Note: January 5, 2018: This article is subject to legal complaint by Brian Goldfinger.

An Ontario personal injury lawyer who bills himself as having a “golden touch” and says on his website that he has won millions of dollars for his clients is facing multiple allegations of professional misconduct.

The Law Society of Upper Canada has served Brian Goldfinger, of Goldfinger Injury Lawyers, with a notice of application alleging that he has “improperly marketed legal services through public advertising and his website.”

“The respondent promotes himself through the use of awards that are not bona fide, or are likely to be misleading, confusing or deceptive,” states the law society in its list of allegations. “The respondent refers to himself as the lawyer with the golden touch, which suggests that the respondent and the manner in which he provides legal services is qualitatively superior to other lawyers and their services.”

As part of an ongoing investigation into the province’s personal injury lawyers, the Star discovered such questionable marketing tactics were not specific to Goldfinger, but widespread and that the law society has done little to solve the problem.

Ontario’s lawyers cannot imply they are better than their colleagues, according to the profession’s Rules of Professional Conduct. Likewise, they cannot refer to financial winnings they’ve obtained for clients without indicating that past results may not reflect future results.

Nine months ago, when the Star first wrote about Goldfinger, a small disclaimer was found at the bottom of the lawyer’s website — in a size so small it is almost illegible — stating: “Past results are not indicative of future results.” That disclaimer has not changed.

Goldfinger did not answer the Star’s question as to whether he thought this disclaimer was appropriate.

His lawyer, Gerald Chan, wrote to the Star in an email that his client “has worked hard to build a successful personal injury law practice and is respected by his peers.”

“He, his two associates, and the rest of his team have established a record of doing great work for their clients.”

Chan said he and his client disagree that Goldfinger’s marketing is misleading.

“No client has ever complained about Mr. Goldfinger’s advertising. Mr. Goldfinger has co-operated with the Law Society at all times. We look forward to responding to the allegations before a hearing panel at the law society,” Chan wrote.

A hearing date has not yet been set, according to a law society spokesperson, Susan Tonkin.

The law society’s two-page notice of application, filed this month, comes nine months after the Star reported on many of the claims made on Goldfinger’s website.

Goldfinger’s website continues to make claims of having offices in multiple cities across the province, which the notice of application said leaves the impression that his law firm is “larger than it is.”

As well, Goldfinger has improperly marketed himself as having a specialization in law “in the absence of certification from the law society,” according to the notice.

Many of these marketing claims were first brought to the law society’s attention more than 19 months ago by a group of seven lawyers based in London, Ont., where Goldfinger advertises.

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When asked why it has taken so long for the law society to take action against Goldfinger, Tonkin told the Star in an email that the “length of investigations vary from matter to matter, depending on a number of factors, including complexity and co-operation.”

The Star asked what steps the law society is taking to address the fact that Goldfinger’s website continues to make statements that seem to contravene the rules, to which Tonkin responded: “The continuation of any conduct that a Law Society Tribunal finds contravenes the rules can be addressed during the hearing and in the order sought by the law society.”

In their seven-page complaint letter, the London-based lawyers included a picture of a Goldfinger ad that promoted him as “London’s Injury Lawyer.” The lawyers noted that Goldfinger “is not a member of the Middlesex Law Association and his office is located on Sheppard Ave. in Toronto.”

They pointed out that radio ads for Goldfinger also claimed that he is “London’s injury lawyer” and “Peterborough’s injury lawyer.”

This year, the Star visited the addresses listed and found that these “offices” were actually rooms in buildings with executive rental space and no Goldfinger corporate signage.

The lawyers’ complaint letter also referred to two awards that Goldfinger had displayed prominently at the top of his website’s home page. The awards, which were removed this year after the Star started asking questions, told visitors that Goldfinger had been voted “#1 in Client Satisfaction” and “#1 Personal Injury Law Firm” by “Elite Lawyers Ontario.”

The Star could not find a registered business with the name Elite Lawyers Ontario, but did find a website with the URL “elitelawyersontario.com.” That web address was registered in 2015 by a Brian Goldfinger and Goldfinger Law Professional Corp.

Goldfinger continues to display two logos on his home page from the “Million Dollar Advocates Forum” and “Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.”

In a paragraph below the logos, Goldfinger boasts that he has “won millions and millions of dollars on behalf of his clients both inside, and outside of the courtroom, such that he has been accepted to both the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.”

The Star found that these so-called “advocate forums” are run by a business based in Del Mar, Calif., and that lawyers pay for the right to use the logos.