1. Introduction
   In 1998 The Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) Rules were amended to revoke some of the rules which prohibited or restricted advertising by an Attorney-at-Law. The amendments were contained in The Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) (Amendment) Rules, 1998. Although relaxed, the fact is that there are still rules governing advertisements by Attorneys-at-Law which many Attorneys-at-Law have not adhered to.
   To assist members of the legal profession in producing and placing advertisements that do not offend the Advertising Rules we have set out below some guidelines with respect to a few of the Canons. The purpose of these Guidelines is to provide legal practitioners with a starting point for seeking general information about their professional obligations and with respect to some areas of risk for Attorneys in relation to promoting their businesses. They are not an exhaustive statement of the relevant professional obligations that might apply to specific circumstances and do not have the force of law. These Guidelines are not intended to, and do not, replace or amend an Attorney’s obligations under the Canons and general law.
   Where there is doubt about whether an advertisement breaches the Canons, Attorneys are encouraged to refer to the General Legal Council before it is published or broadcast.
2. Definition
   An “Advertisement” means any communication (whether oral or in writing or other visual form and whether produced by electronic or other means) which is intended to publicise or otherwise promote an Attorney or Law Firm in relation to their practice or their availability for professional engagement. This includes but it is not limited to: any brochure, signage, website, notice, circular, leaflet, poster, placard, photograph, illustration, emblem, display, stationery, directory entry, article or statement for general publication.
   Careful note should be made of the fact that representations by and about legal practitioners on social media including the social networking sites LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (whether as part of a personal profile, firm profile, paid advertisement or to comment on a third party’s page), is considered to be advertising or promotional in nature and would therefore be relevant to these Guidelines and the Canons. The term “social media” encompasses many different types of internet applications and platforms that allow user-generated content and multi-directional exchange of information. It includes blogs and microblogs (such as Twitter, Yammer), social networks (such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Legal OnRamp, Instagram), wikis (Wikipedia), podcasts, social bookmarking sites (such as Digg, Delicious), forums and discussion boards (such as Google groups, Yahoo! Groups) and photo and video sharing (such as Flickr, YouTube).
3. Misleading or deceptive, creating unjustified expectation.
   Canon II (d)(ii) provides that:

   “An Attorney may advertise in connection with the attorney’s practice provided that such advertising:…

   (ii) shall not be misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive or likely to create an unjustified expectation;”

   The following guidelines (which are not exhaustive) indicate advertisements that may be deemed to be misleading or deceptive:

