Law firm ad rules in Europe: do's, don'ts and "do differently".

• Author: Dance, E. Leigh
• Position: Advertising rules

Law firm advertising has been misunderstood in Europe for decades. In 1996 I was the guest speaker at the European meeting in Paris of a large international law firm affiliation now called Meritas. At the break before my introductory talk on legal marketing, I asked a German member firm partner what he was most interested in hearing regarding law firm marketing. "Well, it doesn't really apply to us," he quickly said, raising his eyebrows, leaning closer and adding pointedly, "you know we're not allowed to advertise in Germany."

I cheerfully launched into my now old and tired distinction between advertising and law firm marketing--that there are a wide range of marketing methods that can be very valid and effective in every European market, and only one of these is advertising.

Advertising Not Done Here

More than a decade later, many European lawyers (UK law firms excluded) still think of marketing as advertising. In my view, the strict ethics rules on advertising here inhibit the acceptance of a myriad of powerful client development strategies. Many experienced international law firm marketers know that "We can't do that here," is a clear sign of resistance to change.

The globalization of business and the arrival of Anglo-Saxon firms in mainland Europe has forever altered the law firm landscape, and law firm competition from Poland to Portugal is a whole new (football) game. You might expect that this heightened competition would spur relaxation of rules on marketing communications, and in fact it has. As Silvia Hodges, founder of the Legal Marketing Italia network observes, "When the Bersani legislation came into effect in Italy this year, permitting law firm advertising, many Italian lawyers felt they were given approval to 'do' marketing for the first time."

Deterrents to European Ad Initiatives

It's a shame that so much time is wasted on the advertising argument, as it draws attention away from the myriad of other effective ways for law firms to differentiate themselves in this second-largest regional market in the world. While advertising can be enormously powerful and effective in North America, in Europe it is generally not among the most effective tools in the marketing mix, for a few reasons:

* Europe is made up of lots of small, distinct markets. While there is a common market, it is very far from being a federation, such as the United States, and so "Europe-wide" advertising for virtually any service is not feasible;

* Legal...