Law firm website design in Singapore starts with the practice areas: which matters the firm takes on, and who handles them. Visitors usually arrive anxious, after a letter of demand, a separation or a deal that needs papering, and they're checking whether you're the right firm to call. The site should tell them that quickly and give them a safe way to get in touch. Everything on it, including how the firm describes itself, has to sit within the professional conduct rules on publicity.
Practice area pages
Many firm sites list practice areas as a grid of single words: corporate, litigation, family, conveyancing. That's how lawyers organise their work, and clients rarely describe their problems that way. Give each area its own page and open it with the situations it covers, in the client's words: "my business partner wants out", "I've been served with court papers", "we're buying our first flat".
Each practice area page should then cover:
- what the firm does and doesn't take on within that area
- how a typical matter runs, stage by stage
- what to bring or prepare for a first meeting
- who in the firm handles this work, linked to their profile
- how fees are usually structured for this kind of matter, if you're prepared to say
Precise scope helps clients decide, and as the next section shows, it also matters for compliance.
Publicity rules for law firm website design in Singapore
The rules on publicity by Singapore lawyers sit in Part 5 of the Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015, and the Law Society publishes practice directions on applying them. Two points shape a website most:
- Rule 44 covers publicity that is misleading, deceptive, inaccurate or false, or that is unbefitting the dignity of the profession or likely to diminish public confidence in it.
- Rule 43(1)(a) requires that any claim to expertise or specialisation can be justified.
The Law Society's practice direction on advertisement and media publicity, written with TV commercials in mind, gives examples of what can make publicity misleading: a material misrepresentation, such as calling the firm a leading family law practice without the expertise to back it; leaving out a material fact, such as acting only in uncontested divorces; information that can't be verified, such as a phone number without the firm's name; and anything likely to create an unjustified expectation about results. It also says that suggesting other firms overcharge is unbefitting the dignity of the profession.
On a website, that turns into a few habits:
- describe scope precisely on every practice area page
- show the firm's full name and contact details on every page
- leave out "leading", "top" and similar claims unless you can justify them
- handle case results and outcome figures with care, since they can suggest results a new client shouldn't expect
If your site mentions an associated foreign lawyer who isn't registered to practise in Singapore and isn't a member of the firm, the Law Society's practice direction on identifying legal practitioners sets out the minimum wording to use, covering where they're qualified and that they aren't regulated by the Law Society.
This is general information, not legal advice. Check the rules and practice directions as they apply to your firm.
Lawyer profiles
A lawyer's profile is often the last page a client reads before getting in touch. Each one should have:
- a recent, natural photograph
- admission details and the jurisdictions they're qualified in
- the matters they handle, described as specifically as the practice area pages
- the languages they work in
- articles or talks they're happy to point to
- a direct way to reach them or their team
Keep every claim checkable. "Advises SMEs on employment disputes, in English and Mandarin" is more useful to a client, and safer, than "a leading employment lawyer". Give partners, associates and consultants the same format, so a client can compare and find the right person quickly. A consistent profile format is part of the firm's brand identity, along with the logo and letterhead.
Enquiries, confidentiality and conflict checks
The contact page is where a law firm site differs most from other service businesses. Someone may be about to share sensitive details with a firm that could already be acting for the other side. The page and its form should:
- tell people not to send confidential details or documents until the firm confirms it can act
- ask for the names of the other parties up front, so a conflict check can happen first
- say who reads enquiries and when people can expect a reply
- keep the form short: name, contact details, type of matter, other parties and a brief summary
Enquiry forms collect personal data, so the usual questions about notices, consent and retention apply. Our PDPA website checklist walks through them. If the current site buries any of this, a website redesign can rebuild the structure while keeping the pages that already bring in enquiries.
Before any copy is written, agree who in the firm signs it off. Each practice area page needs a check from the lawyer who leads that work, and reviews are easier to plan around fee-earning time when that's settled early. Our guide to website copywriting for service businesses covers drafting pages that answer client questions, and you can reach us through the contact page.