§ discipline

Truthful, non-misleading advertising profession

The lawyer must ensure all publicity and advertising about their practice and charges is accurate and not false, misleading, deceptive, offensive or unlawful.

37 cases 62% strike-off avg suspension 7.0 mo avg fine 7,500 21 with dishonesty finding

How the codes express this duty

E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 8.8 strong 26 cases
8.8 You ensure that any publicity in relation to your practice is accurate and not misleading, including that relating to your charges and the circumstances in which interest is payable by or to clients.

SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs · 2019 · archived copy · official source ↗

E&W Barristers BSB Handbook rC19; gC57 strong
rC19 If you supply, or offer to supply, legal services, you must not mislead, or cause or permit to be misled, any person ... gC57 Knowingly or recklessly publishing advertising material which is inaccurate or likely to mislead could also result in you being in breach of Rule rC19. You should be particularly careful about making comparisons with other persons as these may often be regarded as misleading.

BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.12.2; R.12.3 strong
Such publicity shall not be — (a) false; (b) misleading or deceptive or calculated or likely to mislead or deceive; (c) offensive to a reasonable standard of fairness and decency; or (d) prohibited by law.

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code of Professional Conduct · 2026 · archived copy

AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rules 36.1; 36.2 strong 6 cases
36.1 A solicitor or principal of a law practice must ensure that any advertising, marketing, or promotion in connection with the solicitor or law practice is not: 36.1.1 false; 36.1.2 misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive; 36.1.3 offensive; or 36.1.4 prohibited by law. 36.2 A solicitor must not convey a false, misleading or deceptive impression of specialist expertise...

Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules · 2015 (June 2026 compilation) · archived copy · official source ↗

AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules no clear equivalent
IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch9 — Advertising strong
When advertising, solicitors should ensure that the advertisement is not: i) Likely to bring the legal profession into disrepute, ii) In bad taste, iii) Reflecting unfavourably on another legal practitioner, iv) False or misleading in any material respect, v) Published in an inappropriate location.

Solicitor's Guide to Professional Conduct (Law Society of Ireland) · 4th ed. (2022) · archived copy · official source ↗

IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct Rule 6.13 partial
Barristers may only advertise in a manner prescribed by regulations made pursuant to s.218(2) of the Act of 2015. ... Pending the making of such regulations ... Barristers may only advertise in accordance with s.218(1) of the Act of 2015 and, if applicable, in accordance with such rules, regulations or guidelines as may be made by the Bar Council pertaining to advertising by Barristers.

Code of Conduct for the Bar of Ireland · 2024 · archived copy · official source ↗

JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics Canon II(d); Canon II(g) partial 2 cases
Except as permitted by clause (e) and (f) of this Canon, an Attorney shall not in any way make use of any form of public advertisement calculated to attract clients to himself ... [II(g)] An Attorney shall not permit his professional standing to be used for the purpose of advertising any particular product, service or commercial organization.

Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) Rules · 1978 (principal) · archived copy · official source ↗

JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.8.2; R.8.3 strong
A member must ensure that any advertising, marketing or promotion in connection with the member or his or her firm complies with this Code of Conduct and all legal and regulatory obligations. Such publicity must not be: a) false; b) misleading or deceptive or calculated or likely to mislead or deceive; c) offensive to a reasonable standard of fairness and decency; or d) prohibited by law.

Law Society of Jersey Code of Conduct · 1 January 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗

ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 4.2-1 strong
A lawyer may market legal services only if the marketing (a) is demonstrably true, accurate and verifiable; (b) is neither misleading, confusing, or deceptive, nor likely to mislead, confuse or deceive; and (c) is in the best interests of the public and is consistent with a high standard of professionalism.

Law Society of Ontario — Rules of Professional Conduct · current · archived copy · official source ↗

BC Lawyers BC Code r 4.2-5 strong 2 cases
Any marketing activity undertaken or authorized by a lawyer must not be: (a) false, (b) inaccurate, (c) unverifiable, (d) reasonably capable of misleading the recipient or intended recipient, or (e) contrary to the best interests of the public.

Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (BC Code) · 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗

NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 10.9 partial
A lawyer must not engage in conduct that is misleading or deceptive or likely to mislead or deceive anyone on any aspect of the lawyer's practice.

Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 · SR 2008/214 · archived copy · official source ↗

SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct no clear equivalent
SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 r 44 (Misleading, deceptive, inaccurate or false, etc., publicity) strong
44 Misleading, deceptive, inaccurate or false, etc., publicity

Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015 · 2015 · archived copy · official source ↗

HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 3.02 / Principle 4.01 Commentary 6 partial
In promoting his practice, a solicitor must pay careful attention to and comply with rule 2AA of the Solicitors' Practice Rules (Cap. 159 sub. leg. H) and the Solicitors' Practice Promotion Code. ... A solicitor may advertise his fees but any publicity concerning charges or a basis of charging must comply with the Solicitors' Practice Promotion Code.

Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct (Volume 1) · current · archived copy · official source ↗

HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 8.1(b)(i) strong
Advertising or promotion must not:- (i) be inaccurate, unverifiable or likely to mislead.

Code of Conduct of the Bar of the Hong Kong SAR · 2018 · archived copy · official source ↗

Cases dealing with this duty

Clear

37 decisions · link basis: found breached = a tribunal finding; rule cited = the mapped provision is cited in the decision; text match = high-precision text pattern

Duty classification does not yet cover every jurisdiction (Ontario, New Zealand and Singapore decisions are indexed but not yet duty-classified), so counts here understate those corpora.