A decade ago, the Web sites of Major League Baseball (MLB) teams mirrored the standings. Wealthy teams like the Yankees had the best sites. Recognizing this disparity and the growing importance of the Web, MLB persuaded the teams to dismantle their individual sites, and join forces under the mlb.com domain name. Nowadays, the team sites share a similar layout, features, and navigation. MLB and the teams have enjoyed enormous financial success as a result of this collective effort.
The Web sites of today's state bars resemble the MLB team sites of yesteryear. Some offer a better design and better content than others. Although the state bars do not belong to a centralized organization like MLB, they should consider teaming up on the Web under a shared domain name.
Notwithstanding the differences among state bars, they more or less perform the same functions, resulting in considerable overlap among their online needs — similar to baseball teams. Consider the benefits of an MLB-style network of state bar Web sites:
- Lower Costs: By splitting the cost of the underlying infrastructure and the people require to manage it, state bars would save money and have a better Web site than they could afford on their own.
- More Content: Shared technology would also enable state bars to spend more time and money on content, resulting in greater loyalty among their members and more search engine traffic.
- More Revenue: State bars have ceded revenue opportunities to startups such as Avvo (lawyer ratings) and LegalMatch (client prospecting). With an advanced technology platform, state bars could collectively compete for this revenue with offerings of their own. In fact, it's shocking that state bars don't dominate the lawyer ratings and search marketplace given their natural advantages such as mandatory membership.
- CLE Partnerships: It's unlikely that every state bar would agree to the same CLE rules, but if they could agree on what an online CLE course should entail, they could pool online CLE courses and share revenue. For example, if a Florida lawyer takes a CLE course created by the State Bar of Texas, the Florida Bar might receive a 15% commission.
- Autonomy: I don't find it confusing when I visit the Yankees site at newyork.yankees.mlb.com. Similarly, each state bar association would retain its identity as an independent organization thanks to their own sub-domain and tools to publish state-specific content such as ethics rules, a live events calendar, the staff address book, etc.
A Long Shot But Not Impossible. What About Voluntary Bar Associations?
We've worked with several state bars over the years. Although some state bar executives have the authority to close deals, others must receive approval from committees that don't meet frequently.
Therefore, such an initiative would face an uphill battle. But such collaborations have occurred in other industries. For example, the movie studios created the MPAA for film ratings and other functions. Also, most state bar executives already know one another — it's a small world.
A coalition of state bars with a common Web presence would likely pose a threat to voluntary bar associations. However, there's no reason why voluntary bar associations can't create a network of sites as well. In fact, many local bar associations struggle with their Web sites given their small size and budget. Their need to share Web development resources is even more pressing than that of the state bars.
With baby boomers about to start retiring, the majority of lawyers will inevitably demand better online resources from their state bars and especially from voluntary bar associations. MLB has hit a home run with its network of team Web sites. State bars and their voluntary counterparts should take note and steal this strategy while they still have time to win the online game.
About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to lawyers, law office administrators, and others in the legal profession. We link to each new TechnoEditorial and much more in our BlawgWorld newsletter, which is free. Please subscribe now.
