Law Society defends adverts

The Law Society has been accused of circumventing the rules on solicitors advertising for business.

The society has taken out advertisements in national newspapers. One depicts a man who has had an accident at work gaining personal injuries compensation through his solicitor.

Another showed a woman sending a solicitor's letter to a golf club whose members hit golf balls into her garden. A third showed a family's relief when they find out that a member killed in an accident had made a will through a solicitor.

Chairwoman of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board Dorothea Dowling said the advertisements were "misleading" and could be in breach of the Solicitors' (Advertising) Regulations which effectively bans personal injuries advertising.

"If an individual solicitor is not allowed to advertise for personal injury cases because of this new law that was brought in 2003, it would seem extraordinary if the Law Society tried to circumvent that," she said. Ms Dowling added that the advertisements should have made clear that people have a choice to pursue a personal injuries claim through the board, or draft their own wills.

Director general of the Law Society Ken Murphy said: "We would not breach the regulations that we ourselves supported. We're very familiar with the law in this area and we checked it and these advertisements are perfectly compliant with it."