Internet Newsletter for Lawyers |
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"You can advertise your online legal services until the cows come home, but there are not the volumes of consumers and SMEs out there to buy these services". That was the view of Desktop Lawyer co-founder Richard Cohen when his company, Epoch Software, effectively pulled the plug on their online consumer legal service operation in September 2001. Desktop Lawyer had been at the forefront of the provision of online legal services for the past few years, having been a pioneer in the field, and the question being asked is whether their demise could be seen as a turning point in the online legal services market.
To try and answer this you have to analyse just what the online legal market really is. Legal News Media's list of the Top Legal Websites is dominated by legal publishers, publishing for the profession, and government law-related Websites, again used predominately by the profession. Significantly there are no law firms in the current list. Public facing legal information providers - Free Lawyer, Emplaw, Divorce Online and our own LAW on the WEB do appear however. They are not law firms but all have lawyers behind them. Free Lawyer and Divorce Online are looking to sell legal services and documents direct to the public. Emplaw and LAW on the WEB use the information and the services they provide to attract subscribers (in the case of Emplaw) and potential clients for law firms and then pass these clients on through directories and referral schemes.
Their statistics are perhaps more indicative of the real online market for legal services at the current time. From our own figures I would suggest that between these four sites monthly visitors (unique individuals) probably total 175,000 - 200,000, which is quite a healthy number of non-lawyers using the internet for legal information and advice and some document production. These are people with a legal problem and are therefore potential clients for law firms or other legal service providers.
The majority of these users are probably "existing clients" of one firm or another, but they have chosen to search elsewhere for initial advice. Existing clients are a separate online legal market for all law firms, and one which should not be ignored. In fact with more than 80% of new business coming from existing clients this market is perhaps the more important to consider. The reality is that if a law firm site is attracting between 500 and 1,000 unique visitors per month at the moment, then it is probably doing very well.
These numbers may not sound very large, particularly when people bandy about figures like 3 million hits per week, but hits (and indeed page impressions) are, and always have been, meaningless statistics. The more complex your Web page, and the more components it has, the more hits will be recorded every time someone looks at that page.
What most people fail to remember is that the internet is still in its infancy. In the UK it is estimated that about 40% of the population currently have access to the internet, either at home or at work, but actual usage statistics are still quite low - just a few hours per month on average. There are still three major stumbling blocks:
* the perception of the internet as "new technology";
* the cost of accessing the internet; and
* the equipment needed to access it.
"New technology" it may be, but people are becoming used to it very rapidly. Cost, however, is still a factor. Unlike the US, local calls here are not free, but reasonably-priced unmetered access packages are now available and bundled power, telephone and internet services are being provided by companies like NTL and Powergen. Internet access costs can only come down in the future. In addition better quality, faster services are slowly coming on tap, which will make the internet an even more useable resource with greater capability for sound and pictures. As for the equipment, internet-ready PCs now start at about £500, about half the cost of a year ago, and Web-enabled handhelds, tvs and telephones are already with us.
I believe that within the next five years, the internet will become the primary information resource for the vast majority of people in the UK. Who wants to wade through a paper directory when you can ask your computer, television screen or handheld to find all the law firms in Maidstone who can advise on your divorce? Not only that but then you can click on a link to take you to their Website and find out just who they are and what they can do for you, and even contact them at a time that suits you. Far less hassle and less intimidating than ringing them up.
If the Web is going to become the primary information resource then the corollary is that being part of the Web ie having at least a website and email facilities will also be a necessity for all law firms. This may be a painful pill to swallow for those who are not inclined to embrace the technology, but clients, potential clients and potential employees will expect it. Charles Christian from Legal News Media suggests there are three types of online strategies that law firms can currently adopt - marketing websites, virtual legal practices, or Web-enabled legal practices. He says "The internet will play an increasingly important part in the way legal services are delivered, using email, client extranets, clients placing new instructions via the web, etc. However it will be a way of complementing existing legal services rather than an alternative online legal service in its own right".
Current statistics suggest that there are about 3,000 law firms with websites, which is only about 25% of all the law firms in England and Wales, and the majority (80/90%) of these have fairly static brochure-style marketing sites. There are exceptions which seem to fall into two main categories - the large firms with massive budgets to spend - the Clifford Chance, Linklaters, and Allen & Overys; and the small entrepreneurial firms (usually with a Web-enthusiast at the heart of the site) who see the Web as a cost-effective marketing and sales tool - such as Fidler & Pepper, Briffa & Co and TJ Shepperson.
