Can I call my firm a specialist in family law?

Only if the lawyer holds an accredited specialisation in that area. Conduct Rule 36 bars unearned specialist claims. Instead, say what share of your work is family law, who handles it and how long they have practised in it. That's accurate and still reads as strong.

Should the website list fees?

Where you can. A fixed fee for a will, a conveyance or a power of attorney is worth showing. For disputes, explain how fees are worked out, whether you give an estimate and when costs are reviewed. A client who can't tell what a first call will cost often doesn't make it.

Can I put client testimonials on the site?

Be very careful. Conduct rules and consumer law both bar misleading claims, and a testimonial that suggests a result can mislead about what the next client should expect. Many firms leave them out and show named lawyers, plain process pages and credentials instead.

How much should a law firm site say about each area?

Enough to answer the first question a client has, then a clear next step. A page that opens with what someone wants to know, such as how a property settlement works after separation, beats a paragraph about commitment. Keep sentences short and avoid legal terms without a plain gloss.

Do I need a page for every practice area?

For the ones you handle regularly, yes. Don't list areas you only touch occasionally, since it dilutes the firm's focus and pushes the ones you lead on out of sight. Say plainly which areas are the core of the practice.

Is online booking suitable for a legal practice?

It can be, for a first meeting or a call. Offer it where the time shown is real, and say what the meeting covers and costs. Keep a phone number alongside, because many clients in difficult circumstances would rather speak to someone first.

Websites for law firms

Website design and development for law firms across Australia: each area of law explained in a client's own words, with the lawyer who handles it.

From AUD 1,500, fixed before we start. No deposit. You pay when it's live.

The quote needs JavaScript. Email hello@freshsite.com.au or use the contact form and we'll reply within 24 hours.

A law office desk with tied legal files and bound law reports, a sandstone courthouse through the window

What a site for law firms has to do

People rarely look for a lawyer on a good day. They are separating, buying a house, facing a dispute, dealing with an estate or have received a letter they don't understand. Often they are anxious and short of time. The site opens by saying who you act for, in which town, and how to make the first call or booking, in sentences short enough to take in on a phone.

Most clients choose a firm by checking that it handles their kind of matter, that a named lawyer will look after it and that the cost is not a mystery. Those three answers belong on the home page. The rest is the detail behind them: a page per area of law, a first-meeting page and a plain statement about how fees are charged.

What the site carries

A first sentence saying who you act for and where, before any list of services.
Each lawyer named, with a photo, their admission and the areas they actually handle.
A page per area of law, opening with the question a client would ask, such as what happens if a will is challenged.
How fees work: hourly, fixed for set tasks, or staged, and whether a first meeting costs anything.
A first-meeting page, covering what to bring, how long it takes and what happens afterwards.
One booking action, repeated after each major block, along with a phone number that can be tapped.
The occupations and kinds of client you serve, such as families, small businesses and farming operations.
A plain account of how the firm communicates, covering who returns calls and how quickly you reply to emails.
Address, parking, accessibility and any video or phone appointment options.
A short statement on confidentiality and conflicts, written in everyday language.

The work your customers look for

wills and estates
family law and property settlements
conveyancing
business sales and purchases
commercial leases
employment disputes
powers of attorney
probate
debt recovery
traffic and criminal matters
tenancy disputes

What they type

"solicitor"
"family lawyer"
"wills and estates lawyer"
"lawyer near me"
"how much does a will cost"
"contesting a will"
"commercial lawyer"

The rules that shape the words

Solicitors' Conduct Rule 36 bars false or misleading claims in advertising, so every line on the site has to be accurate and able to be supported.

The same rule bars unearned specialist claims, so say specialist only where the lawyer holds an accredited specialisation.

Fee information has to be accurate and complete, because Australian Consumer Law treats a misleading price statement as a breach.

Avoid language that implies a guaranteed outcome or compares your firm with others, since either can be read as misleading.

