Why does an attorney departure leave a website out of date?
An attorney gives notice on a Friday. By Monday the email is forwarded and the office is cleared out. The website still shows that lawyer’s photo, phone extension and practice areas. Law firm website updates after a departure are easy to skip because no single page looks broken.
The problem is that the site keeps talking to the public. A prospective client may call about a lawyer who left. A former client may read a bio and think that lawyer still handles their matter. A search result may keep showing an old name for months.
The fix is a short audit with a clear owner. The steps below follow the order most small firms can handle in a week or two.
What do the ethics rules expect when a lawyer leaves?
Start with the rules, because they shape every page you touch. ABA Model Rule 7.1 says communications about a lawyer’s services must not be false or misleading. The ABA comment on Rule 7.1 treats firm names and letterhead as communications too. It says a firm name is misleading if it implies a connection with a lawyer not associated with the firm.
Client notice is a separate duty. ABA Formal Opinion 99-414 says the departing lawyer and the responsible lawyers who remain must make sure prompt notice reaches clients with active matters. It also stresses that each client may choose the departing lawyer, the firm or someone else.
The ABA returned to the topic in Formal Opinion 489, issued December 4, 2019. It is listed on the ABA ethics opinions index. These are model rules and opinions, so your state’s rules and bar opinions control. Check them, or ask ethics counsel, before you decide what your site says.
A website is not a client notice. Clients with open matters should hear from the firm directly, in the way your state allows. Once those letters go out, the website should match what they say.
Who should own law firm website updates?
Pick one person before you open a single page. In a small firm this is often the managing partner or the office manager. Give them a written list and a deadline.
That person also needs logins. If no one at the firm can sign in to the website, the domain or the phone system, fix that first. Departures often reveal that the lawyer who left was the only admin on an account.
For example, a three-lawyer firm might find the departing associate set up the Google Business Profile. If that associate still holds owner access, remove it after you add a current partner as owner.
How should you update attorney biographies?
The bio page is the first thing to change. Decide on one of three paths and apply it the same way every time.
- Remove the bio. This is the most common choice. Send the old URL to the attorney list page with a 301 redirect, which tells browsers and Google the page moved for good.
- Mark the lawyer as former. Some firms keep a short note stating the lawyer is no longer with the firm. Only do this if your state rules allow it and the note is plain.
- Point to new contact details. If the departing lawyer and the firm agreed on it, a neutral note can say where the lawyer now practices. Get that agreement in writing first.
Then check the places bios repeat. Practice area pages often show an “attorneys in this area” block. Team photos may appear on the home page, the about page and a careers page. A group photo with the departed lawyer may need replacing or cropping.
What about practice areas that only that lawyer handled?
This one is easy to miss. Say the firm’s only immigration lawyer leaves. The immigration page may still invite calls the firm can no longer take.
Under Rule 7.1, keeping that page live could mislead visitors about the firm’s services. Either reassign the work to a current lawyer or take the page down and redirect it.
Why do bylines and archived posts matter?
Blog posts usually carry an author name. When that author leaves, dozens of old posts may still credit them. A visitor clicking the byline may land on a broken author page.
You have a few options for each post. You can reassign the byline to a current lawyer who has reviewed and agrees with the content. You can switch it to the firm name. You can also unpublish posts that are out of date.
Do not simply swap the name on a post no one has read. A byline tells readers a lawyer stands behind the content. If a current partner’s name goes on a 2021 post about a statute that has changed, the post becomes their problem.
Check the author archive page as well. WordPress and other systems create a page like /author/name/ for each writer. If the user account is deleted carelessly, those pages can break or the posts can disappear. Reassign the posts before you remove the account.
Are phone routing and email links still correct?
A website can look perfect and still send calls to nowhere. Phone routing is where many departures quietly cost the firm consultations.
