Lawyers must be squeaky clean

The public almost expects soap manufacturers to sail close to the wind.

Lawyers have to tread a much finer line

Advertising is everywhere.

It fills - and finances - our print and broadcast media.

It clutters our sports grounds, oozing onto the fields of play themselves.

In a world where the soundbite is king, woe betide any business that cannot convey its message forcefully - and quickly.It is little wonder that solicitors' firms - which are increasingly implored to apply a business mentality to the provision of legal services - have had to swallow hard and embrace Charlotte Street, London's home of advertising gurus.Ever since the rules prohibiting solicitors from advertising were relaxed in the mid-1980s, firms have gradually taken a more aggressive position.

Last year, Hammond Suddards (as was) took full pages in broadsheet newspapers and in June Rowe & Maw had a pitch-side position at the Greece v England football match.But the advertising game is more dangerous for professionals than for purveyors of fine washing powder.

A rap over the knuckles by the Advertising Standards Authority to a law firm in Jersey and to one in Yorkshire might not sound like much.

But as one leading advertising solicitor points out, comparative ads involving claims of superiority or exclusivity are fraught with difficulty and could trigger more reprimands.It might not be fair, but the public almost expects soap manufacturers to sail close to the wind.

Lawyers have to tread a much finer line, which is all part of maintaining the respectability of professionalism, no matter how businesslike.