01What the code takes off the table first
Art. 20 of the Code of Ethics of the Romanian lawyer, approved by UNBR Decision 268 of 17 June 2017 and in force from 1 January 2018 in the version we read, lets a lawyer inform the public about their services as long as the information is faithful, objective and truthful. It then lists what a lawyer's communications cannot contain: the fees charged to clients, a guarantee of the result, comparative or denigrating mentions, and mentions of results obtained, client identities, the number of cases, turnover or a success percentage. Art. 20(7) adds that a lawyer cannot use a client's notoriety, and art. 21(5) forbids paid press articles presented as objective information. The rule applies whatever the medium: the code names the press, radio, television and online platforms, and any other means. A billboard has the same content limits as a website. Check the current text with your bar before you spend anything.
- Allowed: information about your services that is faithful, objective and truthful (art. 20(3))
- Not allowed in communications: fees charged, guarantees, comparisons, results obtained, client identities, case counts, turnover, success percentages (art. 20(6))
- No use of a client's notoriety (art. 20(7)); no paid press pieces presented as objective information (art. 21(5))
02What is left, and why it is enough to start
That leaves a short list of things a prospective client can check. A website that names each lawyer, the practice areas, the languages, the office address and hours, and how a first consultation works. A Google Business Profile with the same facts and no embellishment. Articles that explain in general terms how a type of procedure works, signed by the lawyer who wrote or reviewed them, and never advice on a specific case. We built that pattern for SCP Shine & Style, a salon, with posts signed by the owner and Person schema, and it carries over because a client is choosing a person. One trap: art. 11(2) puts client names under professional secrecy, so a reply to a review should not confirm that the reviewer is a client. Ask your bar how it views reviews and replies to them.
- A site that names the lawyers, practice areas, languages, address, hours and how a first consultation works
- Explanatory articles in general terms, signed by a lawyer, never advice on a case
- Review replies that do not confirm anyone is a client (art. 11(2)); ask your bar about reviews
04Referrals and lead sellers: read art. 25 first
Recommendations from clients, other lawyers and neighbouring professionals cost nothing but good work and need no advertising copy. The risk comes with paid intermediaries. Art. 25 of the Code forbids a lawyer to share fees with a person who is not a lawyer, with an exception for experts and other specialists working on a case. A lead platform, or a marketer paid a commission per client, is exactly the arrangement to put to your bar before you sign. Art. 15 points the other way for what you promote: take only matters within your competence. Marketing that fills the diary with work you should decline wastes the client's time and yours. And art. 22(4) means you are free to refuse a client without giving reasons.
- Recommendations come from the work itself and need no advertising copy
- A commission per client to a non-lawyer: put it to your bar first (art. 25)
- Promote only practice areas within your competence (art. 15)
05Where PROOF48 is the wrong choice
Our marketing page lists industries with strict advertising regulations as a poor fit, and the rules above make law one of them. We have no law firm among our eight published builds. PROOF48's BROADCAST plan, at 597 EUR a month, delivers 4 AI blog posts and 12 AI videos a month with a content calendar, and you approve everything before it goes live. For a law firm we would start with the posts, and we would not publish a video of an AI avatar speaking as one of your lawyers unless your bar has said it is fine. We cannot be your authority on what the rules allow, and advertising that breaks them is a disciplinary matter for the lawyer, not for us. If you need a paid campaign for a specific legal service this month, take your bar's view first and a specialist in regulated advertising second.
- No law firm among our eight published builds
- BROADCAST at 597 EUR a month: 4 AI blog posts and 12 AI videos, all approved by you before they go live
- Advertising that breaks the rules is a disciplinary offence for the lawyer (Statute, art. 243³)
Posts signed by a real person, at a real address
We have not marketed a law firm, and we will not borrow a result to suggest we have. The closest build is SCP Shine & Style, a salon in Sector 3, Bucharest, where we added Person schema, the blog posts are signed by the owner, and each service has its own page with its own copy and media. For a lawyer the same pattern means an article under a named lawyer's byline and a page per practice area, which is what a prospective client can check.
See the build: SCP Shine & StyleQuestions, answered
Can a law firm in Romania publish its fees or a success rate?
Not under the version of the Code of Ethics we read: art. 20(6) says a lawyer's communications cannot contain the fees charged, a guarantee of the result, or mentions of results obtained, client identities, the number of cases, turnover or a success percentage. Check the current text with your bar.
Can I buy a domain made of the word lawyer plus my city?
UNBR Decision 125 of December 2024 says generic terms in a practice form's domain name are allowed only if they are associated with the name of the practice form or its initials. Ask your bar before you register one.
Can PROOF48 promise me new clients?
No. Nobody controls Google's positions or who calls. We produce the content, report what it does, and leave what you may say to you and your bar.
Where PROOF48 fits
Marketing a law firm starts from art. 20 of the code of ethics: truthful information about services, and no fees, guarantees, comparisons, results or client names. What remains is a site that names its lawyers, an accurate profile, signed explanatory articles and referrals, with domain and keyword choices checked against UNBR Decision 125 of 2024. PROOF48's BROADCAST plan, at 597 EUR a month, can supply the articles, and the rules are yours and your bar's to read.
Cosmin Tiu · Founder, PROOF48
Cosmin has worked in online marketing and software development since 2018, and has built with AI every day since January 2023. He still writes code from scratch daily, in Python, React, Rust and C#. PROOF48 ships business websites in 48 hours and invoices afterwards, so every opinion on this blog was paid for in real builds, not in theory.