-to-month, or a defined minimum with a clear reason | Multi-year terms, or a term that restarts with any change |
| Termination | Notice period in days, how to give notice, any fees | Auto-renewal with a narrow cancellation window you'd easily miss |
| Ownership | A plain statement of who owns the site, domain, ad account, profiles and content, during and after | Silence, or "all work product remains property of agency" with no transfer path |
| Ad spend | Whether Google bills you directly or the agency rebills you, and any markup | Ad spend and management fee blended into one number |
| Deliverables | Specific work: campaigns, pages, posts, reports, meetings | Vague promises like "comprehensive digital presence" |
| Reporting | Access to the actual accounts, not just PDFs | Reports only, no login to your own data |
| Leads (if pay-per-lead) | Written definition of a billable lead and a process for disputes | No refund or credit for duplicates, spam or out-of-area calls |
| Guarantees | None, or narrow and measurable | Guaranteed rankings or a guaranteed number of cases |
Guaranteed rankings deserve a special mention. No one controls Google's results, and an agency that promises page one is either selling something it can't deliver or defining "page one" for a keyword nobody searches.
Who Owns the Website and Ad Accounts?
Ownership of the website, ad accounts and profiles is the clause that causes the most painful breakups, and agencies handle it in genuinely different ways.
The common models
- Firm owns everything from day one. You pay for the website build up front (or on a schedule), the domain and ad account are in your name, and the agency works as a contractor with access. Clean exit, higher upfront cost.
- Agency owns during the engagement; any purchase of the rights is handled by separate agreement. The agency builds the site and ad account at its own cost and recovers that over the monthly fees. If you leave, you can buy the assets at a stated price or walk away from them. Lower upfront cost, and the terms of exit need to be clear.
- Agency owns, no transfer. You're renting. When you leave, the site goes dark and the ad account history stays behind. This is the model to avoid, especially when it isn't disclosed.
We use the second model, and we say so before anyone signs. APM retains ownership of the websites and ad accounts it builds. The setup fee pays for the build, not the rights; a client who wants to buy the rights can do that under a separate agreement. It lets us build without a large upfront fee, and engagements are month-to-month. It isn't the only reasonable approach. Some firms would rather pay more up front and own everything outright from day one, and that's a legitimate choice. Whoever you hire, get the model in writing.
What to ask about ownership
- Exactly which assets are covered: website files and content, domain name, hosting, Google Ads account, analytics, call tracking numbers, landing pages.
- Is the buyout price fixed in the contract, or set by formula, or left to negotiation at the end? Fixed or formula is better for you.
- If you leave without buying, what do you keep? Your content? Your reviews and Google Business Profile? (Your Google Business Profile represents your firm's verified identity; confirm you're an owner of it under any model.)
- How is a Google Ads account handed over, and does its conversion history come with it?
- Can call tracking numbers that clients know be ported to you?
Ad Spend, Fees and Fee-Sharing Rules
The cleanest arrangement is for Google, Meta or any other ad platform to bill your card directly, so the agency's fee is separate and visible.
Some agencies pay the ad platform and rebill you, sometimes with a markup. That isn't automatically wrong, but you should know the markup and see the platform's own invoices. At APM, ad spend is billed by Google directly with no markup, and management is a separate fee.
Common fee structures:
- Flat monthly management fee. Predictable. Make sure scope is defined.
- Percentage of ad spend. Scales with budget, but rewards the agency for spending more, not for spending better.
- Pay-per-lead. You pay for leads meeting a written definition. Read that definition carefully; our pay-per-lead program spells ours out.
- Percentage of fees or per signed case. Be careful here.
ABA Model Rule 5.4 generally prohibits sharing legal fees with nonlawyers, and Rule 7.2(b) generally prohibits paying anyone for recommending your services. An agency paid a percentage of your fees, or a bonus per case won, can run into both. ABA commentary to Rule 7.2 discusses paying lead generators, generally allowing it where the vendor doesn't recommend the lawyer, isn't sharing fees and doesn't make misleading claims. States treat these arrangements differently, so check your own state's rules and ethics opinions before agreeing to any outcome-based pricing. This is general information, not legal advice.
Confidentiality and Prospect Data
Your agency will handle prospective-client information, so the contract should cover confidentiality and data the way you'd expect from any vendor.
Call recordings, web form submissions and chat transcripts can contain sensitive details from people who are prospective clients under ABA Model Rule 1.18. Rule 1.6 requires reasonable efforts to prevent unauthorized disclosure of client information, and Rule 5.3 makes lawyers responsible for reasonable supervision of nonlawyer assistance, which includes outside vendors.
Ask where call recordings and form data are stored, who at the agency can access them, how long they're kept, whether the agency uses them for anything else, and how you get them back at termination. Also ask who reviews ad copy and landing pages for compliance. Agencies can help, but the bar holds you responsible for your advertising. Our advertising compliance guide covers the ad side.
Five Steps Before You Sign
Run through these steps before you sign any law firm marketing agency contract.
Ask for the contract early
Request the actual agreement before the final sales call, not a proposal summary. Read it yourself; you're a lawyer.
Map the exit
Write down what happens on day one after you give notice: what you keep, what you pay, what goes dark, how long the transition takes.
Confirm account access
Make sure you'll have your own login to the ad account, analytics and call tracking from the start, with visibility into actual spend.
Agree on what success means
Pick the metrics you'll review monthly: calls, qualified leads, signed cases, cost per signed case. See which KPIs matter and how call tracking supports them.
Get the verbal promises in writing
If the rep said "you can cancel any time" or "you'll own the site," it belongs in the contract.
For a broader interview list, see questions to ask a marketing agency. And if you're still deciding whether to hire an agency at all, our comparison of in-house vs. agency marketing may help first.
Want a second set of eyes on what you're about to sign?
Bring your current or proposed agency terms to a free audit. We'll walk through ownership, exit and billing in plain terms, including how they compare to our own model.
Frequently Asked Questions
Either can work if it's disclosed and the exit terms are clear. Some agencies charge an upfront build fee and transfer ownership immediately. Others, including APM, retain ownership of what they build and handle any sale of the rights in a separate agreement, which keeps the upfront cost lower. Avoid contracts that are silent on ownership or offer no transfer path at all.
Six- and twelve-month terms are common, especially for SEO, where agencies argue results take months. Month-to-month agreements also exist. A minimum term isn't automatically a red flag if the reason is explained, but watch for auto-renewal clauses, narrow cancellation windows and early termination fees that make leaving expensive.
Usually not safely. ABA Model Rule 5.4 generally prohibits sharing legal fees with nonlawyers, and Rule 7.2(b) generally bars paying for recommendations. Percentage-of-fee or per-case-won pricing can conflict with both. States differ, so check your own bar's rules and ethics opinions before agreeing to any outcome-based compensation for a marketing vendor.
Having Google bill your firm's card directly is the most transparent setup, because you see exactly what was spent and the agency's fee stays separate. If an agency pays the platform and rebills you, ask about any markup and request the platform's own invoices so you can confirm actual spend.
It depends on the contract. If the account is in your name, you remove the agency's access and keep the history. If the agency owns it, you may need to buy it under a buyout clause or start a new account, losing past conversion data. Ask how the handover works and put the answer in the contract before you sign.