A Page on the Web, published in the Solicitors Journal, June 2000

It is now widely stated that firms who do not have an e-commerce capability will soon be out of business. The internet is all-pervasive and while it may not yet have taken as firm a hold on the provision of legal services as it has in other areas, it should be obvious by now that it is only a matter of time before it does.

But if you are not already embarked on an e-commerce strategy there seems to me no reason to panic … yet. The jargon and the hype tend to obscure the fact that the message is simply that one should be in a position to use the internet effectively and efficiently for conducting business. This requires the following steps:

• using the internet yourself
• establishing an internet presence
• developing your internet identity
• marketing your internet presence
• developing your internet services
• conducting transactions over the internet

It is not the intention of this article to provide a ‘how to’ guide – a rather longer document would be required. However, below are a number of points to consider along the way.A useful set of links to legal sites involved in e-commerce is Delia Venables’ page on Selling and Marketing Legal Services Online at www.venables.co.uk/selling.htm.

Using the internet

You cannot hope to start developing a sensible strategy until you have investigated the medium. It is not sufficient to leave this to the ‘techies’ (if any are available to you) since you primarily need to investigate what your competition is up to rather than how they are doing it. So put in a couple of days concerted surfing the web from a starting point such as this site.

Establishing an internet presence

Establishing a physical internet presence is of course a pre-requisite! If you are not sure how to go about this on your own, there are many who will seek to help you. Make a note of those companies who have assisted firms whose sites appeal to you and those who specialise in the legal marketplace (most of whom will advertise in the legal press). You may need hand-holding at first, but the aim should be to involve yourselves in the process rather than leaving it all up to a design company.

An important step in the process is to register a domain name and it makes sense in the first instance to register one or more names as close as possible to your firm’s name (without being long-winded) as both a .co.uk and a .com if available. Any number of registered names can be pointed at the same physical website.

Most law firm websites are at present ‘brochure’ sites, consisting of pages of information about the firm, its services and personnel. Such pages are a minimum requirement, but will not on their own generate significant business.

Developing your internet identity

Before going further, you need to ask your(internet)self who you are and why you are there. Are you simply a billboard for Bloggs & Bloggs posted on the internet? Shouldn’t you be Bloggs & Bloggs trading on the internet? Or should you (instead or in addition) have a distinct internet identity based on the particular internet services you provide? In other words, consider the most appropriate branding for your internet services. Many firms now have websites under the firm’s name but also deliver particular services under a distinct internet brand name. Generally this internet trading name will be the domain name. Examples of such services are nextlaw.com, divorceuk.com , accidentdirect.com, etc. It is said that most such ‘memorable’ domain names are now ‘used up’. However, clearly there is still a virtually unlimited number of distinctive names which may be used.

Marketing your internet presence

With probably in excess of a billion pages now on the web, your effort will more than likely go virtually unnoticed unless you put significant effort into promoting your presence. It’s worth repeating the standard advice given in most primers on setting up and marketing your web presence:

• quote your web address prominently on every communication you issue
• register with all the internet search engines
• establish reciprocal links with associates and other business contacts

If you accept that your internet presence should be more than just another aspect of your firm’s marketing – ie that it should be a revenue earning business unit – then you will need to plan and develop a marketing strategy for that business accordingly.One avenue for firms with limited marketing resources of their own is to subscribe to a site which markets the legal services of its associates. Member firms are generally charged a fee or perhaps a percentage for business referred.

Developing your internet services and conducting transactions over the internet

To get started delivering your services over the internet it is not necessary to spend a lot of time and money developing sophisticated databases, forms and automated processes – those can follow in due course. Much can be achieved simply by effective email communication.

• ensure that the services you can offer online are clearly and succinctly stated with prominent mailback links
• ensure that you have an email address for each area of practice
• ensure that the mail for these addresses is monitored constantly and that replies are sent more or less immediately
• wherever appropriate use email and email attachments rather than fax/snail mail – this is why you’re online!