Archer & Greiner
Buchanan Ingersoll">Buchanan Ingersoll
Dechert Price & Rhoads">Dechert Price & Rhoads
Fox Rothschild">Fox Rothschild
Morgan Lewis Bockius">Morgan Lewis Bockius
Pellettieri Rabstein ">Pellettieri Rabstein
Reed Smith Shaw">Reed Smith Shaw
Saul, Ewing, Remick">Saul, Ewing, Remick
Smith Stratton Wise">Smith Stratton Wise
Corrections or additions?
This story by Barbara Fox was published in U.S. 1 Newspaper on May 19, 1999.
All rights reserved.
Legal Eagles Who Once Soared, Now Surf
Attorneys aren’t expected to have hot Internet sites.
Just a quiet Web presence — an electronic brochure — would
seem sufficient. Yet one central New Jersey-based firm, Stark & Stark,
has hosted live chats and a Philadelphia firm with a Carnegie Center
office, Saul Ewing, has a website with a two-minute video complete
with jazzy music.
Swing through the home pages of Princeton’s legal firms and you will
find everything from a total gap (still too many to mention, including
some of the big Philadelphia-based firms), to an electronic brochure
(Hill Wallack), to eye-popping technology (Dechert Price & Rhoads,
among others).
"Law firms may have fallen behind on the use of technologies,
but many in the last few years have caught up," says Gerry Genna,
a Princeton-based technical consultant for legal firms. "They
are smart enough to realize the Internet is the future, and that a
home page is like their front store. They have embraced the Internet.
They have gone full bore ahead in what they have accomplished in the
last couple of years."
If you were going to judge the personality of the firm from the homepage
design, you could conclude that Reed Smith Shaw & McClay is ultra
traditional (decorated only by a very faint Greek column) whereas
the law practice of Hanan Isaacs (with its snip-snap scissors and
moving compass needle) is just the opposite.
Most of the designs feature a theme photo (often a close-up of eyeglasses
on a legal pad) or a series of buttons representing different practice
areas. They range from bright yellow (for Kenneth Vercammen) to warm
brown (for Pellettieri, Rabstein & Altman).
The most obvious function of the legal website is to serve as the
electronic brochure. Law websites are particularly good for indicating
the breadth of experience — the areas of law — that the practice
has. All of the websites have the firm’s profile, attorney biographies,
directions or maps to a location, practice areas, and press releases
(mostly about attorneys who have joined the firms), and newsletter
articles or other professional articles.
Nevertheless, the most important function of a legal website can be
for recruitment. "Recruitment is an important aspect of any law
firm’s website; you want to be able to make sure that the young people
who do everything on the Internet are able to find out about your
firm and express interest in working for it." says Jamieson Moore’s
Patrick McCormick.
A side benefit of an extensive website is that its content
gets indexed by the search engines and could attract new clients.
Each attorney typically has a biography page, and each practice area
also has a separate page. So when you search on "employment law"
and "Princeton New Jersey" you will get at least some of the
firms with this focus. "We have received major new representation
as a direct result of our website," says Rudy Garcia, the webmaster
for Saul, Ewing Remick and Saul.
Useful information attracts repeat visitors. Kenneth Vercammen, for
instance, offers a simple chart of questions and answers on various
topics. If you liked what he said about what to do with your traffic
ticket you might return for advice on wills and trusts. Get very specialized,
and even other lawyers will visit your site. A firm’s website can
be a place to do research — by using papers written by the attorneys
of that firm or by using that firm’s gateway links page. Morgan Lewis
& Bockius, for instance, has an unusual searchable database on antitrust
regulations.
How "savvy" a website seems can affect how prospective clients
view the law firm. "If you want to attract sophisticated clients
you have to be as technically capable as they are," says Claudia
Freeman, webmaster aka marketing director for Stark & Stark, one of
the first Princeton firms to have a website — it put the first
one up in February, 1997, and has revamped it twice since then.
Ease of use, says David Rizzo, president and founder of the Kearny-based
Lawyers Homepage Network, is of primary importance. "One of the
things that most people cite is that they can’t find what they are
looking for. Most consumers are looking for the basics. Make it easy
to use and more often than not they will come back."
U.S. 1 decided to analyze legal websites after being asked to judge
the website contest for Technology New Jersey (results to be announced
on June 17). Out of more than 75 entries to this contest, Saul Ewing
was the only law firm entry. We decided to look at other legal home
pages but on a smaller scale. The Technology New Jersey contest had
a 15-point evaluation, whereas we have just four categories plus bonus
points for savviness. In judging these websites we made allowances
for the smaller firms. Large multi-office firms should certainly be
expected to have classier websites than smaller ones.
The U.S. 1 rating criteria:
are labeled. Fresh ingredients are always appealing.
links. A good search engine is worth five points.
papers? A good link page?
but from the viewers’ perspective. Short lines are better than long
lines. Dark typeface on light background is better than the reverse.
