For most law firm profiles the best primary category is Law firm — use it when: firm with several lawyers. Choose Lawyer instead if individual lawyer (US 'Attorney' also exists). Choose Solicitor instead if uK / AU / IE solicitors. Legal, finance and property work is regulated in the US, UK, Australia and Canada. Only use a category that matches a licence or registration someone at this office holds.
Open the free tool for a law firm → tick what you really offer and get a copy-ready setup sheet
Primary category
- Law firm — Firm with several lawyers
- Lawyer — Individual lawyer (US 'Attorney' also exists)
- Solicitor — UK / AU / IE solicitors
Secondary (additional) categories
Add one only if the condition is genuinely true at this location. Fewer, accurate categories beat a full list of nine.
- Personal injury attorney — only if: personal injury who else uses it
- Family law attorney — only if: family / divorce who else uses it
- Criminal justice attorney — only if: criminal defence
- Estate planning attorney — only if: wills, trusts, probate who else uses it
- Immigration attorney — only if: immigration who else uses it
- Business attorney verify — only if: business / corporate
- Real estate attorney — only if: real estate / conveyancing
- Employment attorney — only if: employment law
1 category is marked verify: it may not appear in every account or country. If you can't find it in Google's dropdown, skip it rather than picking something close but wrong.
Categories to avoid
These are often added to law firm profiles but usually describe a different or broader business:
- Legal services (too vague unless non-lawyer)
- Notary public (unless commissioned)
Bar / law-society advertising rules apply: no 'best', 'guaranteed win' or result claims; use practice-area categories only for work you genuinely do.
Address or service area?
Usually a storefront: show the full address exactly as it appears on your signage, and keep it identical on Google, Apple Business Connect, Bing Places and your website. Service-area vs storefront rules.
Starter services to add
Categories say what you are; services say what you do. Good first entries:
- Free initial consultation
- Wills & estate planning
- Contract review
Check before you change anything
Search “lawyer” on Google Maps in your own area, open the top few profiles and note their primary category (shown under the business name). Use what's common as a sanity check, not a template — your categories must describe your business. Ready to switch? How to change your category safely.
Profile problems?
Suspended, stuck in verification, or not showing on Maps? See the free fix guides: suspended profile · verification failed · not on Maps · name rules.