A TV spot or a billboard earns credit for a case only when a call or a visit traces back to that exact station, flight (one scheduled run of ads) or board, and the firm's main phone number can't do that by itself. Give every medium its own number, its own short web address and a place on the intake sheet, then judge each by signed cases over a full quarter.
Quick answer
- Put a phone number on each station, flight and board that appears nowhere else, so every call to it already names its source.
- Send anyone who looks the ad up online to a short web address made only for that flight, tagged so Google Analytics can read the source.
- Add TV and billboard to the fixed "how did you hear about us" list intake uses on every call, because a caller can dial your main number instead of the one printed in the ad.
- Watch searches for the firm's name and direct website visits once a flight starts, and match call times to the station's log of when the spot aired.
- Score TV and billboards on a full quarter, not a week or two.
- ABA Model Rule 7.2 asks every ad to name a responsible lawyer or firm with contact information; your own state bar decides what else must be filed or kept.
What must every spot or billboard say, no matter the state?
ABA Model Rule 7.2(d) requires that any communication made under the rule include the name and contact information of at least one lawyer or law firm responsible for its content (ABA, checked 2026-10-05). Beyond that, three large states differ.
| State | What applies to a broadcast ad specifically | Where it stands |
|---|---|---|
| ABA Model Rules | Name and contact information of a responsible lawyer or firm, no broadcast carve-out | A model text; each state adopts its own version |
| New York | Until June 1, 2026: keep every ad for 3 years, disclose actors or dramatized scenes, and file a transcript of any radio or TV solicitation | All three duties are gone; the false-or-misleading standard and the name-and-contact line remain |
| Florida | Filed with the Bar at least 20 days before first use, unless it has no illustrations and only Rule 4-7.16's safe-harbor facts; the filing includes the spot (TV on DVD or flash drive) and a transcript | Rules 4-7.19(a) and (h); a copy and a record of when and where it aired kept 3 years after last use, Rule 4-7.19(j) |
| Texas | Filed with the State Bar's Advertising Review Committee within 10 days after the spot first airs, or at least 30 days ahead for optional pre-approval | Rule 7.04(a) and (c); Comment 6 to Rule 7.01: required statements must be easy to understand when spoken, and big enough and on screen long enough to read |
New York's four Appellate Division departments made the change by a joint order dated May 27, 2026 (NY Courts, checked 2026-10-05). The order rewrites Rule 7.1 along with Rules 1.0, 7.3 and 7.4, effective June 1, 2026. Until then, Rule 7.1(c)(3) required disclosing actors and fictionalized scenes, Rule 7.1(k) required keeping a copy of every ad for at least three years after it first ran, and Rule 7.3(c) required filing a transcript of the audio of any radio or TV solicitation, meaning an ad aimed at specific recipients (NY Courts, checked 2026-10-05). The amended Rule 7.1 has four paragraphs and none of those duties (NYSBA, checked 2026-10-05); a State Bar Association article says the portrayal disclosures and the solicitation filing and recordkeeping duties gave way to the plain false-or-misleading standard (NYSBA, checked 2026-10-05).
Florida's details, including the DVD or flash drive and the retention duty, come from its advertising handbook, which prints the rules (The Florida Bar, checked 2026-10-05). Texas's come from the Supreme Court of Texas order that adopted its current rules effective July 1, 2021 (Supreme Court of Texas, checked 2026-10-05); I checked that order only, so confirm the current text with the State Bar of Texas.
I'm not a lawyer and this isn't legal advice; each state bar writes and revises its own rules, so have the current text checked, by you or your ethics counsel, before a flight airs. Attorney advertising rules covers filing and content claims beyond broadcast media.
How do you give each station, flight or board its own trail?
A tracking number is a separate phone line that forwards to your intake desk; give one to a single spot, board or streaming flight and print it nowhere else, so a call to it already names its source. How CallRail works covers the mechanics. I set up call tracking like this for search ads; on TV only the place the number appears changes.
For anyone who looks the ad up instead of calling, give the flight a short web address of its own, such as the firm's domain plus the station name or exit number, that redirects to a link carrying UTM tags: short labels after a question mark in the link that tell Google Analytics which source and campaign sent the visit. A click id, the code Google attaches to a paid search click, has no equivalent here, since nobody clicks a billboard, so the number and the short address carry the whole load.
What belongs on the intake sheet, and why doesn't a caller's memory decide the source?
A viewer can as easily search the firm's name or call the main line as dial the number printed in the ad, so a caller on the main line still needs a source. Add TV and billboard, named by station or location, to the fixed list intake picks from on every call, and have intake ask every time rather than wait for a caller to volunteer it. Law firm intake covers building that fixed list and the steps after the first call.
