First Part of Advertising Attorney-Client Matching Services to Legal Firms

 First Part of Advertising Attorney-Client Matching Services to Legal Firms

These new services that match attorneys with clients—what are they? So, who's in this? What is the price? How dangerous is it for me? How can I get my money back? Why are people talking about them? As legal firm advertisements, are they ethical? How much money would they save me, and are they good for me? Would I be able to attract clients I wouldn't have gotten any other way?

The first section of this essay will focus on "attorney-client matching services," a novel approach to advertising legal services. First, we'll go over the facts of these companies. In Part 2, I will share with you the findings and suggestions I have made from my research. Allow me to provide some context first. Market research company Euromonitor International projects that the legal services industry will be worth $82.5 billion in 2008. Word of mouth and the yellow pages have recently become customers' go-to sources for locating attorneys. Word of mouth doesn't always lead individuals to the best option for their unique circumstances, and I think you'd agree that looking for a lawyer in the yellow pages isn't the best idea. In addition, the Pew Internet & American Life reports that four million individuals and small businesses use the Internet to look for legal services each month, and that figure is projected to surpass seven million by 2007. This is a massive market, and it's just going to grow bigger. Because more and more people are using the Internet to find legal services, and because yellow page advertising is becoming less effective, it is critical for attorneys to have a clear grasp of this market. Getting to know attorney-client matching services is a fresh approach to this online business.

Attorney listing services are not going to be discussed in this context. A service that matches attorneys with clients is different from one that lists attorneys. Many legal companies utilize one of the two main attorney-listing sites, Lawyers.com or FindLaw.com, to promote their services. When advertising your legal services, it may be wise to secure a basic listing on one of these two prominent sites. Their respective websites undoubtedly receive millions of visitors annually. If you are fortunate enough to be listed, monitor your performance closely to determine if being in the middle of the pack of listed attorneys brings in clients. Unless you can prove that the simple listing is producing results, I would recommend not spending more than $150/month on them. Furthermore, for numerous reasons that can be discovered under the Internet marketing page on my website, you should not purchase your website from either of them, regardless of whether you observe positive results after testing. Last but not least, in my opinion, you should not test the majority of the less important attorney-listing competitors, such as LawInfo.com, LawCore.com, or AttorneyFind.com. However, if you insist on doing so, be careful to record your results. Here we will discuss attorney-client matching services in further detail.

Marketing for Lawyers Through Five Agents Who MATCH Clients with Lawyers

There are five firms that provide online attorney-client matching services, all vying for the same pool of marketing budgets. There are three main competitors in this space: the original and pioneer LegalMatch.com, its more recent rival CasePost.com, and a third, less established rival, LegalFish.com. There is now a form of attorney-client matching available on Lawyers.com and FindLaw.com, the two major participants in the attorney marketing industry. First, we have LegalMatch, a San Francisco-based company that has been around since 1999. A double-blind matching mechanism is employed by LegalMatch. All the cards are on the table for both parties to view before any contact is made, but what they mean by "double blind" is that neither the customer nor the lawyer see any identifying information about the other. By using an allocation approach, LegalMatch determines which attorneys have access to a client's case files. For an additional cost, consumers have the option to access "priority service," which allows them to discuss their case with an attorney on staff from LegalMatch and collaborate with that attorney to choose an attorney. At least three organizations—the Utah State Bar Association, ATLA, and NACDL—have partnered with LegalMatch. This marketing tool for law firms has annual membership costs ranging from $2,500 to $25,000 (with financing available if needed), with the exact amount depending on the attorney's practice area and geographic location. As an illustration, a family lawyer in Peoria could expect to pay less than a family law attorney in Los Angeles, yet a private investigator in Los Angeles might expect to charge more. Their promise is that you will continue to receive free membership extensions until your earnings are greater than the amount you first paid. The specifics of the warranty can be found on their website.

Problems with Legal Marketing Ethics Occurring When Attorneys and Clients Are Matched?

This approach is not subject to the ethics requirements that apply to most law firm marketing, according to a relevant digression. It is not a lawyer referral scheme, a pre-paid legal service plan, a joint or cooperative advertising, or a directory listing service. Following an investigation by the Texas State Bar's Professional Ethics Committee, the Federal Trade panel sent a seven-page letter (May 26, 2006) confirming, by unanimous decision of the FTC panel members, that this marketing strategy employed by attorneys is, in fact, ethical.

The technique was already deemed ethical by South Carolina and North Carolina. Online dating services are morally acceptable, according to a ruling by the Supreme Court of Rhode Island. Last but not least, I take it as a sign of how seriously the Utah State Bar takes LegalMatch's ethical standing that they have chosen to use the site as their lawyer referral provider. You should, of course, verify with your state bar to see whether this is considered a legitimate business practice there. Let us return to the possibilities available in the market.

