PI Lawyer Marketing 2026: Ad Spending

Legal services advertisers spent more than $2.5 billion on 26.9 million ads in 2024. Personal injury and mass tort firms are the heaviest buyers.

Most of that money still goes to broadcast TV. That’s changing. Digital ad spend grew 84% from 2020 to 2024, but here’s the twist: digital ad volume dropped by more than half during the same period. Firms are paying more per placement because they’re moving out of cheap display into premium formats like CTV and online video.

The money follows attention. The question is whether your firm follows the money.

The National Picture

Morgan and Morgan, the largest PI firm in the country, spent $110.7 million on spot TV alone in 2024. That’s more than five times the next largest spender. Their total marketing budget sits around $350 million annually, spread across TV, billboards, and digital. For a closer look at their strategy, see Morgan and Morgan’s broadcast approach across 22 markets.

Top 10 Legal Advertisers (2024)

Rank	Firm	Spot TV Spend	Primary Markets
1	Morgan and Morgan	$110.7M	National
2	Thomas J. Henry	$21.5M	Texas
3	Jim Adler	$19.8M	Texas
4	Alexander Shunnarah	$18.2M	Southeast
5	Morris Bart	$16.9M	Gulf Coast
6	Sokolove Law	$15.4M	National (mass tort)
7	Parker Waichman	$12.1M	National (mass tort)
8	The Barnes Firm	$11.8M	CA, NY
9	Cellino Law	$10.2M	NY, FL
10	Richard Harris Law	$9.7M	Nevada

The concentration is striking. Top 10 firms account for over $245 million in spot TV. That’s nearly 10% of total legal advertising spend.

Channel Split

Aggregate channel allocation across markets looks like this:

Channel	Share
Broadcast	~63%
Cable	~15%
CTV/Streaming	~22%

That 22% CTV figure is an average. Some markets run higher. Las Vegas sits at 33%. Others trail at 18%. The variation tells the real story.

For where $150 million in monthly legal advertising goes across all 210 DMAs, we break down the full landscape.

What’s Changing in 2026

The industry data points one direction.

For adults under 50, streaming is the majority of TV consumption. CTV ad spending hit $33 billion in 2025 and is projected to reach $38 billion in 2026. That’s a 14% increase in one year. Legal vertical CTV adoption lags other industries by two to three years.

Firms still running 70%+ broadcast are paying more to reach fewer people. The economics are inverting.

CTV Adoption Gap

The fastest-growing markets often have the lowest CTV adoption. That creates a window.

Growth Tier	Average CTV %	Average Broadcast %
+15% or higher	~20%	~66%
+10% to +15%	~22%	~64%
+5% to +10%	~23%	~61%
Under +5%	~25%	~59%

The pattern: where broadcast is getting expensive and crowded, streaming remains accessible. Firms figuring this out now build presence before CTV costs rise.

How to Position Your Firm

CTV changes the math. You buy an audience, not a time slot.

Household-level targeting reaches specific demographics, behaviors, and geographies. Non-skippable formats deliver your full message every time. Attribution connects impressions to website visits to intake calls. For a full breakdown of CTV advertising costs for law firms, we cover the economics in detail.

By Firm Size

Small firms ($10-25K/month): Focus on single-market CTV dominance. Narrow targeting, high frequency in one DMA. Ninety days to establish presence.

Mid-size firms ($25-75K/month): Multi-market or hybrid approach. CTV primary, selective broadcast for reach. Six months to optimize mix.

Large firms ($75K+/month): Market dominance across channels. CTV for targeting, broadcast for mass awareness. Ongoing optimization.

By Market Position

A market leader defending share should maintain broadcast presence while adding CTV to capture cord-cutters. A challenger should lead with CTV for efficiency, targeting segments the leader misses. New entrants? Start CTV-only. Prove the model before adding channels.

The Morgan Counter-Strategy

In markets where Morgan controls 25-38% of broadcast, you don’t beat them on TV volume. The math doesn’t work.

Their weakness is their strength. A mass reach model means they can’t target narrowly. They miss cord-cutters entirely. Their ROI is modeled, not measured.

For smaller firms, CTV offers the households Morgan isn’t reaching. In a market where Morgan controls 38% of broadcast, 18% CTV adoption means the streaming audience is almost untouched.

Channel Mix Recommendations

For most PI firms, the optimal mix is shifting.

Channel	2024 Typical	2026 Recommended
Broadcast	65%	40-50%
Cable	15%	10%
CTV	20%	35-45%
Digital Video	-	5-10%

In high-CTV markets (Las Vegas, Seattle, Charlotte), push CTV to 50%+ of TV budget. In low-CTV markets, 30-40% captures underserved audiences. In high-growth markets (+15%/year), establish streaming presence before costs rise.

For broader context on building a law firm advertising budget, we cover the full allocation framework.

Attribution Gap

Broadcast measurement is statistics. CTV measurement is data.

What Broadcast Tells You	What CTV Tells You
Estimated ratings	Exact impressions per household
Gross impressions (duplicated)	Unique household reach
Correlated lift	Verified website visits
”Leads went up while TV ran”	Conversion tracking to signed case

For firms serious about ROI, CTV provides accountability broadcast can’t match. Our CTV attribution and measurement guide covers the full framework.

The Taqtics Approach

We track competitive data across every US DMA. Our market briefings cover Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and more.

Market intelligence. We show you where competitors spend and where the gaps are.

CTV-first strategy. Targeted streaming that builds brand and creates demand.

Full attribution. Connected tracking from impression to signed case.