What else points to a flight besides the phone?
| Medium | What to put in the ad | What to count | How long before judging |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadcast TV | The flight's own number, pinned on screen for the whole spot | Calls to that number, intake-tagged "TV" calls and brand searches during the air schedule | A full quarter |
| Streaming or connected TV | Its own number on screen and a flight-specific short web address | Calls and visits to those, intake-tagged "streaming" callers, and the seller's delivery report | A full quarter, longer if the flight runs in short bursts |
| Billboard | A short, easy-to-remember web address or number, large enough to read from a moving car | Calls and visits to that board's own line or address, checked against callers' ZIP codes | A full quarter, since repeat exposure builds slowly |
Search Console's Performance report has a branded and non-branded queries filter that separates searches containing your brand name, though not for sites with few impressions (Google, checked 2026-10-05). More branded searches during a flight point toward it working, and so does a rise in Google Analytics direct traffic over the same days; neither replaces the call count.
For the surest read, match the station's log of exact air times against call timestamps on that spot's number. Where budget allows, run a flight in one market, hold a comparable market back, and compare both markets' calls for the same weeks.
What can a connected TV flight measure that broadcast can't, and where does it stop?
Connected TV is video advertising delivered through a streaming app or device rather than over the air or cable. Its seller may be able to report delivery by household, such as how many households saw the flight and how often, so ask what the report breaks out before you buy. That report describes reach rather than callers, so the flight still needs its own number and short web address, like a billboard.
How do you measure a billboard differently from a TV spot?
A billboard earns its number by location rather than air time: one number per board, printed nowhere else. Its audience is whoever drives past, so compare callers' ZIP codes with where that road's drivers live and work; calls from areas whose drivers never pass it point to something other than the board.
What does a quarter of TV, billboard and streaming spend look like?
Illustrative: the three-lawyer workers' compensation firm below is imaginary and every figure in its quarter is made up, so no number here belongs to a client.
| Medium | Spend | Calls to its own number | Intake-tagged callers on the main line | Signed cases | Cost per signed case |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broadcast TV | $45,000 | 80 | 12 | 5 | $9,000 |
| Billboard | $8,500 | 14 | 3 | 1 | $8,500 |
| Connected TV (first flight) | $6,000 | 4 | 2 | 0 | Too early to score |
| Total | $59,500 | 98 | 17 | 6 | $9,917 |
Cost per signed case = spend ÷ signed cases, counting cases from both the medium's own number and the main-line callers intake tagged to it: $45,000 ÷ 5 = $9,000 for TV, $8,500 ÷ 1 = $8,500 for the billboard, and $59,500 ÷ 6 = $9,917 overall, rounded. Connected TV's first flight has 4 calls to its number, 2 tagged callers and no signed case yet, so give it a second quarter before deciding.
What to ask your media buyer or vendor
- Which log do you use for exact air times, and can I see it for the week a flight ran, next to my own call records?
- Is a tracking number or short web address live on every flight before it airs, not added after?
- For a connected TV flight, what does the seller's delivery report break out: households, devices or something else?
- Has this version of the spot or board been checked against my state bar's current filing and content rules, and where is the dated, filed copy kept?
- What intake answer should a caller get when they can't remember the station or don't recall seeing an ad at all?
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Frequently asked questions
Why are there so many lawyer commercials on TV now?
I found no primary source that measures why, so this is reasoning rather than data. On a contingency fee one signed case can pay for a lot of airtime, and a single spot reaches a whole market at once. None of that tells you which station works for your firm; only your own call and case records can.
Are billboard lawyers any good?
A board on a highway shows that a firm can pay for the board, nothing about the lawyers behind it. Before judging a firm by its billboard, look the lawyer up on your state's official attorney search, run by the state bar or the courts, which shows whether the lawyer is licensed and in good standing.
Should TV get credit for every call that comes in right after a spot airs?
Only the calls to that spot's own number belong to it outright. A jump in main-line calls in the minutes after a listed air time, compared with the same slot on days the spot didn't run, points to that station or slot, but it doesn't prove any single caller saw the ad. Intake's source answer still decides each case.
Does connected TV replace the separate number a broadcast spot needs?
No. A connected TV seller's report describes delivery, such as how many households saw the ad, not who called, so the flight still needs its own number and short web address to tie a call or a visit to that placement.
How long should I wait before judging a billboard or a TV flight?
Longer than a week for either. A board works on commuters who pass it again and again, and someone who saw a spot may call days after the flight ends. Judge both over a full quarter and let the first month set a baseline rather than a verdict.
What if a caller says they saw me on TV but can't remember which station?
That call still counts toward TV as a medium, just not toward one station's number, so it belongs in the intake system under a TV answer, dated, rather than discarded. Enough of those pointing at one flight's weeks are still a signal, even with no single station to credit.
Written by
Alexander Cheberko
Marketing Analytics & Conversion Tracking Engineer, NYC-focused, run remotely
- Media buyer on Google Ads and Meta Ads from October 2023 to September 2025, nearly $700K in spend.
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