Make me special: How lawyer lists came to rule the world

Do law firms really need lawyer directories, or are they merely jumping on the bandwagon? By Cherie Olland.

I love Fortune columnist Stanley Bing, because he tells it like it is. He knows every nuance, treachery and paranoia that informs the world of business. He understands that hubris is the right of the elite few. He states that “business is life,” and he makes us see the humour in all of the wacky back-office stuff that makes businesses and professions tick. But most of all, he says it like it is. I thought I’d take my turn to say it like it is because I have a bone to pick (a dinosaur bone, in fact) with the burgeoning world of lawyer directories.

Back in the day, when the law-firm marketing tribe gathered, a handful of sweeping topics were consistently in play: the lawyers; our next move; branding; and, the real meaning of the word ‘strategic’. No more. We slid off that cliff in one wild, whooping, arm-flailing whoosh. The number-one topic today? Lawyer directories.

I recently met a few law firm marketers for breakfast at an appointed early hour. The topic of directories was on the table before the first cups of coffee were poured. Two days later, I joined representatives from four of our offices to try to wrestle the directory beast to the floor. The external and internal discussions were remarkably parallel and the points of agreement came in threes.

There are three kinds of directories: Martindale-Hubbell, which in the US is in a class by itself and is deserving of a separate discussion; ‘global’ directories that put a fair amount of muscle behind their research; and, a smarmy mass of undifferentiated, unsubstantiated lists, whose sole reason for being appears to be to line the pockets of the publishers.

There are a few major challenges for marketers: deciding what lists (if any) are useful; setting priorities and deploying armies of resources to respond to the tidal wave of requests for information, contacts, references and verifications; educating lawyers on what, if anything, is worth their time; and, corralling the submissions so there is a semblance of a record of who is who and what is what.

Setting aside the fact that among all of us we could cite only two examples of a client referencing a directory in a hiring decision, the resentment toward directories that is gathering throughout the legal community is palpable. Directories have become the more evil twin of the surveys that the legal trades spew. Let’s raise our collective voices to stop the madness.

To our lawyers: we understand that it is flattering to be told that you are the best, the top, the superest of supers. You are smart, talented and well educated and have worked hard to earn every stripe. We know that, and we suspect your clients do as well. We appreciate that, on occasion, your clients see your name on a list and mention the sighting. But let’s strike a balance. Let’s cooperate with the directories when and, to the extent, feasible, but let’s never, ever, pay for a listing. Keep your money. Please.

To prospective directory publishers: we know that you see an ocean of fragile egos out there who are willing to pay for expanded listings for ever more narrow areas of the law. You are wrong. The world does not need any more lawyer directories, and the gravy train has to end. We are beyond capacity and out of budget.

To our clients: for those of you who are besieged by directories from all over the world to verify our lawyers’ talents, we thank you. We know that you use many firms and that all of them are providing your name as a reference. We didn’t create this landslide; we hope you will forgive us and that we can find a way to return the favour.

To my colleagues: it’s time to take a stand. I, for one, am ready to get back to business. Although every firm is sure to pursue a solution that is unique to them, in my mind it is time for us to take back control, discriminating carefully among the directories, participating selectively, and doing it in a time frame we set and at a price we can afford.

Today’s legal marketplace is glutted with products – many of them extremely useful and well conceived. There are products that make our lives easier, which make the lawyers we work with more productive, that give us an edge or an insight that we need. Some give us pegs on which to hang our identities. Some we need some day and some we need right now. In my view, directories just aren’t in that mix and they are not going to rule my world any more. What about you? ?

The views set forth herein are the personal views of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the law firm with which she is associated. Cherie Olland is global director of marketing and business development at international firm Jones Day. She can be contacted at colland@jonesday.com