Compliance

Operate · 9 min read

Lawyer advertising is regulated state by state. OrignIQ is built so that everything it drafts can be approved under those rules, and so that your firm stays in control of what is published in its name.

Who is responsible

Your firm is responsible for its advertising. OrignIQ drafts and checks; your firm reviews and approves everything that is published or sent.

01The two gates

Every page and ad passes two gates before a reader sees it. Business Outreach emails will pass the same two when that product ships. A failed check blocks the item and says why, naming the rule it comes from.

At draft and approvalThe copy lintWording that lawyer-advertising rules forbid: guarantees, merit opinions, eligibility language, superlatives, pressure, accusations against the employer, “notario”. The firm must be named, an attorney of record given, and the firm’s disclaimers present. A draft with an error cannot be approved.

At publish, and at ad approval and launchThe rules engineThe advertising rules of every state in play — where the audience is (the states of the event’s filings) and where your firm is licensed. It adds required labels, demands a filing record where a state requires one, enforces waiting periods, and keeps a jurisdiction closed until its review is recorded.

AlwaysA named approvalNothing is published without approval by someone at your firm, recorded with their name and the time. A deployment-wide publish switch stays off until the ethics review is signed.

02What’s blocked, and why

These checks cannot be turned off by a firm. If you believe one is wrong for your situation, write to us and we will review it with you.

Gate	Blocks	Why
Always	Any outbound message to a person affected by an event — by any channel, in any state	Firms are found; they don’t solicit. Rule 7.3, and the first rule of the product. Enforced independently of the rules table.
Lint	Guarantees and outcome promises (“guaranteed”, “we will win”)	Misleading communication. Rule 7.1.
Lint	Merit opinions and eligibility language (“you may be entitled to”, “you have a case”, “you qualify”)	A legal conclusion about the reader; only the firm may write it, to a client.
Lint	Superlatives (“the best lawyers”), “specialist” or “specializes”	Unverifiable claims; specialization claims are restricted in most states. “Certified” and fee claims (“no fee unless”, “free consultation”) are flagged for the firm to confirm.
Lint	Pressure (“act now”, “last chance”)	False urgency is misleading. Deadlines on a page come from the record, computed.
Lint	Accusing the employer (“illegal”, “violated the law”)	A WARN filing is a public record, not a finding.
Engine	“Notario”, “immigration consultant”, or eligibility language on an immigration page	Only attorneys and DOJ-accredited representatives may advise; state notario laws.
Engine	A page or ad in a state whose review has not been recorded	The rules of that state are unverified until counsel has looked; the jurisdiction stays closed until then.
Engine	A New York or Florida page or ad without its filing record; an injury-related item inside a state’s waiting period; a listing naming more firms than a state allows	NY Rule 7.3(c) and FL Rule 4-7.19 filings; NY 7.3(e) and FL 4-7.18 waiting periods; FL 4-7.22 and Cal. B&P §6155 on multi-firm services.
Engine	Business Outreach to anyone outside a business role; a live call to a business without a person’s review (barred outright in New York)	Rule 7.3(b)(2): written outreach to those who routinely use the service is permitted; live contact is not left to software.

03State-by-state notes

How OrignIQ handles each state today. It is a reference, not legal advice; the approving attorney confirms compliance with their bar. A state marked blocked until review opens the day its review is recorded, with the reviewer’s name and date kept on the rule.

CaliforniaBlocked until review

Pages and ads for California stay blocked until the California review (Rules 7.1–7.3; Bus. & Prof. Code §§6157–6159.2) is recorded. Single-firm, firm-branded pages only; a multi-firm listing waits on State Bar certification as a referral service (B&P §6155).

New YorkFiling + label

“Attorney Advertising” is added to every page, ad and email. A solicitation filing (Rule 7.3(c)) must be on record before anything publishes; once your firm has filed, Comitie records it against the item and keeps the copy three years. Injury and wrongful-death matters wait 30 days after the event.

FloridaFiling + waiting period

Pages and ads need a filing record (Rule 4-7.19). Injury matters wait 30 days (Rule 4-7.18). A listing naming four or more firms is blocked until qualifying-provider registration (Rule 4-7.22).

Maryland, Virginia, District of ColumbiaBlocked until review

Pages and ads in each stay blocked until that state’s ethics review is recorded. Model-rule structures with local variations; no label is added by default.

North CarolinaBaseline

Rule 7.3 applies; no label is added. Flat per-territory pricing is the answer to 2013 FEO 10 on marketing fees.

EverywhereBaseline

Business email carries the CAN-SPAM elements: an honest sender and subject, identification as advertising, the firm’s postal address, and a working opt-out honored at once. Immigration listings are attorneys or DOJ-accredited representatives only.

04What Comitie never does

Contact people affected by a layoff.
Recommend, rank or refer a firm to anyone.
Charge per lead, per inquiry or per case, or share in legal fees.
Publish or send anything without your firm’s approval.

05The decision record

Every approval is stored with the approver and the time. Every rules-engine decision — at publish, at ad approval, at launch — is stored with the states evaluated, the verdict, and each finding with its rule and citation. Comitie provides the record for your firm on request; an export in the dashboard is planned.

compliance decision · as recordedpage · publish

{
  "artifact": "page",
  "decision": "publish",
  "states": ["CA"],
  "allowed": false,
  "findings": [
    {
      "rule": "ca_counsel_review",
      "jurisdiction": "CA",
      "effect": "review",
      "blocking": true,
      "message": "CA: publishing is blocked pending the ethics review for this jurisdiction.",
      "citation": "Cal. Rules of Professional Conduct 7.1–7.3; Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 6157–6159.2"
    }
  ]
}

Questions

Write to compliance@comitie.com. We answer within one business day.

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