What should I compare before signing with a legal marketing company? Nine contract items — and the rule that matters more than the list: if it is not in the signed agreement, it does not exist.
Every complaint in this industry traces back to something that was discussed warmly and documented nowhere.
- Published pricing — $2,500, $3,500 and $4,500 a month, on the site.
- Month to month. No contract is holding you anywhere.
- A former attorney of 17 years who filed 5,000+ cases works your account.
- You see your rankings move for 14 days before you are billed a dollar.
- Law firms only — no other industries, ever.
| Attorney Pro Marketing | Scorpion | FindLaw | Typical legal agency | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing published on the website | Yes — $2,500 / $3,500 / $4,500 per month | Not published | Not published | Rarely published |
| Contract term | Month to month, 30 days’ notice | Not published | Not published | Commonly 12 months |
| Who works on your account | A former attorney of 17 years, in every account | Assigned account team | Assigned account team | Account manager, often across industries |
| Your website is built on | Standard, portable code | Proprietary platform | FirmSite platform | Varies — ask before signing |
| See results before you are billed | Yes — 14 days, then you decide | No | No | No |
| Ad spend billed by Google directly to you | Yes, no markup | Ask | Ask | Often passes through the agency |
“Not published” means the figure does not appear on that company’s own website as of October 2026 — check for yourself before you sign anything, with them or with us.
The Nine Items, in the Agreement
- 1. Total monthly cost, split. Management fee and advertising spend as separate figures.
- 2. Who bills the media. Google directly to your firm, or the agency. This determines whether spend is verifiable.
- 3. Contract term and notice period. In months, with the notice mechanism stated.
- 4. Termination cost. Any fee, any remaining obligation, any clawback.
- 5. Who does the work. Named, with the process if that person changes.
- 6. Ownership of four things. Domain, website files and content, Google Ads account, Google Business Profile. Each separately.
- 7. The baseline. Recorded before work starts and provided to you.
- 8. What counts as a conversion. And whether you can change the definition.
- 9. The failure condition. What result, by what date, means this did not work.
The Rule Behind the List
You already know this one professionally, and it is routinely abandoned when attorneys become buyers: if it is not in the signed agreement, it does not exist.
Nearly every serious complaint in legal marketing traces to something discussed warmly in a meeting and documented nowhere. You can take my website, of course. You own the ad account, naturally. We will know by month three. All of those are sincere at the time and unenforceable afterwards.
The agency is not usually lying. People change jobs, companies are acquired, and the person who made the assurance is gone two years later when it matters. The agreement is the only thing that stays.
Four Clauses to Refuse
- Automatic renewal with a long notice window. A twelve-month term that auto-renews unless cancelled ninety days out is a term you will miss.
- Agency ownership of the ad account. You lose the entire conversion history on departure, which sets any successor back months.
- Any guarantee of ranking or outcome. Nobody controls Google's results, and outcome guarantees are restricted under most bar advertising rules — an agency offering one is telling you it does not know the rules that govern you.
- Media passing through the agency with no reporting obligation. You cannot verify what was spent on your behalf.
Before You Sign
Read the termination clause first, before the services schedule. It describes the relationship you will have if things go badly, which is the only part of the agreement that gets tested.
Then ask for the nine items as a one-page summary attached to the agreement. An agency that can produce that in a day is organised and confident. One that cannot has told you something useful.
Ours fit on considerably less than a page and most of them are already published: $2,500, $3,500 or $4,500 a month; advertising billed to your firm directly by Google; month to month with 30 days' notice and no termination fee; the work done by Alon Darvish, a former attorney of 17 years; domain, content, ad account and Google Business Profile all in your firm's name; a baseline recorded on day 0; and a failure condition built into the structure — if the day 14 movement does not justify continuing, you owe nothing for that period.
See it before you pay for it.
We snapshot your rankings on day 0, build and launch your site within three days, and show you the movement on day 14. If it has not moved enough to be worth continuing, you owe nothing for that period and you keep the Google Business Profile work.
Related Questions
Nine items: total monthly cost with fee and media split; who bills the media; contract term and notice period; termination cost; who does the work and what happens if they change; ownership of the domain, website files and content, Google Ads account and Google Business Profile separately; the baseline recorded before work starts; what counts as a conversion; and the failure condition.
Automatic renewal with a long notice window, which is a deadline you will miss; agency ownership of the Google Ads account, which costs you the conversion history on departure; any guarantee of ranking or outcome, since nobody controls Google's results and most bar rules restrict outcome guarantees; and media passing through the agency with no reporting obligation.
Because people change jobs and companies are acquired. The person who assured you that you could take the website is frequently gone by the time it matters, and the agreement is the only thing that persists. Nearly every serious complaint in this industry traces to something discussed warmly and documented nowhere.
The termination clause, before the services schedule. It describes the relationship you will have if things go badly, which is the only part of the agreement that ever gets tested.