How to Register a .law Domain: Eligibility, Steps, and Costs

To register a .law domain, you buy it from a registrar that sells the extension, submit your professional licensing details at checkout, and wait for an independent verification agency to confirm your credentials before the domain becomes active. The .law top-level domain is restricted: GoDaddy Registry (Registry Services, LLC) operates it and screens every applicant against public licensing records maintained by bar associations and legal regulators.¹

Who Qualifies

Registration is open to five categories only. The general public, paralegals, legal support staff, and non-lawyer legal technology companies are excluded.²

Qualified lawyers currently licensed by a legal regulator to practice law. Inactive or non-practicing status does not qualify.
Law firms formed by one or more qualified lawyers as partnerships or incorporated entities. Where local rules require it, the firm itself must be authorized by a legal regulator. Paralegal firms, transcription services, and other support-service companies are excluded.³
Courts of law with authority to adjudicate disputes and administer justice.
Law schools approved by a legal or educational authority to provide the training required to become a qualified lawyer.
Legal regulators established by law to regulate the provision of legal services, such as bar associations and law societies.

What to Have Ready Before You Apply

Incomplete submissions are the most common cause of delays, and the verification agency cross-references your entries against public records. Even a missing middle initial can trigger a request for additional documentation.⁴ Gather:

Your full legal name, matching your bar admission or licensing records exactly, including middle initials, suffixes, and hyphenation.
The jurisdiction where you hold your license and the name of the regulator that granted it.
Your bar or license number, which the verification agency uses to look you up.
For firms, courts, schools, or regulators, the official entity name as it appears on file with the relevant authority.

The Registration Steps

Not every domain registrar sells .law. Confirm your registrar carries the extension before you begin. Registrars offering .law include Porkbun, NameSilo, Spaceship, and Regery, among others, and GoDaddy sells them directly.⁵

From there the process is straightforward. Search for your desired domain name, add it to your cart, and enter your professional details during checkout. Once you submit payment, the application enters the verification queue. You’ll receive email updates as the registry’s independent verification agency reviews your credentials.¹

Verification and Timing

The verification agency compares the name you submit against public licensing records maintained by bar associations and regulators worldwide.⁴ If it can confirm your identity and active license from those records alone, you’re approved without further action.

Because public record availability varies by jurisdiction, some applicants are asked to supply additional documentation. That might be a copy of your accreditation certificate, a screenshot of your bar status page, or other proof of active licensure.⁴ The registry doesn’t publish a fixed timeline, so expect the review to stretch if your jurisdiction’s records aren’t easily accessible online.

One consequence for planning: your domain won’t go live immediately after payment. It sits in a pending state until verification clears. Build a buffer into any website launch date.

What It Costs

A standard .law domain runs roughly $78 to $85 per year for both initial registration and annual renewal, depending on the registrar. Porkbun and Sav sit at the lower end near $78; NameSilo and Regery are closer to $85.⁵ That’s higher than a typical .com at $10–$20 per year, reflecting the verification overhead and restricted registrant pool.

Premium names — short, generic, or high-value terms such as dictionary words, geographic names, or industry-specific terms — carry pricing set at the registry level, and the elevated price typically applies to renewals as well as the first year.⁶

Transfers between registrars run about $78 to $83 and generally extend your registration by one year. The new registrar still verifies your eligibility, so transferring is not a way around the credential requirement.⁵

Keeping the Domain After Your Status Changes

Verification is not a one-time gate. The registry performs ongoing eligibility checks after your domain is active.³ If your license lapses, moves to inactive status, or is suspended, you no longer meet the requirements and risk losing the domain. Retirement, voluntary inactive status, unpaid bar dues, and disciplinary suspensions all count.²

If a periodic audit finds your license inactive, expect to lose the domain. Lawyers approaching retirement or an inactive status change should migrate their web presence to a .com or another unrestricted extension before the status change takes effect, rather than after a non-compliance notice arrives. For firms, register the domain under the firm entity where possible, and keep the firm itself in good standing with whatever regulator oversees it.

1
GoDaddy Registry. Eligibility Policy – Section 1.1 Eligibility
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Rebel.com. About LAW Domains
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GoDaddy. LAW Domain Names
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Join.Law. Join Law FAQ
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TLD-List. Cheapest .law Domain Registration, Renewal, Transfer Prices
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NameSilo. Reserved and Premium Tiers Explained: Why Some Domains Cost More at Checkout