PIA radio interview on Classical FM
April 24, 2014
Bill Anderson from Classical 96.3FM interviewed Roger Oatley from the PIA on Thursday 24th April to talk about the PIA and how advertising for Personal Injury Law firms has changed over the past decade.
Roger explained “I can tell you that 10 years ago you never really saw much if any real advertising in Ontario even though it has been permissible for quite some time now. The result of that was that people who were seriously injured or their families would ask a lawyer who they knew who had acted for their family or they would call friends who they knew had gone through this before. In those days people who had been seriously injured and were forced to find a lawyer at a time of great anxiety and great conflict in their lives. They would find a lawyer who truly had the experience and the confidence to look after an extremely challenging and complicated legal situation.”
Advertising for Personal Injury law firms was everywhere with some law firms marketing their brand at sporting events, on public transport and highways. Roger said “The concern was not only how preponderant it was but some of the claims were less than forthright. Some of the claims in the advertising that we were seeing we felt misleading to the client. It got some bad that lawyers that act for insurance companies that we deal with were saying you guys have to do something about this advertising. The Law Society who governs our profession and this kind of thing has apparently done nothing about it and the public as a result is getting bombarded with this advertising in some cases by law firms who just doesn’t have the experience and the resources for these complex cases. So with the greatest of reluctance the 3 firms decided that we would together retain consultants and try and provide an alternative form of advertising claims that were justified and we have tried very hard to be fair not to knock any other law firms but to impress first and foremost on people that they have got to find a law firm whether it’s us or one of the firms outside the PIA as we are not the only good law firms but find a law firm based on the facts.”
It is vital to those who have suffered a catastrophic injury they “…find a law firm that has really had the experience the background and the knowledge and the people to deal with these highly complex cases that will affect the future of a serious injured person for the rest of his or her entire life.”
Listen to the Classical FM interview HERE.
