Legal advertising under the microscope (Maia Bent quoted)
Darcy Merkur has had enough. Whether it’s misleading information 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.
The concerns arise as the Law Society of Upper Canada prepares to take another look at the issue. Last month, Convocation agreed to a call for input around a set of proposed changes to its existing regulations on advertising. Interested parties have until mid-October to comment on whether the law society should make the proposed changes, leave things as they are or consider other options.
Maia Bent, president of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association, calls the proposed changes a good first step in addressing a lack of transparency in much of Ontario’s legal advertising. She hopes the law society will strictly enforce the changes if it approves them.