Walk through each of these:
- Direct dial numbers listed on the bio or contact page
- Click to call buttons on mobile pages
- Call tracking numbers that forward to a personal cell phone
- Voicemail greetings that still name the lawyer
- Mailto links that open an email to the old address
Test each number from a phone outside the office. Listen to where it rings and what the greeting says. A forwarded line to a former associate’s mobile is a confidentiality risk. A caller could describe a new legal problem to someone who no longer works for the firm.
Do intake forms still reach the right people?
Website forms often send to a list of email addresses set up years ago. If the departing lawyer is on that list, new inquiries may keep landing in their inbox.
Open each form’s notification settings. Remove the old address and confirm a current person receives every submission. Then send a test entry and watch it arrive.
Look at any connected tools too. A form may also feed a case management system, a CRM or an automated email sequence. Any of these may still assign leads to the departed lawyer by name.
Keep confidentiality in mind while testing. Use made-up test details, never a real client’s facts. If your forms use AI summary tools, check who can see the stored entries. A former user with live access to that data is a problem.
How should you handle published case results?
Case results pages need careful review after a departure. Many results list the lawyer who handled the matter.
The Rule 7.1 comment says even truthful results can mislead if they suggest others will get the same outcome. It adds that a fitting disclaimer may help prevent that. Results also become harder to frame when the lawyer who won them is gone.
Ask these questions for each result:
- Did the firm handle the matter, or only the departing lawyer at a prior firm?
- Does the listing imply the departed lawyer still works on new cases here?
- Is the results disclaimer still on the page and required by your state?
- Does the result reveal client details that need consent to publish?
Some states require specific disclaimer wording on results. Review your state bar’s advertising rules before you edit or keep these pages. When in doubt, take a result down while you check.
Is the firm name still accurate in the footer and listings?
If the departing lawyer was a name partner, the stakes rise. The firm name may appear in the logo, the footer, the page title tags and the email signature graphic.
The Rule 7.1 comment allows a firm name to use the names of current members. It also allows the names of deceased members where the firm’s identity carried on. A living lawyer who left is a different case. Check your state’s rules on firm names before you decide whether a rebrand is needed.
Look beyond the website. The firm name and attorney list also appear in places like these:
- Google Business Profile, including the business name and photos
- Legal directories and bar association listings
- Social media profiles and cover images
- Schema markup in the site code, which can list attorney names
- Press releases and older pages linked from the news section
Update the listings your firm controls. For directories you do not control, submit a correction and note the date. A simple spreadsheet works well for this.
What does a simple departure checklist look like?
A written checklist keeps law firm website updates from becoming a scramble at the next departure. Here is a starting order you can adapt.
- Day one. Confirm client notice plans with the responsible partner. Remove the departing lawyer from form recipients and admin accounts.
- First week. Update or redirect the bio. Fix phone numbers, voicemail and mailto links. Test every form.
- Second week. Review bylines, author pages and practice area pages. Check case results and disclaimers.
- First month. Update the footer, logo and firm name if needed. Correct directories, social profiles and the Business Profile.
- Ninety days later. Search the lawyer’s name with your firm name. Fix anything that still shows up.
Save the finished list with the date and who did each step. It gives the firm a record if a client or the bar asks how the change was handled.
How can you keep law firm website updates from slipping next time?
The best fix is to plan before anyone leaves. Add a website step to your firm’s offboarding process, right next to returning keys and closing email.
Keep fewer copies of the same information. If attorney names live in one team block that feeds every page, one edit fixes the site. If names are typed into thirty pages by hand, every departure means a hunt.
Make sure at least two current partners have admin access to the website, domain, phone system and listings. That way a single departure never locks the firm out.
Staffing changes are normal in any practice. Clear law firm website updates help clients reach the right lawyer and keep your public statements accurate. If your site still lists people who have moved on, we can look at it together. Schedule a consultation.
The information here is general information about website upkeep. It is not legal or ethics advice. State rules of professional conduct and bar opinions control, so check them or consult ethics counsel for your situation.
