New York dominates the legal advertising landscape by sheer volume. The Empire State legal ad market hit $14.5 million monthly as of late 2025, making it the nation’s largest in absolute spend.
Yet here’s the paradox: the media capital of the world allocates just 11% to streaming. Broadcast claims 51%. Radio eats 29%. Cable takes 9%.
This gap presents the clearest streaming opportunity in America’s top legal markets. Understanding how PI firms dominate local DMAs explains why the broadcast-first incumbents here are vulnerable.
Morgan & Morgan Leads, But Barely
Morgan and Morgan controls $1.92 million monthly, or 13.3% of New York’s legal ad market. That makes them the clear leader by volume.
But their dominance is modest. The top five firms span a range of just 7.7 percentage points, from 13.3% down to 5.3%.
Here is the breakdown:
Top Five New York Legal Advertisers
- Morgan & Morgan: $1.92M (13.3%)
- Barnes Firm: $1.14M (7.9%)
- Gorayeb & Associates: $804K (5.6%)
- Oresky & Associates: $774K (5.3%)
- Burns & Harris: $656K (4.5%)
These five firms spend $5.3 million combined. That represents 37% of the entire market. Understanding the legal advertising market size nationally puts New York’s concentration in perspective. The remaining 63% splits across dozens of smaller firms competing for attention.
Morgan and Morgan’s national presence gives them scale advantages. Their New York operation remains their highest-spend market by far. But they also run traditional broadcast-heavy buys. Neither Barnes Firm nor Gorayeb has made CTV a strategic focus.
Radio Still Reigns
New York legal advertisers allocated 29% of spend to radio in late 2025. No other top-10 market allocates that much to radio.
This reflects the commuting culture of the New York area. Drive time radio remains powerful in the tri-state region, much like Philadelphia’s radio-heavy advertising market down I-95. Morning and evening commutes capture audiences in ways other markets don’t.
Yet this radio dominance masks a streaming vacuum.
The Streaming Gap
Broadcast captures 51% at $7.4 million monthly. Radio takes 29% at $4.2 million. Cable gets 9% at $1.3 million.
That leaves 11% for CTV: $1.6 million monthly.
Consider the math: New York’s CTV allocation equals what Morgan & Morgan spends alone. A market leader’s entire monthly budget fills the streaming category.
The gap widens when you compare to Los Angeles, which allocates 33% to CTV. Houston runs 18%. Chicago sits at 20%. New York at 11% stands among the lowest of major markets.
Inventory exists. Rates remain favorable. Yet New York legal advertisers haven’t shifted spend toward streaming at the pace of other regions.
Fragmentation Creates Opportunity
No single firm dominates New York legal advertising through sheer scale. Morgan and Morgan leads at 13.3%, but five other firms control substantial budgets too.
This fragmentation works both ways. It prevents any firm from buying up all available inventory. It also means new entrants or smaller firms can build streaming presence without competing directly against a monopolistic leader.
The 13.7 percentage point gap between Morgan and Morgan and the fifth-place firm means growth room exists. A firm executing a smart CTV strategy could chip away at broadcast allocation and gain outsized impact in a market where streaming remains underpenetrated.
What Comes Next
New York’s legal ad market grew 7.3% over the past year. That’s modest compared to Houston’s 20% growth or Los Angeles’ 120% surge. But growth nonetheless.
That growth typically flows into proven channels. Broadcast wins additional dollars. Radio stays sticky. CTV remains the path less traveled.
The opportunity for aggressive legal advertisers lies in reversing this pattern. CTV inventory costs less than broadcast in most markets. Targeting precision exceeds radio. Measurement capabilities surpass traditional media.
A firm willing to shift 3 to 5 percentage points from broadcast to CTV could establish streaming dominance in New York before the market catches up to national trends.
The next phase of New York legal advertising belongs to firms that see the gap and act.
References
- AdImpact. "Legal Advertising Trends Report, Q1 2026." 2026.
- Nielsen. "Streaming Shatters Multiple Records in December 2025 with 47.5% of TV Viewing." 2026.
- ATRA. "Legal Services Advertising Report, 2020-2024." 2025.
- ATRA. "Legal Services Advertising, New York, 2019-2023." 2024.
- IAB. "2025 Digital Video Ad Spend and Strategy Report." 2025.