Solicitors (Advertising) (Hansard, 17 May 1978)

§ Mr. John Fraser

The Director General of Fair Trading has now completed the discussions which he was asked to initiate with the solicitors' professional bodies by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State following the reports of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission on advertising by solicitors in England and Wales, and in Scotland, published in July 1976. The Director General has discussed changes in the current rules of these bodies which place a general prohibition on advertising and soliciting business, in the light of the recommendations of the Commission that these rules should be terminated subject to certain safeguards. The Director General has reported the outcome of these discussions with the Law166W Society and the Law Society of Scotland to my right hon. Friend and I have myself discussed with the Law Society the changes to the rules which they are proposing.

The Law Society has proposed a relaxation of its rules governing advertising by solicitors. At present local law societies are permitted to place corporate advertisements which make no mention of the names of individuals or practices. The proposed relaxation will take the form of a general waiver from rule 1 of the solicitors' practice rules to enable local law societies to publish in local newspapers information about individual firms of solicitors. Under these proposals the information may now include their names and addresses and the type of work undertaken or not undertaken. Such advertisements may not be placed more frequently than monthly, though the possibility of greater frequency is under consideration.

The Law Society also proposes that new entrants and other solicitors opening new or branch offices will no longer be prohibited from announcing the fact in the non-legal Press; in future they will be able to advertise on two occasions in one or more national papers and in papers of the locality or region. The Law Society is giving consideration to increasing the number of advertisements to that to be allowed in Scotland.

The success of these proposals will depend on the extent to which the waiver is used. The Law Society has said that it will announce the waiver in the Law Society Gazette, and that it will use its powers of persuasion to encourage local law societies to advertise on behalf of their members. The freedom of neighbourhood law centres to advertise will continue to be dealt with by individual waiver. The Law Society is also taking further steps to improve the usefulness of the legal aid solicitors lists which are intended to assist in referring to solicitors those eligible for legal aid; more than 80 per cent. of all firms in England and Wales were included in the 1978 edition of the lists, which are available in a number of public places such as citizens' advice bureaux, local authority offices, and public libraries.

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The Law Society of Scotland has also made proposals for relaxing the present restrictions on advertising and proposals are being formulated for extending the degree of corporate advertising. A National directory of solicitors which with certain narrow exceptions lists all solicitors practising in Scotland is now available in similar public places to the legal aid solicitors lists for England and Wales. The directory contains detailed information about the practicies of individual solicitors including, amongst other things, the type of work undertaken, hours of business, and year of admission of qualified staff.

The Council of the Law Society of Scotland has also approved proposed changes to the rules on advertising. In future solicitors establishing themselves for the first time will be able to advertise the fact in the local newspaper on eight occasions over a period of two months. Solicitors opening an office, or a branch office, in a deprived or remote area will be able to advertise on eight occasions with the possibility of further advertising at the Law Society of Scotland discretion. Finally, if a firm changes addresses or telephone number or there is an amalgamation or dissolution of a firm, or the opening of a branch office, the firm will be able to advertise these facts in the Press on two occasions. The new rules giving effect to these relaxations are currently in the course of preparation for presentation shortly to a general meeting of the society and thereafter for immediate approval by the Lord President of the Court of Session.

My right hon. Friend and I welcome these proposals of the Law Society and the Law Society of Scotland, which go some way towards meeting the Monopolies and Mergers Commission's criticism that the present rules prevented the public and potential new entrants to the profession from being given information about the services offered by individual solicitors or firms of solicitors. In this regard I particularly welcome the detail to be provided in the Scottish directory, and the further improvements in the degree of information to be given in the legal aid solicitors lists for England and Wales which the Law Society is understood to be considering.

However, my right hon. Friend and I regret that the proposals do not meet in 168W full the recommendation of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission that, subject to certain safeguards, individual solictors should be able to use such publicity as they might think fit. The two Royal Commissions on Legal Services in England and Wales and in Scotland are currently gathering evidence on many matters, including the question of solicitors' advertising. We therefore expect the Law Society and the Law Society of Scotland to give further consideration to the question of advertising initiated by individual solicitors, as recommended by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, in the light of any relevant findings or recommendations of the Royal Commissions and of experience gained from the new arrangements.