What a $1,500/Month Ad Budget Actually Gets a Family Law Firm

If you're a family law attorney thinking about advertising on Google, the first question you're probably asking is: what do I actually get for the money?

The family law Google ads budget question is one we answer on almost every discovery call. The honest answer is: it depends on your market, and the numbers are more specific than most people expect. This post walks through exactly what $1,500 a month in ads produces for a family law firm in five different cities — using real lead costs from Google's own tool, not estimates.

First: What $1,500/Month Pays For

The $1,500 here is your ad spend — the money that goes directly to Google and generates lead calls. It doesn't cover management or anything else. We keep those separate for a reason: you should know exactly where every dollar is going.

At Crow & Pitcher, our fee is a flat $1,000/month. The ad spend goes from your card directly to Google. We never touch it, never mark it up. So the all-in number for a family law firm with one office is $2,500/month: $1,000 to us, $1,500 to Google.

Here's what that $1,500 in ad spend produces.

The Math by Market

Lead costs for family law vary by city. These numbers come from Google's own advertising tool, pulled by zip code. We use the midpoint of each range for the math below.

Nashville, TN — Family Law Lead Cost: $56–$84 (midpoint $70)

Columbus, OH — Family Law Lead Cost: $46–$69 (midpoint $57)

Indianapolis, IN — Family Law Lead Cost: $37–$56 (midpoint $46)

Raleigh-Durham, NC — Family Law Lead Cost: $32–$48 (midpoint $40)

Kansas City, MO/KS — Family Law Lead Cost: $50–$75 (midpoint $62)

What "Conservative" Means Here

A 20% sign rate means 1 in 5 people who call becomes a client. That's not an optimistic number for a well-run family law intake — most attorneys who are responsive and run a clean consultation convert more than that. We use 20% because it's defensible, not because it's the ceiling.

The $3,500 case value is also conservative. Family law cases run from a few hundred dollars for an uncontested divorce to tens of thousands for contested custody. We use $3,500 as a floor, not an average.

The point isn't to oversell the math. The point is that even on conservative assumptions, the numbers work in every market in the table above.

What Can Change the Numbers

A few things affect actual results:

Intake quality matters more than ad spend. If calls go to voicemail and nobody calls back, the best ads in the world won't sign clients. The firms that get the most out of advertising answer their phones or have someone who does.

Market saturation affects lead volume. These numbers represent what's available when you're competing for searches in your zip. More active advertisers in your zip means more competition for the same pool of searches — which can push lead costs toward the high end of the range.

Seasonality is real. Family law searches spike in January (post-holiday filings) and slow in late summer. Month-to-month results vary; the math works on a quarterly view, not necessarily week by week.

None of these are reasons to avoid advertising. They're things to go in knowing, so you're not surprised by a slower February or a busier March.

Is $1,500/Month the Right Starting Number?

For most single-practice family law firms in the markets above, $1,500/month is enough to generate meaningful lead volume without spreading thin. You can go lower ($800–$1,000) and still get results — it just means fewer calls per month. We'd rather you start at a number that feels comfortable and see results than commit to a big budget you're anxious about from day one.

If you want to see what $1,500 specifically produces for your zip code, book a 15-minute call. We'll pull your number, run the math live, and give you a real answer about whether it works for your firm.

Lead cost figures sourced from Google's advertising tool, Q1 2026. Sign rate and case value assumptions are conservative estimates used for illustration. Actual results vary.