Top Of Page
Archer & Greiner">Archer & Greiner
"theme photo," this page is distinguished by its timeliness.
"Updated" flags show what’s new since you last visited the
page, and each page is dated.
The site offers lots of informative legal papers. It inspires confidence.
If you went to www.lawyershomepage.com you would
find Archer & Greiner’s information included on a relational database
— a marketing tool.
Currency 10
Ease of use 5
Content 10
Design 10
Total score 35
Top Of Page
Buchanan Ingersoll">Buchanan Ingersoll
could get it here. The site is easy to navigate, partly because the
content is minimal. Rather than pointing to useful legal information,
the links page showcases the websites of clients and friends. The
plain vanilla design is appropriate for a white shoe law firm but
the text is difficult to read because it spreads across the page rather
than using more readable narrow margins. It has a good map. Based
in Pennsylvania, the Princeton office is on College Road.
Currency 8
Ease of use 5
Content 6
Design 7
Total 26
Top Of Page
Dechert Price & Rhoads">Dechert Price & Rhoads
site is "setting the precedent" and if precedents are being
set here, expect other traditional firms to step more lively.
Dechert.com takes the prize for surprises. Each time you open the
"What Matters" page, a different colored symbol dominates
the screen. Sometimes it’s an airplane or a doll but other times it
is a tick. Each symbol represents an important case and acts like
a "turned page" when your cursor lands on it.
The "bells and whistle" tricks play upon old-fashioned curiosity.
You really can’t guess why the page would feature a tick symbol. Then
you find out it pertains to a biopesticide case.
The most far fetched symbol is the "nice suit" which has nothing
to do with the garment industry and everything to do with a law suit.
Dechert earned top marks from Red Street Consultings reviewer last
fall, who noted that the "What Matters" section "is by
far the most unique, effective, and impressive method we’ve yet seen
for presenting the firm a new way. The attorney directory is also
top-notch; the directory can be searched by law school, first or last
name, practice area, and even what city the lawyer practices in. We
would have liked to be able to read the articles listed under `bylined
articles’ but that just leaves room for improvements."
Currency 10
Ease of use 8
Content 8
Design 10
Bonus for savviness: 5
Total 41
Top Of Page
Fox Rothschild">Fox Rothschild
plus introductory paragraphs. However, the search engine is tucked
away on the business resources page so you might not find it. Another
good resource is a Y2K information center. Based in Philadelphia,
the Princeton office is on Lenox Drive. The site was developed by
Net Plus Marketing.
Currency 5
Ease of use 8
Content 9
Design 8
Total 30
Top Of Page
Hill Wallack">Hill Wallack
advanced; each attorney is computer literate and the law library is
contained on stacks of CDs. Perhaps the website is an initial foray
into cyberspace. Designed by Princeton Internet Group, the front page
looks like that of a multi-city law firms, but the content is not
competitive. It has no search engine and the journal articles are
indexed by date, not by title.
Currency: 5
Ease of use: 3
Content: 3
Design: 8
Total 19
Top Of Page
Jamieson Moore Peskin
website went up last year and represents the first phase. "Initially,
we want to deliver some value, to put up articles and client advisories.
Also we want to make sure we are ready for the next phase of what
the World Wide Web can be used for, in delivering services to clients,"
says Pat McCormick.
Among the recent posted articles: "Is Municipal `Hospital-ity’s
Still Alive and Well in New Jersey?" and "The Right to Privacy
and Your Bank Account."
One internal person spends an hour or two a week keeping the site
up to date — posting a position or adding a paper. This firm has
its headquarters in Alexander Park, and the site developer is IBS
Interactive in Cherry Hill.
Currency 7
Ease of use 5
Content 5
Design 8
Total 25
Top Of Page
Morgan Lewis Bockius">Morgan Lewis Bockius
of law research by putting up useful information. The web page for
this company that just expanded to the Carnegie Center has a searchable
database of letters interpreting the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements
Act of 1976. More than 300 people — attorneys, investment brokers,
educators, economists, and government administrators — have registered
to use the site. Three pages of links to other legal sites are useful,
and new items are indicated on each page. The designer, the Minnesota-based
West Group, effectively put promotional case examples in the margins
by each formal explanation of practice areas. New items are indicated
on each page. In the just-for-fun arena, there is a link to the official
site of major league baseball. Based in Philadelphia, the firm has
an office at the Carnegie Center.
Currency 9
Ease of use 10
Content 10
Design 8
Savvy points for database: 5
Total 42
Top Of Page
Pellettieri Rabstein ">Pellettieri Rabstein
Altman
links. The index page touts a Fen-phen site that consists of one slim
tip and a tollfree number. Meanwhile the site has a good article on
Fen-phen (the controversial diet drug) that could have been linked
effectively. The attorney bios have no links to the articles they
have written. Look for the reprint (with some information deleted)
of a Times of Trenton story by Joseph Dee on how Edward Slaughter
Jr. won a $14.3 million settlement for a car accident victim. The
headquarters is in Nassau Park.
