The nature and volume of advertising for legal services is evolving rapidly, along with the legal services marketplace. The Law Society established the working group, in February 2016, to determine whether by-law and rule amendments may help ensure advertising and fee practices continue to be accurate, transparent and in the public interest.
The Working Group received a great deal of information about these issues, including advertising that may be false or misleading and fees that are not transparent and appear to have an impact on the way in which legal services are being provided, including:
It has received a great deal of information about these issues, including advertising that may be false or misleading and fees that are not transparent and appear to have an impact on the way in which legal services are being provided, such as:
- Advertising for legal services with a view to obtaining referral fees
- Use of endorsements and awards that are not objectively verifiable
- Lack of clarity in “all-in” pricing for legal services
- Disproportionate referral fees, both upfront and as a percentage of the result in a contingency fee matter
- Lack of transparency in contingent and referral fee arrangements