AI search for South Carolina law firms

Four rules every South Carolina page has to respect

Rule 7.1 bars false or misleading communications. Under 7.1(b), a page may not create an unjustified expectation about results, and under 7.1(c), comparisons must be factually substantiated. Rule 7.1(d) allows testimonials only when identified as such, with any payment disclosed, from actual clients, and with the clear and conspicuous statement that results do not necessarily indicate similar results for others. Comment [3] applies that standard to past results such as verdicts, and 7.1(e) bars trade names that imply an ability to obtain results.

Rule 7.4 governs specialty language. Under 7.4(a), a lawyer certified under Rule 408, SCACR, or by an approved organization may say so, naming the certifying body. Under 7.4(b), other lawyers may state fields of practice in strictly factual terms but may not use any form of certified, specialist, expert, or authority, apart from narrow exceptions such as patent attorney.

Rule 7.2(a) requires advertisements to be predominately informational. Rule 7.2(d) requires the name and office address of at least one lawyer responsible for the content, and Rule 7.2(h) requires disclosure of the city or town of the office where the services will principally be performed.

Rule 7.2(i) requires disclosures to be legible, conspicuous, and on the same webpage as the statement that requires them. That matters in AI search: a disclaimer on a separate page will not travel with a sentence an assistant lifts from your practice page, so we place the required statement next to the claim it qualifies.

Review and records

Rule 7.2(b) makes the lawyer responsible for advertising content, requires review before dissemination, and requires a copy to be kept for two years after last use, with a record of when and where it ran. For a website, that means dated copies of your pages. Every page we deliver is approved by the attorney, and we keep the approved version with its date.

What South Carolina lawyers should look to on AI

For the ethics of using generative AI, South Carolina lawyers can look to ABA Formal Opinion 512, issued July 29, 2024, which addresses competence, confidentiality, client communication, meritorious claims, candor, supervision, and fees. None of that changes the advertising rules: a page drafted with AI is still a communication under Rule 7.1 and still needs the Rule 7.2 disclosures. See whether lawyers can use AI to write website content.

South Carolina questions need South Carolina answers

Generic content answers the national question, not the local one. Under S.C. Code 62-1-302(a)(1), the probate court has exclusive original jurisdiction over decedents' estates, including will contests and determination of heirs, though the circuit court may also determine heirs to resolve real estate matters. Under 62-1-309, probate judges are elected by the voters of their counties. A page that sends a will contest to a general trial court gets the process wrong; the estate planning guide shows how that plays out.

South Carolina markets

We write for firms statewide. Market guides cover the local facts that a statewide page cannot:

• Columbia
• Charleston
• Greenville

Columbia: the Clerk of Court works from the Richland County Judicial Center on Main Street. Charleston: the clerk keeps a separate Family Court office at 100 Broad Street. Greenville: the county lists six cities, and the courthouse is on East North Street.

What we build for South Carolina firms

• Practice-area pages written to Rules 7.1, 7.2, and 7.4, with required statements on the same page as the claims they qualify
• County pages only where you take clients, with the probate court, clerk, and courthouse named correctly
• Answer posts for the questions South Carolina clients ask, each linked to the right practice page

For personal injury, Rule 7.2(f) requires fee advertising to say whether clients owe expenses beyond the fee and whether a contingency percentage is computed before or after expenses. For family law, pages should point readers to the right Family Court office.

Neighboring states

The Charlotte market guide covers a search area that reaches into South Carolina, and the North Carolina guide and Georgia guide cover the rules next door. A page for cross-border readers should say which state's law it explains and where your attorneys are licensed.

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