Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m A U G U S T 2 0 1 5 9 D arcy Merkur has had enough. Whether it's misleading infor- mation about the amount of experience a law firm has on display with apparent pride on the side of a bus or phallic innuendo suggestive of big settlements strategically placed above men's urinals at the Air Canada Centre, legal advertising in Ontario, in his view, has gotten out of hand. "We think the public has been misled. We'd love some solutions." The problem is particularly acute in personal injury law, he says, because of the frequency of contingency-fee arrangements in that area. Generating new files becomes extremely important to firms, leading to intense competi- tion for clients and, in turn, advertis- ing that some lawyers believe has spun out of control. The worst offenders, in Merkur's view, are firms that boast about extensive trial experience when in fact they have very little. John McLeish, a founding part- ner of McLeish Orlando LLP, agrees that something needs to change. For McLeish, misrepresentations about lawyers' experience and the settlements they can achieve pose a real threat to many people struggling with how to cope financially after an injury. "The average person on the street doesn't know how or doesn't have time to do due diligence," he says. "So they're vul- nerable." On top of that, he says, much of the advertising is offensive and is "sullying the profession." The concerns arise as the Law Soci- ety of Upper Canada prepares to take another look at the issue. In June, Con- vocation agreed to a call for input on proposed changes to the regulations on advertising. Interested parties have until mid-October to comment. Among the proposed changes are additions to existing commentary that give examples of marketing practices that would contravene its rules. They include "failing to disclose that the legal work is routinely referred to other law- yers for a fee rather than being performed by the lawyer"; "misleading about the size of the lawyer's practice or the areas of law in which the lawyer provides services"; "referring to fee arrangements offered to clients without qualifications"; and "advertising awards and endorsements from third parties without disclaimers or qualifications." Maia Bent, president of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, calls the \ AT L A N T I C \ C E N T R A L \ W E S T REGIONAL WRAP-UP SOME ONTARIO LAWYERS PUSHING FOR A BAN ON ADVERTISING Continued on page 10 Because business issues are legal issues. So if you want to get ahead in business, get the degree that gets you there faster. ONE YEAR – PART - TIME – NO THESIS FOR L AWYERS AND NON - LAWYERS law.utoronto.ca/ExecutiveLLM GPLLM Global Professional Master of Laws [Get a Master of Laws] Untitled-1 1 2015-02-25 8:38 AM

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