In 1993 Gregory Siskind, an associate at Nashville's Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, was glancing through The New York Times when he noticed a story about a new software package, Mosaic. For the first time Internet users had a way to browse easily through the sector of the Internet known as the World Wide Web.

"That was the article that changed my life," says Siskind, now 28. He immediately recognized that Mosaic-and the World Wide Web-offered a new way to market legal services. "That was the day I started planning to open up my own law firm," he says.

Six months later, Siskind and Lynn Susser, both immigration specialists, started their own firm, Siskind and Susser. At the same time, they set up a Web page, becoming only the "fourth or fifth firm in the country with a site," Siskind asserts. His Web site [http://www.telalink.net/~gsiskind] at first included little more information than a standard firm brochure - his name, credentials, and address - but Siskind soon added more features, such as an immigration law newsletter, updated monthly; a how-to section on obtaining green cards; and an interactive questionnaire that allows prospective clients to contact the firm directly through the Web site.

Siskind's story shows the importance of regularly updating a Web site and providing interesting content - something that will draw browsers to one's site. Today a visitor at Siskind's Web site can find out how long it takes the Immigration and Naturalization Service to process different types of visas; learn how academics who fall into the "outstanding researchers and professors" category can receive expedited visas; and get specific directions on how to apply for visas at different consulates around the world.

It is, says Web browser Carl Oppedahl of Yorktown Heights, New York's Oppedahl & Larson, a "Web site filled with helpful background information." He draws a contrast between Siskind and Susser's approach to Internet marketing and that of another immigration boutique, Phoenix's now-notorious Canter & Siegel. Two years ago Canter & Siegel earned the wrath of Internet users by "spamming" the Net-plastering about 6,000 bulletin boards with an advertisement for its green card services. "I think [Siskind and Susserl made a much better impression on Internet users," says Oppedahl, who has a Web page of his own. "Their Web site is not a piece of hype."

Client Jayesh Sahasi, for instance, says he visits Siskind's Web site regularly, just to check on new developments in immigration law. Another client, Shirish Dhodapkar, retained Siskind to help him get a visa after visiting Siskind's Web site. "I'm a computer professional," explains Dhodapkar. "[The Web site] kind of gives instant confidence."

"We've developed a very loyal following," Siskind asserts. "The secret is ... developing a relationship with your readers."

According to usage software on Siskind's Web site, Siskind and Susser's home page received a weekly total of 30,000 to 70,000 "hits," or visits, during a six-week period in December and January. Siskind's newsletter goes out electronically to an additional 7,000 subscribers every month, Siskind claims.

Of the approximately 500 matters that his firm handled in 1995, about half came from clients who had first visited the Web page, Siskind says. The Internet lets Siskind market to an ideal client base-at least for his practice. In the relatively educated, computer-literate ranks of Web browsers are many people who require Siskind's services: foreign professors, scientists, doctors, executives, or students-most already in the U.S.-who need visas for work or study. "Our typical client has a master's or a Ph.D," Siskind says. About 75 percent of Siskind's clients are individuals - although often the client's employer, who is sponsoring the client, actually pays the client's legal fees, he says.

In addition, Siskind and Susser has prospered because immigration law is especially suited for an Internet-based practice. And even among immigration firms, Siskind and Susser firm has something of a niche practice, Siskind says: Almost all of its clients are seeking employment-related visas.

"Immigration law is perfect for a national practice because it's federal," Siskind says. "Most applications are done by mail, and you don't have to make personal appearances."

In fact, only about 45 percent of his clients are in Tennessee, Siskind says. Potential clients browsing the firm's Web site can contact Siskind and Susser directly over the Internet for help in filing INS applications by filling out Web site questionnaires that focus on the personal and professional data required by the INS. (The Siskind and Susser site provides encryption software to ensure confidentiality.) The actual consultation with a lawyer, however, usually takes place over the telephone, says Siskind.

Two years after establishing his home page, Siskind says, his solo practice has grown to four lawyers, with a fifth in Toronto-whom Siskind first contacted for help with a Canadian matter after seeing his Web page-scheduled to join the firm in February. "I would credit the Internet as being our key to success," Siskind says. "If you can get those high numbers of people looking at your material every month, you're going to get business."