Law Business Essentials

Some lawyers and firms include information and rankings from third-party publications on their websites. This is a common practice and may be acceptable when the publication is not paid to provide a lawyer or firm with a high ranking, and when the ranking is based on a valid and meritorious assessment process. The source of the ranking and the manner in which it is obtained and assessed is highly relevant.

References to awards or honours that genuinely reflect your professional or civic service do not contravene the Rules. You must ensure that references to awards and honours in legal advertising are based on a genuine and responsible assessment of your service.

The Law Society is occasionally asked to review lawyer referral and matching services. These services are often operated by non-lawyers who are not regulated, but you must ensure the service complies with the Code of Conduct before you participate or subscribe. Ultimately, you are responsible for how you are described by a referral or a matching service. For example, the referral service may have only one real estate lawyer on its roster, but it conveys to members of the public that they have found the “best” lawyer for the file. This is clearly misleading. The referring agency or service should not purport to rank or rate its subscribing lawyers, nor state they are the best in their practice area. If it does, lawyers should not subscribe to it.