Tessa Shepperson is a sole practitioner based in Norwich, who specialises in landlord and tenant law and has created a niche service site called Landlord-Law which offers advice, information and documents. She says "There is a huge untapped market for legal information services. People who do not necessarily want to go to the bother of visiting a solicitor (and who are worried about solicitors' charges), have problems they want answers to, and providing information services on the internet is an ideal way to satisfy this need. However the information service must be relatively cheap, accessible, and the content easy for lay persons to understand (no legal babble)."
It is probably the "cheap" aspect which causes the most problems to those who are attempting to use the internet as their sole source of revenue. People may be willing to buy the odd book or CD over the Web, but are they really interested in buying legal services on the Net? Tessa's site proves that they are, and her bold move to a subscription-based service will be watched with interest by many.
As for virtual law firms you can count these on the fingers of one hand, but one that merits consideration is Patricia Ogunfeibo's LawGym. It is a genuine online law firm targeted specifically at small to medium-sized businesses, offering packaged fixed-price advice services and even a "fix your own fee" service. The service has been online since 1 May and already makes a profit, albeit from a very low cost base. Legal internet businesses just cannot support huge overheads. "The key point for making money from any service (whether over the internet, or not) is the quality of the service delivered" says Patricia. "We do not charge much, as not many businesses can afford to pay hefty fees, but our clients are so pleased with the value that we deliver, that they keep coming back time and time again."
So there is money to be made directly from a Website, but not in any great quantity at the moment. There are potential clients and work to be gathered too, but it is the retention of existing clients that may become the key feature over the next few years. Your clients will expect to be able to find you on the Web and to contact you via the internet, and possibly check on the progress of their matter 24/7. "Web-enabled legal practice" is the current trend. Put simply it is the integration of the internet (and the ease of access to information and contact it can provide), with traditional legal practice. Email is the simplest example. But few firms have really got to grips with this fantastic technology, which opens up a non-invasive direct line of contact between the client and their lawyer. Few lawyers are comfortable or competent at a keyboard, and many practices simply ignore the huge risks that they incur when allowing all and sundry to respond to incoming emails without any supervision or any record being maintained. All law firms must have a robust email capability, and partners and staff need to learn how to work efficiently with this technology to enhance the service they provide, without incurring unnecessary risks to the firm.
Beyond email there is the possibility of "deal rooms" where lawyers and their clients can share access to the documents and information relating to a specific deal or case. They have potential for big cases, but are unlikely to be used by the general high street practitioner. And finally there is the option of opening up your internal management systems and your internal case management systems to your clients, so that they can check for themselves just what you their lawyer is doing, how much time he has spent doing what, and how much money they have already committed to their case. There is an appeal, and almost an inevitability, for such a requirement from bulk work providers, such as insurers, big companies and government departments, and possibly for big work introducers, such as estate agents, who may require access to such information and have a level of knowledge to understand the steps any such transaction would normally take. Whether opening up a law firm's conveyancing practice management system to their conveyancing clients adds real value to their service is somewhat more of a moot point. Frankly I have my doubts.
The demise of Desktop Lawyer may reassure some law firms that the days of the "quasi" legal site are numbered, which means they can relax and take their time deciding just how they want to use the power of the Web. Richard Cohen, joint CEO of Epoch Software, suggests to the contrary. "There will have to be a culture change in the way in which legal services are provided and the mass provision of such services by powerful organisations such as banks, insurance companies, financial service providers and others. We have evidence that this is now occurring and we believe this will become evident during 2002 and onwards with the institutions being major providers of legal services themselves using IT to bring down the cost and the net as the delivery mechanism. Within the next 5 years I predict much routine legal work will be done by the institutions via the net and these services will become part of their product range just as legal expenses insurance is now provided with many insurance policies for no or little extra charge".
The power, scope and use of the internet will increase significantly within the next 5 years. If law firms are not to allow others to steal their clients from under their very PC screens they need to get their Web strategy in place now.
Martin Davies is a solicitor formerly in private practice, who now runs LAW on the WEB and Can I Claim?. He also lectures and consults on the development of effective law firm websites.
email martin@lawontheweb.co.uk.
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