Most firms do one of two things with case results. They publish nothing, because somebody once said it was risky, or they publish a wall of dollar figures with a disclaimer stapled to the bottom. There is a version in between that ranks, converts, and stays inside what your state bar allows. The structure of each entry matters more than the size of the number in it.
I am not a lawyer and none of this is compliance advice. What follows is the marketing structure. Your own read of your state’s advertising rules decides what you can publish, and that review should happen before anything goes live.
Why a results page is worth the trouble
Two kinds of people read a results page. The first is a referred prospect who already decided to call you and wants one last reason not to feel foolish. The second is somebody comparing three firms in a browser tab each, with no basis for comparison except what each site is willing to show.
For the first reader, a results page is the last click before the phone. For the second, it is the only thing on your site that is specifically about outcomes rather than process. Firms that publish nothing hand that whole conversation to whoever published something.
There is a search benefit too, though it is smaller than vendors claim. Result entries written in plain language tend to pick up long tail queries that your practice area pages are too broad to catch. That is a side effect, not the reason to build the page.
Settle the compliance questions before you write anything
Advertising rules differ by state and by practice area, and they get revised. Rather than guess, get specific answers to a short list of questions from whoever handles compliance at your firm, and get them in writing so the next person who updates the site has something to work from.
- Can we state a dollar amount at all, and if so, gross or net of fees and costs?
- What disclaimer language is required, and does it have to appear next to each result or once on the page?
- Do we need written client consent for each matter we describe, even without a name?
- Are there matters we cannot describe at all, such as anything sealed or still on appeal?
- Who signs off before a new entry is published, and how long does that take?
That last one decides whether the page stays current. A firm I worked with had a beautiful results page with its most recent entry from three years earlier, because nobody knew who was allowed to approve a new one.
The structure of a single result entry
A dollar figure on its own tells a reader nothing they can use. What persuades is the shape of the problem, because that is what they recognize from their own situation. Four short elements, in this order, carry it:
- The situation in one sentence. Who the client was in general terms, and what had gone wrong. A delivery driver rear ended on I-25 near the Harmony Road exit. A Greeley contractor whose general liability carrier denied a claim.
- The complication. The reason it was not routine. A disputed fault finding, a missed deadline before they hired you, a prior attorney who had already filed.
- What the firm did. The actual work. Depositions taken, an expert retained, a motion that changed the posture of the case.
- The outcome, stated however your rules allow. A number, a range, or a plain description such as full policy limits or charges dismissed before trial.
Anonymize by default. Client type, county, and year are almost always enough context, and they keep you out of the consent problem for most entries. A matter handled in Larimer County District Court in 2024 reads as specific without identifying anybody.
Where the disclaimer goes
The common mistake is a block of gray eight point type at the bottom of the page that nobody reads and that may not satisfy the rule anyway. If your state requires the disclaimer near the claim, put it near the claim, in the same size text as the entry, styled as a normal sentence rather than legal exhaust.
Written as a sentence a person would actually read, it does less damage to the page than firms expect. Readers are not scared off by an acknowledgment that cases differ. They are scared off by a page that looks like it was built by a compliance department under protest.
What to publish if you cannot use numbers
Plenty of practice areas cannot put a figure on the page, and some firms decide the risk is not worth it even where they could. That does not mean you have nothing to show. The complication and the work are the persuasive parts anyway.
Write the same four part entry and let the outcome line be qualitative. Case resolved before the hearing. Agreement reached without litigation. Custody schedule preserved. A reader with a similar problem is looking for evidence you have seen their situation before, and that evidence is in the first three lines, not the last one.
If numbers are off the table entirely, your attorney bio pages carry more of the persuasion load, and the messaging on your main service pages has to do work the results page would otherwise do.
How the page should be built and linked
Build one results page per practice area rather than a single combined list. A prospect with a family law matter should not have to scroll past eleven construction defect entries, and a focused page is easier to rank for the terms that matter to that practice.
Link each practice area page to its own results page and back. Link the relevant results page from the bio of whichever attorney handled those matters. Keep the newest entries at the top, with the year visible, so the page shows its own freshness without anybody having to maintain a date stamp.
Add new entries on a schedule, not when somebody remembers. One entry a month is plenty, and it gives your search work something new to index without a content project.
Common questions
Do I need the client’s permission to post a case result?
It depends on your state and on how identifiable the description is. Anonymized entries that give only client type, county, and year are usually treated differently from entries naming a person or a recognizable business. This is one to confirm with your own compliance review rather than copy from another firm’s site.
Why does my firm rank in Fort Collins but not in Loveland or Longmont?
Local rankings are heavily tied to your office address, so a Fort Collins office will always compete better in Fort Collins. Results entries that name the county or court where a matter was handled give Google real, non duplicated content tied to those areas. That is a slower and more durable fix than building near identical city pages.
Should I list every case or just the big ones?
Neither. A page of only large outcomes reads as unrepresentative and can create expectations you do not want in a consultation. Publish a mix that looks like your actual docket, including routine matters resolved cleanly, which is what most prospects have.
Will a results page hurt my chances with insurance defense or corporate work?
Sometimes, and it is worth asking before you build. Institutional buyers often respond better to matter descriptions without figures. If your firm serves both consumer and institutional clients, keep those sections separate so each reader sees the version meant for them.
How often does the page need updating to be worth having?
Once a month is a comfortable pace and once a quarter still works. What does not work is a page whose most recent entry is three years old, which tells a reader more about your firm than the entries do.
I work with firms from Fort Collins and Greeley down through Longmont, Broomfield, and the Denver metro, and this is usually the fastest conversion fix available to a firm that already ranks. If you want a second set of eyes on what your site is currently claiming, start with the law firm marketing page, look at how I present results, or start from the top.