Internet Newsletter for Lawyers
July/August 2005, by Delia Venables

A Barrister’s Site
Property Law Website
by Gary Webber

I have been running the Property Law Website for 7 years - see www.propertylawuk.net.

The main feature of the site is a monthly update. Each month I provide a summary of all the new cases, statutes or statutory instruments that have come up in that month. There are also other contributors who provide material on specialist topics, eg planning. My aim is to provide the essence of the case and a key quote from the judgment. Wherever possible, references to cases, statutes, statutory instruments and other documents are linked to the actual document when available free on the internet. When a new update is added, material from the previous month is added to the “Update Library”, arranged according to topic, sub-topic etc. A drop down menu from the top of the page makes it easy to find the section you are looking for. The Library now contains a vast amount of material and is, I hope, an extremely useful research tool for practitioners. Other information on the site includes a courses page, a list of mediators and a detailed links page. All the information on the site is currently free.

Objectives of the site

There have always been two objectives:
(i) to market my services, initially as a barrister and more recently as a mediator and property law trainer and
(ii) one day to make some money out of the site itself.
The first objective has certainly been fulfilled. I am still working on the second.

When I initially started up the site, I was a practising barrister. The site has always been viewed by solicitors with a range of interests and also by members of the public with property disputes, usually boundary disputes! Both have contacted me. I have taken the referrals from solicitors willingly. Considering how to deal with contacts from members of the public (many of whom just want free advice) has been more complicated. However, a number of these contacts have in fact led to cases. I would refer the enquiry to a solicitor I knew in the area of the dispute.

A couple of years ago I had my fortysomething desire for something a bit different. I gave up practise as a barrister and re-invented myself as a mediator and property law trainer. It has taken time to build up the mediation but the site has definitely helped and I have received a good number of enquiries from solicitors directly as a result of the site. It has proved even more useful with the training. In particular, when there has been a major new change in the law, such as the reforms to Part II of the 1954 Act last year, I described the changes on the site and then advertised some courses. These have all proved successful. I have also built up a good amount of inhouse training work from solicitors who regularly visit the site and read the updates.

Currently the site receives over 14,000 unique visits a month and nearly 2,000 people have registered to receive notification of new updates. It scores well in the search engines, in particular Google against a number of search criteria. I have not done anything specific to attain these search ratings other than constantly add to the site.

Is it worth it?

In summary, I have no doubt that a simple but clearly laid out site, packed with information that is regularly updated, can be extremely successful in marketing a practice. The problem is having the will and the time to keep it going. I have certainly invested an enormous amount of time in the site, which most practitioners could not justify. Many barristers’ chambers have information on the law on their sites but few have the amount of detail that I provide.

However, as I have said above, I have always had it in mind that the site should provide some measure of income and I am currently working on turning it into a subscription service. There are obviously a number of issues I have to consider in particular - how much of the site should be subject to the subscription service and how much should continue to be free? And, how much should I charge?

The site has been built up with the idea that if there are enough people using the site regularly for free at least a proportion will pay for it when the time comes. If I make a fortune I will let you know.

Gary Webber, email gw@propertylawuk.net.

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