CasePost, founded in 2002 and headquartered in Southern California, is a rival player in the legal practice marketing space. Clients and lawyers are matched in a manner similar to LegalMatch; however, the consumer is presented the directory of attorneys immediately. Customers have the option to remain anonymous or provide the lawyers with their contact details. Only four responses from attorneys will be considered by the consumer. As a result, the client chooses which lawyers gain access to their data. In May 2006, CasePost underwent a significant expansion because to their collaboration with HandelOnTheLaw.com. This website is driven by attorney Bill Handel's popular nationally syndicated radio show, which airs on more than 120 stations. The first season of this show aired in 1985. Another factor contributing to their expanded reach is their strategic partnership with LegalZoom.com, which started in 2006. This attorney marketing tool is similar to LegalMatch in that it has annual membership costs ranging from $2,500 to $25,000 (with financing options available if requested) based on practice area and region. The amount of recommendations a member receives each year determines the amount of guarantee they receive.

In this field, LegalFish is the third participant. The Chicago-based company first appeared on the market in 2003. In certain respects, it differs from the other two. The customer, like the other participants, can submit their details and cases on the site, and they can choose whether or not to reveal their identity. To avoid appearing completely robotic, LegalFish will often reach out to the posting consumer directly via phone or email to learn more about their specific requirements. When deciding which members to assign cases to, LegalFish uses an allocation model. Another distinction is that non-contingency based practices are charged a monthly fee by LegalFish ranging from $180 to $750 for this marketing tool for law firms. When a client hires an attorney who works on contingency, the monthly cost might be anything from $1,600 to $5,000 or more. As a guarantee, LegalFish will not charge an attorney for the month if they do not receive a reference from a member who goes on to hire that attorney. Establishing a system that involves a "shared risk." In a shared risk model like this, the long-term viability of both the LegalFish and its member attorneys depends on the former's capacity to bring in new clients and increase demand for legal services, and the latter's capacity to turn those referrals into actual payments. They must "pull their weight" (as the saying goes). Lastly, LegalFish states that they are dedicated to catering to single practitioners and small firms with less than ten staff.

As previously stated in this article, Lawyers dot com offers a directory listing or attorney-listing service. Their new Attorney Match Service is the latest entrant in this sector of marketing for law firms. Their "Find A Lawyer Quick Search" is the most prominent feature on their homepage. This is their attorney-listing service, and it's free to consumers. That's why you should try it out and see how it works. If you want to use the Attorney Match Service, you'll need to find the "Contact Lawyers" option in the navigation bar or on the top of the page. When you click that, a screen will load asking for your zip code and the type of practice you're after. On the other hand, it will also inform you how many lawyers "are interested in receiving your request" from that particular location. Substitute the other case details for the identifying information. After that, you can view the available attorneys, select the ones you wish to contact, and then wait for their responses. The annual charge for an attorney member is $495; however, in order to be included in the Attorney Match Service, a biographical level listing is required, which can cost $150 and above per month based on the size of your business. This service is not guaranteed.

Finally, Thompson's Findlaw, previously noted as an attorney-listing service, has entered the realm of law firm marketing with their new attorney-matching website, http://www.LegalConnection.com. Like Lawyers.com, FindLaw's three-step process consists of selecting your legal need, providing information about your case, and last, choosing an attorney. Since it is now its own distinct website apart from Lawyers dot com's attorney-listing services, it differs from that system. Depending on your practice region and geographic location, their costs might range from $500 to $1,000 each month. There is no assurance from them. In order to ensure that attorneys receive favorable outcomes from their marketing efforts, they state that they establish goals for each geographic area and practice combination.

Now we have a comprehensive list of everyone involved in the niche market for law firm marketing. Allow me to bring up one more point, which I believe is really necessary. You should think about the bad reviews that Legal Match and CasePost have online. You can get details about the bad material by searching Google for the term "LegalMatch" and then doing the same with CasePost. There is some debate over whether or not Wikipedia meets its requirement of being neutral in tone, however one place that addresses the negative information about LegalMatch with pertinent links is at dot org Wikipedia (visit the site and search for LegalMatch). Visit http://counsel.net/chatboards/marketing/topic111/6.23.04.11.34.29.html to view a series of unfavorable remarks made about CasePost. You should think about this, but I don't think it's necessary to be too worried about it because most of it happened in the past.

For the findings and suggestions I have derived from my research, please refer to Part II of this paper. Right now I can tell you that this method has some potential, but there are also some serious warnings, so be sure to read Part II.

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