This guide applies AI search for law firms to Massachusetts: the advertising rules in their current form, what the courts have said about AI, and why Massachusetts questions need Massachusetts answers. It ends with the markets we cover in the state.
Two rules every Massachusetts page has to respect
The current versions of Rules 7.1 and 7.2 were adopted July 13, 2022 and took effect October 1, 2022. The rule set the Supreme Judicial Court publishes now runs from Rule 7.3 straight to Rule 8.1, so specialist claims are governed by Rule 7.2(c). Guidance that still cites a separate Massachusetts Rule 7.4 is working from older numbering.
Rule 7.1 says a lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer's services. Comment [3] warns that reporting past results can mislead if it suggests similar outcomes for other clients without regard to the facts and law of each matter, and that unsubstantiated claims or comparisons about services or fees can mislead too. An appropriate disclaimer or qualifying language may help.
Rule 7.2(c) lets lawyers hold themselves out publicly as specialists in particular services, fields, and areas of law, if the communication is not false or misleading. A claim of certification is narrower: the certifying organization must be clearly identified, and either the organization has been approved by an appropriate state authority or accredited by the ABA, or the communication states that it is a private organization whose standards are not regulated by a state authority or the ABA. Rule 7.2(d) requires the name of at least one lawyer or law firm responsible for the content.
Why this matters more in AI search: an assistant may quote one sentence with nothing around it. "Board-certified estate specialist" without the certifying body named is a problem on your site. Quoted alone in an AI answer, the missing context is gone for good.
What Massachusetts courts have said about AI
The Supreme Judicial Court's "Interim guidelines for use of Generative AI" (listed on Mass.gov with a date of November 12, 2025) apply to judges, clerks, court employees, and contractors of the state courts. They bar court staff from using generative AI for legal research and legal writing and limit other use to approved tools and public information. They do not address lawyers in private practice or marketing.
A Mass.gov research guide on artificial intelligence also lists Superior Court decisions, such as Smith v. Farwell (2024), holding lawyers responsible for AI-generated errors in their filings. For lawyers' own use of AI, look to ABA Formal Opinion 512, and to whether lawyers can use AI to write website content. Your website is governed by Rules 7.1 and 7.2 whoever drafts it, which is why every page we deliver is approved by the attorney.
Massachusetts questions need Massachusetts answers
National content often splits "family court" from "probate court." Massachusetts does not. The Probate and Family Court has jurisdiction over family-related and probate matters, such as divorce, paternity, child support, custody, parenting time, and adoption, along with wills, estates, trusts, guardianships, conservatorships, and name changes. The court has 14 divisions.
A page that sends a Massachusetts family to two different courts for a divorce and an estate gets the process wrong. The family law guide and the estate planning guide show how that one-court structure shapes practice pages.
Massachusetts markets
We write for firms statewide. Market guides cover the questions and local facts specific to each area:
Boston pages turn on neighborhoods and court divisions: Boston and Cambridge sit in different Probate and Family Court divisions.
What we build for Massachusetts firms
- Practice-area pages written to Rules 7.1 and 7.2, with specialty and certification language checked against Rule 7.2(c)
- County and division pages only where you take clients, with the Probate and Family Court division named correctly
- Answer posts for the questions Massachusetts clients ask, each linked to the right practice page
Injury firms should start with the personal injury guide, since results language is where Comment [3] to Rule 7.1 bites hardest.
Neighboring states
Some Massachusetts firms take clients from across a state line. A page for those readers should say which state's law it explains and where your attorneys are licensed. The New York guide covers that state's rules.
Common questions
Can a Massachusetts lawyer call themselves a specialist on their website?
Rule 7.2(c) allows lawyers to hold themselves out as specialists if the communication is not false or misleading. Claiming to be certified is narrower: the certifying organization must be named, and the claim must meet the rule's approval or disclaimer conditions.
Is the Massachusetts specialist rule still Rule 7.4?
Not in the current rules. The version effective October 1, 2022 places specialist and certification language in Rule 7.2(c), and the published rules run from Rule 7.3 to Rule 8.1.
Does Massachusetts require firms to disclose that marketing copy was drafted with AI?
The SJC's interim generative AI guidelines apply to court personnel, not to law firm marketing. Your website must still be accurate under Rule 7.1, and a lawyer should review it.
Keep reading
Sources
- Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 7.1 (adopted July 13, 2022, effective October 1, 2022)
- Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 7.2 (adopted July 13, 2022, effective October 1, 2022)
- Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct, Rule 7.3 (navigation to Rule 8.1)
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Interim guidelines for use of Generative AI (dated November 12, 2025 on Mass.gov)
- Mass.gov, Massachusetts law about artificial intelligence
- Massachusetts Probate and Family Court