Page 24 - Leaders in Legal Business - a
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Leaders in Legal Business
3) How does that fit with the aims of your organization?
Directories only offer value if they have a relevant readership. Publishers invest time and money to
develop the audience. The best are able to offer analyses and statistical support to explain their unique audience
and their use of the product in relationship to buying legal services.
Polarity
In broad terms the directory landscape has polarized along these classifications:
1) Locally-focused (national or regional), small- to medium-sized businesses and consumer-
orientated, online directories. The online sites attract users by offering information about the law
related to common consumer interests, e.g., family, divorce, probate, business, and more. These
attempt to be relatively comprehensive in coverage of the law firms operating in the market and
increasingly allow consumer feedback in the form of post-engagement client ratings, e.g.,
Lawyers.com or avvo.com. The business model is to charge firms for search engine optimization
(SEO) visibility or for add-on services related to referral-building activities, e.g., “ask a lawyer a
question,” publishing articles, etc. Some offerings are beginning to become hybrids by providing
consumer law services themselves, having understood the audience — see advisor.avvo.com for
an example of this.
2) Services focused on high-end international and global corporations. These provide professional
independent research and editorial opinions focusing on analyses of a limited number of
international law firms and lawyers, e.g., the Chambers and Legal 500 series, and more recently
the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers, together with a number of specialist sources spun out
from other activity such as the IFLR Lawyer Profiles. The business model is to keep an
independent editorial view on ratings and rankings, but also offer promotional packages directly
related to the use of the rating or supplemental services such as lawyer awards and events, or paid
advertisements. The publishers are increasingly looking to exploit the data they collect on the
firms and sell this as packaged research for competitor intelligence and market analysis. Another
feature is the growing importance of linking and integrating with the law firms’ online presence:
websites, articles, blogs, social media, and the primary online directory content about the firms.
Commercial gains are made from the different product and service levels available to support the
firms’ promotional activity.
What About The Directories?
A number of services occupy the middle markets of business and commerial audiences or span local to
global geographies. They include many of those with international, national, and regional business expertise, such
as Martindale.com and HG.org. These offer information on a wider range of firms than just the large law firm
sector or details of specific industry sector expertise. An example of sector expertise is Media Law International,
which can be found at Media Law International. They may also provide more in-depth coverage of a specific
nation such as Lexpert.ca Canada. It is also worth noting that because of the importance of referrals across
jurisdictional boundaries, many directories have both a professional and consumer audience/readership. This
forces choices by the publisher to decide who the service is targeting, and it causes confusion on websites where
that choice is compromised.
The business model of these services is generally supported by revenues through advertising; paid listings;
positioning on the site via searches; and increasingly offering linkage to other Internet sources, articles, blogs,
profiles, and websites to complement social media campaigning. They best serve their paying customers with
17
3) How does that fit with the aims of your organization?
Directories only offer value if they have a relevant readership. Publishers invest time and money to
develop the audience. The best are able to offer analyses and statistical support to explain their unique audience
and their use of the product in relationship to buying legal services.
Polarity
In broad terms the directory landscape has polarized along these classifications:
1) Locally-focused (national or regional), small- to medium-sized businesses and consumer-
orientated, online directories. The online sites attract users by offering information about the law
related to common consumer interests, e.g., family, divorce, probate, business, and more. These
attempt to be relatively comprehensive in coverage of the law firms operating in the market and
increasingly allow consumer feedback in the form of post-engagement client ratings, e.g.,
Lawyers.com or avvo.com. The business model is to charge firms for search engine optimization
(SEO) visibility or for add-on services related to referral-building activities, e.g., “ask a lawyer a
question,” publishing articles, etc. Some offerings are beginning to become hybrids by providing
consumer law services themselves, having understood the audience — see advisor.avvo.com for
an example of this.
2) Services focused on high-end international and global corporations. These provide professional
independent research and editorial opinions focusing on analyses of a limited number of
international law firms and lawyers, e.g., the Chambers and Legal 500 series, and more recently
the Financial Times Innovative Lawyers, together with a number of specialist sources spun out
from other activity such as the IFLR Lawyer Profiles. The business model is to keep an
independent editorial view on ratings and rankings, but also offer promotional packages directly
related to the use of the rating or supplemental services such as lawyer awards and events, or paid
advertisements. The publishers are increasingly looking to exploit the data they collect on the
firms and sell this as packaged research for competitor intelligence and market analysis. Another
feature is the growing importance of linking and integrating with the law firms’ online presence:
websites, articles, blogs, social media, and the primary online directory content about the firms.
Commercial gains are made from the different product and service levels available to support the
firms’ promotional activity.
What About The Directories?
A number of services occupy the middle markets of business and commerial audiences or span local to
global geographies. They include many of those with international, national, and regional business expertise, such
as Martindale.com and HG.org. These offer information on a wider range of firms than just the large law firm
sector or details of specific industry sector expertise. An example of sector expertise is Media Law International,
which can be found at Media Law International. They may also provide more in-depth coverage of a specific
nation such as Lexpert.ca Canada. It is also worth noting that because of the importance of referrals across
jurisdictional boundaries, many directories have both a professional and consumer audience/readership. This
forces choices by the publisher to decide who the service is targeting, and it causes confusion on websites where
that choice is compromised.
The business model of these services is generally supported by revenues through advertising; paid listings;
positioning on the site via searches; and increasingly offering linkage to other Internet sources, articles, blogs,
profiles, and websites to complement social media campaigning. They best serve their paying customers with
17