Currency 5
Ease of use 3
Content 7
Design 5
Total 22
Top Of Page
Reed Smith Shaw">Reed Smith Shaw
Design Group, has useful information in client bulletins and a really
good search mechanism and navigation plan. Based in Pennsylvania,
the Princeton office is in Forrestal Village.
Currency 5
Ease of use 10
Content 5
Design 8
Total 28
Top Of Page
Saul, Ewing, Remick">Saul, Ewing, Remick
sequence, with jazzy music. In his entry for the Technology New Jersey
website contest, the webmaster, Rudy Garcia, wrote that the website
"has brought our firm to the attention of millions of potential
new clients, helped our current clients learn more about us, facilitated
our recruitment of new lawyers, provided articles and answers to legal
questions as a public service, enhanced our reputation as a technically
savvy firm, and generated substantial new business." Garcia claims
that all of the files, programming, and graphics "were designed
and created by a lawyer in his spare time."
One mark of quality: the text version is as good as the glitzy one,
which has a JavaScript powered address book directory of lawyers.
The navigation map image is a legible and appropriate file drawer.
Thanks to the firm’s "golf course" practice it has a good
excuse to link to lots of golf pages. Surely golf-minded web surfers
will run across this law firm, based in Philadelphia, with an office
at the Carnegie Center.
Currency 9
Ease of use 10
Content 9
Design 10
Savvy bonus: 5
Total 43
Top Of Page
Smith Stratton Wise">Smith Stratton Wise
blues. Except for some smart links to Martindale Hubbell (the law
directory) that few other sites took advantage of, nothing distinguishes
this home page. "It’s really low key. We like it that way,"
says Christopher Tarr. The year-old site was done in-house without
out-of-pocket expense. Some glitches need to be improved, such as
the promise of hand-outs without a click through to get them.
Currency 3
Ease of use 5
Content 4
Design 5
Total 17
Top Of Page
Stark & Stark">Stark & Stark
— it offers a two-day response for any question you want to ask
an attorney and has a good search engine. Weekly "tip sheets"
ranging from bicycle helmets to sexual harassment are archived, so
that if you had some kind of legal question you could go to this site
and get basic information.
Like many other online hosts, Freeman found that the same participants
kept showing up for the online chats and the bulletin board, so those
pages have gone inactive. But the Legal Question section (ask a question
and get an answer within 48 hours) draws about two responses per day.
Freeman says her biggest challenge is in finding the time to post
all the articles that her firm’s lawyers produce.
Lots of white space adds to readability. When you search, you get
no summary of the story, only the linkable web address.
Currency 10
Ease of use 8
Content 10
Design 10
Savvy bonus 5
Total 43
Top Of Page
Smaller Firms
to his website — he lost the most recent appeal. That hasn’t stopping
him from putting everything pertinent about the subject on his home
page, ready for easy research. The links are good.
Currency 3
Ease of use 10
Content 8
Design 3
Total 24
glitz (atypical for an attorney). The bells and whistles include a
compass with a quavering needle on the directions page and scissors
that snip on the press release page. The site map is a more traditional
stack of law books. Isaacs is known for mediation and alternative
dispute resolution, and the site has some good articles on the subject.
He also gets a plus for posting his fees, The site was designed and
hosted by Web@finity Inc., Isaacs neighbor at Princeton Professional
Park. (After this was published we were notified that the current site is http://www.hananisaacs.com and is hosted
and maintained by Weblications Inc.)
Currency 3
Ease of use 5
Content 5
Design 6
Total 19
website for self promotion. She has posted many good family law papers
on this site, and each one links to her small bio, illustrated with
a pen and ink drawing. Her web address may be clunky, but those who
surf the web are going to find her as a result of their web browser
searchers.
Currency 5
Ease of use 3
Content 7
Design 2
Total 17
Stark and Saul Ewing, tied for first, with Dechert Price & Rhoads
and Morgan Lewis Bockius in second, followed closely in third place
by Archer & Greiner. In the fourth tier would be Reed Smith, Fox Rothschild,
Buchanan Ingersoll, Fox Rothschild, and Robert A. Kenny.
Bottom line: "The legal industry is still lagging behind, and
the urgency has not been shown yet, but the Internet is not going
away," says Rizzo of Lawyers Homepage Network. Courts are posting
court calendars on the Web and soon will require documents to be electronically
filed. "If lawyers don’t embrace the technology their practice
is not going to be there in the years to come. Clients will require
it."
Corrections or additions?
This page is published by PrincetonInfo.com
— the web site for U.S. 1 Newspaper in Princeton, New Jersey.
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