Canadian Lawyer

rational, the videos are stylistically more like the athlete profi les that run continuously during Olympic Games than what they actually are: Commercials for a group of the best-known per- sonal injury law fi rms in Ontario. Th e Personal Injury Alliance is a marketing venture initiated a result of accidents. Accompanied by soſt music playing in the background and showing the individuals now leading active lives despite their injuries, the video clips also include praise for their unnamed lawyers. Th ey end simply with the person stating his or her name. Glossy, with good production values, and attempting to be inspi- rominently displayed on the web site of a legal marketing initiative called the Personal Injury Alliance are links to three one-minute long com- mercials featuring people who have suff ered catastrophic injuries as injuries result in litigation, there is still a large and potentially lu- crative pool of clients for the personal injury bar. As a result, advertising campaigns Canadians previously saw on U.S.-based television channels are now cropping up on local radio and TV stations, especially all-news channels. "Get ready. You are going to see plaintiff personal injury ads everywhere, dicts Todd Reybroek, who heads Reybroek Barristers in Toronto. "It is absolutely the future, " pre- fi rm's advertising eff orts are still relatively modest and referrals are " he says, although he notes his own the most common way new clients are retained. What many in the personal injury fi eld, including Reybroek, in June by Th omson Rogers, McLeish Orlando LLP, and Oatley Vigmond LLP — three fi rms that generally compete to represent clients with serious injuries that oſt en lead to high-stakes litiga- tion and potential multi-million-dollar damages awards. Since the summer, the fi rms have used the videos and radio commercials in an advertising campaign that has raised the profi le of what they call the PIA, rather than marketing each fi rm individually. Th e joint venture is believed to be the fi rst of its kind in Canada and a refl ection of the new reality of the hyper-competitive per- sonal injury fi eld, especially in southern Ontario. Gone are the days of simply advertising in the Yellow Pages, legal and other publications, and maintaining good relationships with other law- yers and those in the medical profession. "Th e reason for the alli- ance is marketing clout," states Roger Oatley, a founding partner of Oatley Vigmond and long recognized as a leading lawyer in the personal injury bar. "It is expensive and we wish we did not have to do it," he adds, while admitting the advertising campaign is necessary, even for fi rms that handle the higher-end cases and are not a volume practice. Th ese days, understanding terms such as "search engine op- timization" are as important to a fi rm's success as its skill in the are watching closely is the impact of the Personal Injury Alli- ance campaign and whether joint advertising is a strategy other fi rms will need to emulate to maintain a healthy client base. As well, while no one is commenting specifi cally on its practices, the elephant in the personal injury advertising room in the Toronto area is the fi rm Diamond & Diamond. David Diamond and his nephew Jeremy Diamond appear to be the largest advertisers in this fi eld in Toronto. It is diffi cult to listen to sports or talk radio for any extended period without hearing a commercial for the fi rm. Th ere are also advertisements on television, in prominent spots in the Toronto Sun newspaper, as well as on buses and at bus stops. In a video posted on YouTube related to a charity event last year, You are going to see plaintiff personal injury "Get ready. ads everywhere" — Todd Reybroek courtroom. Along with the need to be at the top of Google search- es is the requirement to market directly to the potential client. Increasingly, advertising for personal injury fi rms has expanded beyond web sites to radio, television, and newspaper advertise- ments as well as aggressive niche marketing. Th ere are safety campaigns sponsored by fi rms, Christmas parties for patients in trauma units, advertisements on in-house television in hospitals, and much more. At the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, the barriers that liſt as you enter and exit the parking lot in the build- ing both display advertisements for a local personal injury fi rm. A report issued by Statistics Canada in 2009 listed the annu- al cost of personal injuries to Canadian society at $19.8 billion. Nearly 20 per cent of all injuries requiring hospitalization involved "transportation incidents." While only a small percentage of these 28 N O VEMBER / D ECEMBER 2012 www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com Isaac Zisckind, the brother-in-law of Jeremy Diamond, suggests his face can "be seen all over the city. In fact, I do not think there is a bus bench anywhere in Toronto you can sit, without having your tu chas on his face. it says is its ability to restore dignity to the lives of potential clients, the Diamond & Diamond advertisements are of the more tradi- tional personal injury style, stressing a free consultation and lack of fees if the fi rm does not reach a settlement. Th e 1-800 num- ber for prospective clients to call ends with the letters HURT. Th e family fi rm also does not shy away from long-standing stereotypes about this area of legal practice. On the same YouTube video men- tioned above, which is listed as a tribute to Jeremy Diamond and his wife Sandra Zisckind (a personal injury lawyer at Grillo Bar- risters in Toronto), David Diamond recounts a story about seeing an ambulance and chasing it, since he is a personal injury lawyer. In contrast to the PIA radio commercials, which focus on what "

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