Just below a video and toll-free number, one logo on the Neinstein Personal Injury Lawyers’ website has a thumbs up and says “Best Business of 2017” above the word “Excellence.” Another logo simply states “Best Lawyers.” For using them, De Gregory Neinstein, the firm’s managing partner, according to its website, is facing allegations of professional misconduct for improper marketing of legal services. A Law Society of Ontario notice issued to Neinstein says the claims made in the logos are “unverifiable” and “inconsistent with a high standard of professionalism.” “The respondent suggests that he, his legal services, and his law firm, are qualitatively superior to other lawyers and law firms,” according to the notice published this month on the law society’s website. The allegations, issued Feb. 6, come just weeks after the prominent personal injury firm agreed to pay an estimated $4 million to settle claims that it double-dipped from the settlements of nearly 1,800 accident victims it represented. They also come about two years after the law society decided to crack down on improper marketing of legal services. Neinstein’s lawyer Brian Greenspan told the Star that the “two designations that are the subject of complaint were properly and fairly awarded” and that “the display of the logos is routine within the personal injury bar in particular and across the legal profession.” When asked who awarded the designations to the Neinstein firm, Greenspan said “those agencies that provided the award” but declined to name the specific agencies.
