What are the rules about advertising for personal injury work?
See the Personal Injuries Proceedings Act 2002 (PIPA), Chapter 3 Part 1 (sections 62 to 69).
The Legal Services Commission (LSC) is the regulatory body for PIPA, and has issued three guides:
- A guide to advertising personal injury services (June 2009)
- A guide to advertising personal injury services on the internet (June 2009)
- Advertising personal injury services - internet search engines and non-lawyer websites (February 2010).
This most recent guide deals with 2 issues:
- advertising through “sponsored links” on search engine results pages on websites such as Google - essentially the content of these is restricted in the same way as print advertising
- arrangements for referral of personal injury clients to law practices by non-lawyer referral agencies – the referrer’s website needs to comply with PIPA.
Advertising on radio, television, cinema and recorded telephone messages is not allowed.
Advertising in print is limited to your name and that of your law practice and contact details, and details of your areas of practice or speciality, and you are not permitted any pictures. The same applies to advertising on a website other than your own.
However, on your own law practice’s website, in addition to the above, you are able to include statements about:
- the operation of personal injury law and a person’s legal rights under that law
- the conditions under which you are prepared to act - this can include details of no win no fee arrangements.
There are also some restrictions on your use of pictures on your website.
The LSC's website comparer helpfully illustrates the restrictions on advertising personal injury services on your own website, and how and where pictures are permitted.
As well as the guides detailed above, the Legal Services Commissioner, John Briton, has made several speeches in which he has given further details of his views on personal injuries advertising:
- Ethical Issues in Personal Injuries Practice: Advertising Restrictions and Guidelines (February 2009)
- The Restrictions an Advertising Personal Injury Services (July 2008)
- Ethics and the Personal Injuries Lawyer: Compliance, Spiritless Compliance, Skilful and other Evasions (June 2007)
In his July 2008 speech the Commissioner sets out his office’s approach as follows:
We interpret the restrictions strictly, and deliberately so, in order to leave the least possible room for slippage and the thin ‘end of the wedge’ arguments that would inevitably accompany any broader interpretation. This seems to us to be the best and probably the only practical way to achieve some certainty and to keep a level playing field – to look after the majority of practitioners who do the right thing and who are rightly annoyed by and stand to be disadvantaged by the minority of their colleagues who push the boundaries.
There are also restrictions on touting and referrals in sections 67 to 68 of PIPA.
The LSC will not answer enquiries from solicitors about personal injuries advertising (unless there is a pending investigation) and will refer enquirers to the QLS. The number to call at the QLS is 3842 5843 or email h.moses@qls.com.au.
