Lawyers blow hot and cold over new Law Soc adverts

A Law Society advertising campaign, which aims to promote solicitors to the public, has met with a mixed response from the legal profession.

The £400,000 national campaign, which began today (21 April), seeks to encourage consumers to use solicitors by highlighting the problems lawyers can help with, such as border disputes and inheritance tax.

The majority of solicitors welcomed the Law Society's latest initiative. Antony Dutton, disputes resolution chief at Norton Rose, said: "This is a timely campaign with a series of sensible, straightforward messages that are capable of striking a chord with the public."

A minority, however, are unhappy that the campaign focuses on private client and high-volume work.

One City law firm partner told The Lawyer the campaign highlights the issue many commercial solicitors have with being represented by the Law Society, saying: "The Law Society is always more focused on the high street and pushes the issues that lawyers have in the City to one side."

However, Law Society communications director Stephen Ward, who devised the campaign, said the body is representing the needs of the City through its recently created international unit.

"A recent survey of the profession ;found ;that promoting the brand of solicitors, after representing solicitors to regulators, was a top priority," said Ward. "Both the new campaign and the international unit came about in response to our members wanting more brand awareness."

Almost 300 taxis across England and Wales will be branded with Law Society adverts until the end of June. In addition, there will be billboards outside key locations, including Waterloo Station and the Bullring in Birmingham.