Legal Marketing & PR

Only 3% of Legal Work is Influenced by Directories

By Larry Bodine, Esq.

There are three ways that law firms can waste their money:

1. Shoveling bales of cash out of the back of a moving pickup truck.
2. Starting bonfires with wrapped packs of $100 bills.
3. Buying a listing in a directory of law firms.

Speaking at the recent Chief Marketing Officers' Forum in New York, Peter Columbus, the Director of Business Development for Kaye Scholer and Mark Messing, Chief Marketing Officer of Weil, Gotshal Manges, presented research showing that directory listings are worthless.

There are now 950 surveys and rankings of law firms, including Martindale-Hubbell, Chambers, Leading Lawyers, Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, 204 “Best, Super or Top" lists, 175 largest law firm lists, 122 “Rising Star” lists, 103 Diversity-focused surveys and 90 Workplace satisfaction lists, according to research by Jaffe Associates.  And all of them generate little to no new business for law firms, Messing said.

Directories are published primarily as profit-making ventures that appeal to lawyer egos, and to help publications increase their readership, according to Columbus.

When Acritas research surveyed in-house lawyers in 2007 about what sources influence their consideration of law firms, none spontaneously mentioned law firm directories. Instead the corporate lawyers said they relied on referrals from companies, personal experience, referrals from colleagues, the reputation of the firm, publications and articles, referrals from outside law firms and referrals from peers.

Overall, three quarters are not at all, or only marginally, influenced by directories in their selection of law firms, according to the research.  When Acritas asked, "Do you ever refer to directories when selecting law firms?" the respondents said that less than 3% of work is influenced by directories.

Law firms are getting wise. Some 30% of AmLaw 100 law firms are no longer listed in Martindale-Hubbell. Some law firms have adopted policies that they will refuse to be listed in Super Lawyers or Best Lawyers, according to Messing.

"When I go to client offices, I don't see any lawyer directories on their shelves," Columbus said.  "I don't think any corporation chooses a law firm based on a paid directory listing.  You should not waste your money on a directory profile."

Full post as published by Larry Bodine's LawMarketing Blog on October 15, 2008 (boomark / email).