The advertising of legal services: A comparison of the perceptions of attorneys and of the public

Abstract

Practitioners in the so-called classical professions are increasingly facing competition from non-professionals in what, traditionally, was accepted as 'their' business domains. Non-professionals are, however, not hamstrung by restrictive professional association regulations to the same degree as professionals. Such regulations have limited professionals in their efforts to counteract the 'invasion' of their traditional markets. One such regulation prohibits professionals from advertising. Attorneys in particular have been affected by increased competition in their markets and have questioned the legitimacy of the prohibition on advertising. The issue of advertising has been addressed by both provincial law societies and the Association of Law Societies, but no firm decision has as yet been taken. One concern among attorneys is the possible reaction of the public to advertising by individual attorneys. In this article an attempt is made to shed some light on the issue, by comparing practising attorneys' perceptions of the implications of legal services advertising with those of members of the public. It is suggested that attorneys and members of the public differ significantly in their perceptions of the implications of legal service advertising. Significant differences exist between the two groups in respect of 36 of the 69 aspects investigated.