For many involved in law firm
web site development, this is where it all started. With Greg
Siskind and Visalaw.com. You would be hard-pressed to find
anyone on the planet involved in either the practice of
immigration law or law firm web sites that have not been to
this site at some point in time. This is where immigration
lawyers go to learn what immigration lawyers should know. This
is the site that people point to as the best example of how a
small firm used the Internet to become a “player”. And this
year, Visalaw finally succumbed to retiring the weakest
component—a really drab design—and now has a site with look
and functionality to compliment some of the most content-rich
information available in a field of practice. This level of
success does not come without a tremendous amount of time and
energy (more than money), but they do not buy content from
others or spend money getting the web site promoted—they
succeed using their own credentials and person-power—a lesson
for firms of all sizes and practices. Visalaw does not pay
sites to post articles. People come here as the destination
for information.
Now you can add the ultimate
honor, the IMA Platinum, to your web site home page. An
amazingly detailed effort. If you did not know the firm size
and saw the site, you might be thinking a few hundred
attorneys. Put this site side by side with Milberg, and you
see how the web levels the playing field. Content,
interactivity, design. You name it. Lots of similarly-situated
firms are probably sitting around scratching their heads. How
do they do it? It is about strategy and commitment.
A few years ago, long before the
Miller Nash web site started receiving accolades and having
law web sites, publications and its vendors interview them,
IMA had featured this site as the perfect “case study”,
leading to a stream of follow-up publicity. Of course, IMA has
found that many of these folks use this site to find out what
they should be talking about anyway. With the addition of a
web site review and award category that goes beyond the
largest 250 firms in the US, Miller Nash can now grab its
well-earned platinum IMA for 2003. Miller Nash does what many
firms have tried to do—make the web site the core of all
marketing efforts. From the chat function in client services,
to customization of content through briefcase and jump start.
Behind the scenes is an online proposal center. When I look at
the so-called awards given by “peers” or “publications” of
varying degree (with results that are laughable at best),
grabbing on to Miller Nash is one of the few that actually
deserve to be there. Keep doing what you are doing.
One of the most unique
“scrolling headlines” on the home pages is just the start of
another Northwest law firm kicking butt in the web wars. From
the makers of the Miller Nash site is a mid-size firm packing
a huge punch online. And while some features are repeated,
they have original components of their own. There are about
five web development companies in the country that have become
“breakout” successes in the legal vertical. Saturno is one of
them. Superb resume and search functionality, a cool art
gallery (Nifty Fifty 2003, for sure), excellent client
services. It is tough to look unique these days. Schwabe
manages to do it with this site.
When IMA is asked to point out
some of the better law firm web sites targeting consumer
clients, and more specifically worker’s comp and PI, Edgar
Snyder is always on the list. Pittsburgh-based, his firm puts
many of the Steel City’s monster firms to shame on the
Internet. There are two keys here. One—to coordinate the site
with all other media buy and marketing efforts. Two—offer
things online to a broader audience and with more detail than
normally presented. They know the audience and hit them right
on the browser!
