Who do they apply to?

The 2020 advertising regulations apply to:

• all legal practitioners (practising solicitors, practising barristers or a person who formerly practised as a solicitor or as a barrister and a reference to a solicitor includes a reference to a firm of solicitors);

• Limited Liability Partnerships (LLP) who advertise their legal services;

• groups of legal practitioners who share a facility, premises or cost of practice, who advertise themselves as such a group; and

• legal partnerships and multi-disciplinary practices (once introduced).

What constitutes advertising?

Advertising, as a form of communication, takes many different forms and includes (but is not limited to):

• brochures, posters, placards;

• websites, social media channels;

• audio or video recording; and

• any presentation, lecture, seminar or interview

Social media and Google

Although the definition section of the 2020 regulations makes no explicit reference to social media and Google, it is inclusive of such online advertising platforms:

“advertisement” means any communication (whether oral or in written or other visual form and whether produced by electronic or other means) which is intended to publicise or otherwise promote a legal practitioner in relation to the provision by him or her of legal services

Such a definition therefore encompasses all social media and therefore, the same care needs to be taken to comply with the regulations across all online platforms.