Advertising the Services of the Legal Profession

The Bulgarian Bar Act and the Code of Ethics of Lawyers do not define the term “advertising of legal services”, nor do they define the underpinning principle of the term “advertising”. The only legal definition of the term “advertising” can be found in the supplementary provisions of the Corporate Income Tax Act, where ‘advertising ” stands for the popularization of goods and services, including gifts bearing the trade name or trademark of the taxable person within the normal framework of that person’s business activity. Inasmuch as the law does not define legal service advertising nor do the in-house acts of the Bulgarian Bar Association specify the term either, the issue of lawyer advertising in the legal profession is directly linked to how that profession is perceived: - As a form of consultancy services practiced in essence as a business activity, differing from the latter solely with respect to the market it is practiced on – i.e. the market of legal services. - Or as practicing the defense of legal rights, which practice undoubtedly entails a certain business element but is nonetheless overwhelmingly much more socially prominent than the common commercial activity. Furthermore, the legal profession is obligatorily performed by freelancers who may choose the legal form of their joining forces with colleagues - under a special order or as a commercial partnership. 1. The above first view of the character of the legal profession essentially does not warrant the imposition any specific limitations on advertising the services of the legal profession. Applicable should be the common rules of advertising with all the pertaining restrictions as stipulated under the Protection of Competition Act and the Consumer Protection Act.rn2. In the perspective of the second view point of the legal profession, the restrictions on the advertising of the services of lawyers will be considerable. In this case one should proceed from the assumption that citizens and companies should have equal opportunity of choosing the person who will protect their rights through legal action or out of court. The lawyer then should be able to have the right to announce through the media, including electronic media or in any other appropriate ways the fact that they exercise the legal profession, their specialty fields, if any; the address of their lawyer’s office in case they work independently, or the address of the law firm provided they work in cooperation with other lawyers; the telephone numbers and the address for correspondence. This should avert the potential risk of financially powerful legal firms monopolizing the market of legal services by means of massive advertising. Avoided will also be the necessity for lawyers to invest huge sums in advertisements solely because there will be no other way for them to prosper in the legal profession. The European practice in this regard is different. In Germany the rules concerning lawyer advertising were extremely strict until 1992 – allowing announcement only of the address of the law firm, the name of the lawyer and possibly their specialization. As of to date the regulations are much more liberal and come down solely to limitations relating to consumer protection and fair competition. In Austria the issue concerned has been settled along similar lines for over 10 years now. rnIn England, Italy and France the statutory provisions regarding the advertising activity of lawyers are extremely strict and in practice such activity is forbidden.