Advertising Rules for Lawyers in Ontario: Do’s and Don’ts

You’re an ambitious lawyer with big plans for your practice in Ontario. You’re ready to implement cutting-edge marketing tactics that showcase your expertise, impress new clients, and dominate the competition. There’s just one thing holding you back – legal advertising rules.

What’s allowed? What’s not allowed? Where is the line? Are you playing it too safe? Is there room to challenge the rules? You need to refresh yourself on Ontario’s advertising rules for lawyers and check out our Lawyer Advertising Guide.

Firstly, you’d better not call Saul:

Saul Goodman’s advertising advice would be this – be disruptive, deceptive, and downright distasteful. This would lead to disaster for any reputable law firm.

If you want your law firm’s advertising to get results without breaking the rules, we’re here to help.

We’ll be diving deep into defining Ontario’s advertising rules for lawyers and explaining how you can follow them.

We’ll also provide you with actionable advice on the marketing strategies that will get results for your law firm.

First, Some Background on Law Firm Advertising Rules

Before we cut to the chase and explain the advertising rules for lawyers in Ontario, we’re going to take a look at how and why they exist.

This is because explaining the context behind this topic is part of the SEO strategy behind our blog – but, context matters a great deal to lawyers, too.

So, if you’d like to understand the historical background of legal advertising rules and the impact of digital marketing, keep reading.

If you’d rather get straight to the point, we get it. Skip ahead.

A Brief History of Advertising Rules for Lawyers

Back in the good old days, law firms never needed to advertise.

Every little town or district had a local legal practice, with the partners’ names in gilded letters above the window.

via GIPHY

In many countries (including Canada), advertising a law firm was illegal.

And in Germany, up until 1990, you’d face serious objections for listing your practice in the yellow pages!

In the US and Canada, a landmark decision by the Supreme Court in 1977 (Bates v. State Bar of Arizona) finally granted attorneys the right to market their services.

But the ethics of law firm advertising have continued to be challenged and debated by court systems.

The most important decision was made in New York in 2007 – an attorney’s Ten Commandments of what NOT to include in an ad:

1. Client endorsements
2. Portrayal of judges
3. Paid testimonials
4. Portrayal of a fictitious lawyer or law firm
5. Using actors
6. Promoting irrelevant characteristics of the lawyers
7. Ads resembling legal documents
8. Soliciting new clients within 30 days following a tort
9. Limits on how you communicate with non-clients
10. Using a nickname or moniker

Interestingly, rules 1, 2, 4, 6, and 10 were later amended and struck down for being unconstitutional.

So, Can Lawyers Advertise in Ontario?

Yes, absolutely.

Just follow three core rules from the Law Society of Ontario’s Code of Conduct.

Those are the rules, straight from the Ontario government.

Now, go and follow them.

Only joking, let’s dive deeper.

What Happens if Lawyers Break Advertising Rules?

Well, it’s hard to say.

It’s fairly easy to find law firm websites that seem to be taking liberties with the rules. However, there aren’t many available resources on recent cases of lawyers facing consequences for breaking advertising rules.

What we do know is that the penalties for breaking the Competition Act, Canada’s primary legislation for advertising and marketing, are:

• Going to court with the Competition Tribunal
• Publicly saying you’ve done a naughty thing and you’re very sorry
• Paying restitution
• Penalties of up to $750,000 for individuals and $10 million for corporations

via GIPHY

That doesn’t sound particularly comfortable, does it?

Okay, onto how to be safe with your advertising. Here’s what NOT to do…

LSO Advertising Rules – What You Can’t Do

Claim to be a ‘Specialist’ or ‘Expert’ Without Certification

If someone’s ex-wife takes custody of their child unlawfully and takes them across their state border, they’re going to be desperate for legal help.

And if they see your ad on Facebook claiming to be an expert in child abduction, they’ll be calling your number in a matter of seconds.

They’re in a desperate state and they take your ad seriously.

But if your level of expertise hasn’t been verified by a third party…

• You’re at risk of appearing to mislead clients, and
• They’re at risk of hiring an inexperienced lawyer

Now, that dramatic story makes the rule sound super simple – don’t say you specialize unless you’ve been approved by the Certified Specialist program.

But, of course, it’s more complicated than that, with many legal experts thinking a specialized lawyer does not need to be certified.

You can get tangled up in all that, or you can just follow the rules and get certified. We recommend the latter.

Apply for certification here.

Another thing you can do is avoid the words “specialist” and “expert” altogether, while still insinuating your proficiency in this area of law.

Here’s a clever example:

Appeal to Emotions in Your Advertising

In most industries, the success of an ad campaign hinges on its ability to evoke an emotional response – particularly feelings of fear, anger, happiness, belonging, and greed.

And we’re all used to it as consumers, especially at Christmas.