Attorneys use internet to grow business

June 29, 2000

Investments in an online presence are starting to pay off for attorneys, according to participants in the Law Practice Symposium Breakfast held June 29 in conjunction with the State Bar Annual Convention in Madison.

About one-third of the 20 symposium attendees who said they have Web sites also said they'd received business as a direct result.

"When we started our Web site, we didn't have specific marketing goals in mind but rather just a feeling it was necessary to have a presence on the Web," recalled panelist Tom P. Solheim, Solheim, Billing & Grimmer, Madison. "We did little more than reproduce our brochure online with a few links and additional background about the firm.

"We didn't really expect any results, but in just the past month, we've gotten two good new pieces of business from far away - one from out of the country and another from the East Coast. Both involved business disputes with Wisconsin connections. I believe more people will use the Web to look for attorneys, especially for out-of-town referrals."

Another attorney, in practice one year with a large Madison firm, cited three cold calls in two months from potential clients who had seen her photo and credentials on her firm's Web site. "One client was specifically looking for a female attorney, and the photo was a factor," she noted.

Although conflicts prevented the attorney from taking on these clients, she plans to make her Web area more focused and accessible to the lay person, with less "legalese" and a clearer explanation of the services she provides.

Most of the calls participants received as a result of Internet exposure were from out-of-state clients seeking local representation. Attorneys who tracked these contacts said the potential clients had found their sites using standard search engines.

In recognition of the growing use of the Internet to locate attorneys, the State Bar has incorporated an online adjunct of its Lawyer Referral & Information Service (LRIS) on its new consumer Web site, LegalExplorer, which is set to launch in mid-July. Convention attendees previewed LRIS online and LegalExplorer in a multimedia convention presentation.