Marketing@LAW announces Lawyer Blawg Network : questionable value for lawyers & consumers

Marketing@LAW, a law firm marketing company, announceed this week its Lawyer Blawg Network. Lawyers pay $590 (free until August 1) and supposedly consumers can search for a lawyer by locale and area of practice.

The company’s mission of empowering consumers in their selection of legal counsel by providing consumers with more info about the lawyer than you see in yellow pages or lawyer directory is a noble one. I also agree with Marketing@LAW President Lewis Kahn that he can’t think of a better online way to gain clients than to lay out legal issues, legal information and the like than a blog. “Specialized content that helps the client will build practices in years to come.”

I just get worried when a company comes out with a press release lauding their new product when there is nothing to it. In the case of LawyerBlawg Network, I couldn’t find any lawyers listed in any city or practice area. It’s hard to believe there are going to be enough lawyer blogs in this directory in a couple months for consumers to find it of any value in selecting a lawyer. If that’s the case, I am sure as heck, as a lawyer looking for work, not going to pay six hundred bucks to get in the directory.

Also get a tad leery when part of the firm’s marketing program is an affiliate program to pay anyone with a Web site for turning lawyers onto the network. “Help promote free Blogs for lawyers and earn commissions each time a lawyer signs up for a FREE blog. For every lawyer you sign up, you earn $20.” Maybe I’m just an old fashioned lawyer who’s not enough of a capitalist, but I think we’re above that sort of thing as a profession.

Hope these guys pull off using blog as a means of show casing a lawyers experience, passion and care to potential new clients. But for now, if I’m a lawyer I’d go slow on the Lawyer Blawg Network.