   1. It is misleading to use the words “and Company”; “&”; “Group”, “Suite”; “and Associates”; or “& Associates” when one is a sole practitioner as such an advertisement suggests a firm of Attorneys when it is not.
   2. It is misleading to use the words “International” or “Caribbean” in the Firm name when one practices solely in Jamaica as such an advertisement suggests a multi-jurisdictional practice.
   3. Advertisements should not suggest that an Attorney has or a firm of Attorneys have a multi-jurisdictional practice when he/she or they do not.
   4. It is misleading to use a sequence of names which may suggest the existence of a partnership when one is practicing as a sole practitioner or liability attaches to a single person.
   5. It is misleading, and an Attorney-at-Law may create an unjustified expectation if his advertisement specifies a time frame for the completion of a matter/transaction when he cannot guarantee the same or promises the outcome of any legal matter or otherwise creates an unjustified expectation about the results that the Attorney can achieve.
   6. It is potentially misleading and an Attorney may create an unjustified expectation to advertise in terms of “win” or “lose”. For example, many cases are settled without coming to trial or hearing and such settlements are difficult to describe in terms of win or loss. Care is required so that an impression is not created that the result of any given case is a foregone conclusion.
   7. Advertisements should not state or imply that the Attorney has the ability to improperly influence a court, court officer, governmental agency or government official.
   8. It may be misleading to use a nickname, moniker, motto, domain name or trade name that suggests an ability to obtain results for example, divorcein2months.com; www.guaranteedwin.com.
   9. It may be misleading to include in a firm name the name of a partner who withdraws from the firm but continues to practice law, although it may not be misleading where the firm name retains one or more names of deceased or retired partners and/or if the firm is a bona fide successor of a firm in which the deceased or retired partner was a member.
   10. It is misleading for two or more sole practitioners to hold themselves out as being in partnership when this is not in fact the case. Letterheads should also indicate clearly who the partners are as distinct from the associates.
   11. It is deceptive to make claims or assertions that are not demonstrably true, accurate and verifiable.
   12. Attorneys must ensure that any qualifications they claim to have are up-to-date, not exaggerated and are presented exactly as they are so that a false or misleading impression of their worth is not created.
   13. If using a name to refer to a law firm or law practice the Attorney must ensure that the Registration of Business Names Act is complied with.
   14. It may be misleading for an advertisement to represent an individual as an Attorney-at-law when that individual is not in fact an Attorney-at-law.
   15. It is misleading to quote a blanket fee for a type of matter which creates the expectation that the fee will cover all work done, when this is not in fact the case. In addition, it should be made clear whether amounts such as disbursements and taxes will be charged in addition to the fee.
   16. Care should be taken with respect to claims about links with professional and industry organisations. Claims of membership should always reflect current status and the organisation should actually exist and not have been created solely for the purpose of the promotion or advertisement in question. Attorneys should not refer to awards, rankings, and third-party endorsements that are not bona fide or that are likely to be misleading, confusing, or deceptive;
   17. Social media websites can facilitate easy and quick, and therefore informal, communication, including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Linkedin, and provide a mechanism by which consumers can review, rank, “like” and share opinions, comments and testimonials, on the services provided by businesses including legal practices. Attorneys need to exercise care and caution before linking to, publishing or endorsing such comments. If the comments are inaccurate, untrue, out of date or incorrect, they will be misleading and the endorsement or publishing of them by a legal practitioner could amount to misleading and deceptive conduct on the part of Attorney.
   18. The use of websites is a very common form of advertising for many Attorneys. Like all other advertising, it also carries some risks which need to be managed by: (a) regularly checking to ensure information is accurate and not misleading; (b) including appropriate disclaimers to ensure that: information on the website does not constitute legal advice; and electronic dialogue with readers of the website does not constitute any form of client engagement unless specifically agreed and/or does not amount to touting.
   19. If an attorney makes reference to previous success or recovery of a particular award in a case, it must be accompanied by a disclaimer that these past results do not guarantee a similar outcome in future cases and the outcome of each case will be determined on its own specific facts.
4. Vulgar/sensational advertisements.
   Canon II (d)(iii) Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) (Amendment) Rules 1998 provides that:“An Attorney may advertise in connection with the attorney’s practice provided that such advertising: …(iii) shall not be vulgar, sensational or of such frequency or otherwise such as would or would be likely to adversely affect the reputation or standing of any attorney or the legal profession;”The reputation of the legal profession is its most valuable asset. Professional advertising should maintain a high standard of professionalism and the dignity of attorneys. It ought not to prejudice the public’s confidence in attorneys nor harm the public’s trust in the integrity of the system of justice.The following types of advertisements may be deemed to be vulgar and/or sensational such as would or would be likely to adversely affect the reputation or standing of any attorney or the legal profession:
   1. Unsolicited instant messages and/ or broadcasts to persons who are not your clients;
   2. Overly dramatic or emotive words or pictures;
   3. References to a calamitous event or situation;
   4. References to a willingness to make hospital visits or self-promotion which takes place in or in the immediate vicinity of hospitals or any other healthcare service provider;
   5. Advertisements which include the portrayal of a judge;
   6. The delivery of flyers to mailboxes or businesses;
   7. Billboards along a public roadway;
   8. WhatsApp broadcasts;
   9. Running Ticker-tape ads (‘chyrons’);
   10. Mass mailings, for example by electronic media;
   11. Self-promotion which takes place in or in the immediate vicinity of a court, police station or place of detention in relation to a person who has been or may be charged with, or has been convicted of, any offence;
   12. Mass broadcasts and/or social media advertising campaigns, including those offered by Instagram or Facebook which may result in an attorney’s advertisement frequently appearing in the feeds of targeted sections of the public;
   13. Bumper-stickers;
   14. Not to cause one’s advertisement to pop-up or obscure, and/or take the place of other practitioners advertisements, listings or postings on any form of mediaAggressive, undignified or “bad taste” promotional strategies are strongly discouraged.
5. Superiority
   Canon II (d)(iv) provides that:

   “An Attorney may advertise in connection with the attorney’s practice provided that such advertising: …(iv) shall not claim or imply superiority for the attorney over any or all other attorneys;”

   An advertisement should not expressly state or imply that you are superior to another Attorney or compare the practice, standards or skills of the legal practitioner with those of other legal practitioners or even just any other unnamed group of legal practitioners or law practices. The following terms may be deemed to breach this Canon:

   1. advocacy or other skills are “unmatched”;
   2. “no. 1 in the field of personal injury”;
   3. “premier criminal\civil advocate”;
   4. “We win more cases”;
   5. “better than the rest”; or
   6. “Get a speedy divorce”.
6. Touting
   Canon II (b) provides that: “An attorney shall not in carrying on of his practice or otherwise permit any advertisement or thing which is likely or is intended to attract business unfairly or can reasonably be regarded as touting.”Touting is defined in the Legal profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) (Amendment) Rules, 2016 as “seeking/soliciting instructions from potential clients by the use of persistent, pushy or annoying tactics whether directly or indirectly.”An Attorney-at-Law should not:
   1. Enter into an arrangement with any person, whether an employee or not, for the introduction of a client to the Attorney, whether or not for a fee for example:- doctors; members of the constabulary force; porters; nurses; or real estate agents provided that this will not apply to:
      1. any arrangement between an attorney and another attorney for the referral of work in the normal course of either’s practice; or
      2. any arrangement for the introduction to an attorney by other attorneys with a view to their instructing him on an agency basis.
7. Using Professional Standing to advertise
   Canon II(l) provides that “An Attorney shall not permit his professional standing to be used for the purpose of advertising any particular products, service or commercial organisations.”
   1. Example: Advertising cars or insurance companies when making it known that you are an attorney-at-law or law firm
   2. Advertising on the sash/es of pageant contestants.

Dated the 13th September, 2018

CHAIRMAN OF THE
GENERAL LEGAL COUNCIL