Legal vaporware

The latest in websites making bold statements and seemingly having nothing to back it up is MyLawNetwork. I would never had heard of then, but for a Twitter account in their brand name started following me on Twitter this morning.

Per the large text on the home page of their website:

MyLawNetwork is the largest and most comprehensive online database of information about judges, courtroom, court personnel , and other data you need for your practice.

When someone says they’re ‘largest and most comprehensive’ anything, especially when they don’t disclose who they are on the about page, my bullshit detector goes off, but I gave it a try.

I went to the Wisconsin county where I practiced law for 17 years. The county has 6 state court judges and lots of court personnel. Browsing to the ‘La Crosse page‘ I draw zero results.

But there’s a ‘…Click Here For More’ on the page. Unfortunately when you clicking you get the same zero results.

But I do get the current temperature for one city – Dallas – of all places, an ad for a divorce lawyer in Raleigh, a meaningless news feed at the bottom of the page, and a quote of day. I kid you not. Look at the screen shot below.

Thinking La Crosse may have been too small, I tried Milwaukee. Same results. Nothing.

The concept behind MyLawNetwork is a good idea. Sharing info on judges. And who knows? Maybe this site will become extraordinarily successful.

But for now, it looks silly, if not a fraud. Why not launch with the counties where you have info on judges and court personal and add to the counties as you grow?

MyLawNetwork is not the first website in the legal arena to come out making bold claims as if business success meant throwing up a website with lots of bells and whistles with nothing behind it. It’s not the first to have a website without disclosing who the ‘We’ are. It won’t be the last.

But people coming to the legal industry with services and products ought to recognize that we are a profession comprised of lawyers, most of whom are conducting themselves in an ethical fashion. Of which many chose becoming a lawyer because it’s a noble profession dedicated to serving others.

When starting a service or launching a product start small if you’ve yet to conquered the nation. It’s okay. Let people know who you are as well as your background. Share your story so folks understand how the service came about and why people should believe you’re sincere in bringing your vision to fruition.

When I started LexBlog, I didn’t have one client. I had 7 at the end of the first year. I told folks my background and what I hoped to achieve, something I’m a long way from. God knows I’m not the best of role models, but at least I was straight with other lawyers.

There are wonderful opportunities for entrepreneurs to serve the legal profession. The Internet allows you to scale, market virally, and deliver services efficiently. But when you get started be humble, be sincere, and at least tell us who you are.