How the rules differ across Australia for law firms
New South Wales	New South Wales sits under the Legal Profession Uniform Law, which shapes what a firm can say about itself. The practice's name, the principal and the costs wording all need a lawyer's read before they go up.
Victoria	Victoria is a Legal Profession Uniform Law state, so costs wording and how the practice describes itself follow the same rules as New South Wales and Western Australia.
Queensland	Queensland runs under its own Legal Profession Act, with the Queensland Law Society and the Legal Services Commission. A firm's site should read the way the society's guidance on advertising expects.
Western Australia	Western Australia joined the Legal Profession Uniform Law in 2022, so a firm with an older site should reread its costs wording and how it describes the practice.
South Australia	South Australia's Legal Profession Conduct Commissioner oversees conduct, so the wording on the site belongs to the practice and is signed off by its principal.
Tasmania	In Tasmania, the Legal Profession Board oversees conduct, and in a small profession your wording is read by people who know you.
Northern Territory	In the Northern Territory, the Law Society NT is the body your site answers to, and most readers will check you there.

Rules change. Have your licence and wording checked against your regulator before the site goes live.

Sample designs

Designs for law firms

Five designs so far, each a working site on a fictional business.

A street photograph and a centred serif

A bright street photograph under the whole first screen, with the firm's name set large and centred in a serif.

Sample design. Bellbird Row Lawyers is a fictional business.

Open the demo of a street photograph and a centred serif
Warm photographs on a calm grey ground

Full-width warm photographs under a pale floating header, and practice areas set as photograph rows.

Sample design. Bellbird Row Lawyers is a fictional business.

Open the demo of warm photographs on a calm grey ground
Cream paper and ruled cells

A cream ground and a quiet serif, small greyscale photographs and numbered practice areas in ruled cells.

Sample design. Bellbird Row Lawyers is a fictional business.

Open the demo of cream paper and ruled cells
A headline down the photograph

A photograph fills the first screen and a very large headline runs down its side, its last words in the brand colour.

Sample design. Bellbird Row Lawyers is a fictional business.

Open the demo of a headline down the photograph
A glass panel and fine hairlines

A still street photograph with the headline in a dark glass panel, and sections opened by a hairline and a small label.

Sample design. Bellbird Row Lawyers is a fictional business.

Open the demo of a glass panel and fine hairlines

What goes wrong on older sites

Calling a lawyer a specialist without an accredited specialisation to back it.
A list of thirty practice areas with no sign of which ones the firm actually leads on.
Placeholder text or invented client names left over from a template.
A home page that opens with a block of sixty words about values and no mention of what you do.
Testimonials that promise an outcome, or case results that imply the next client will get the same.

Questions from law firms

Can I call my firm a specialist in family law?: Only if the lawyer holds an accredited specialisation in that area. Conduct Rule 36 bars unearned specialist claims. Instead, say what share of your work is family law, who handles it and how long they have practised in it. That's accurate and still reads as strong.
Should the website list fees?: Where you can. A fixed fee for a will, a conveyance or a power of attorney is worth showing. For disputes, explain how fees are worked out, whether you give an estimate and when costs are reviewed. A client who can't tell what a first call will cost often doesn't make it.
Can I put client testimonials on the site?: Be very careful. Conduct rules and consumer law both bar misleading claims, and a testimonial that suggests a result can mislead about what the next client should expect. Many firms leave them out and show named lawyers, plain process pages and credentials instead.
How much should a law firm site say about each area?: Enough to answer the first question a client has, then a clear next step. A page that opens with what someone wants to know, such as how a property settlement works after separation, beats a paragraph about commitment. Keep sentences short and avoid legal terms without a plain gloss.
Do I need a page for every practice area?: For the ones you handle regularly, yes. Don't list areas you only touch occasionally, since it dilutes the firm's focus and pushes the ones you lead on out of sight. Say plainly which areas are the core of the practice.
Is online booking suitable for a legal practice?: It can be, for a first meeting or a call. Offer it where the time shown is real, and say what the meeting covers and costs. Keep a phone number alongside, because many clients in difficult circumstances would rather speak to someone first.

From AUD 1,500

Fixed before we start. No deposit. You pay when it's live.

Your site goes live on your domain and you've got 7 days before the invoice is due.
The first year of hosting and care is included. After that it's AUD 25 a month, billed yearly (AUD 300 a year).
You edit your own words and photos, and your old site stays where it is until you're happy.

Get a quote We reply within 24 hours.

Websites for law firms