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About Legal Domains
from AmericanLegalDomains.com
Some History
Legal domain names are, essentially, the names or designations that lawyers and
law firms adopt as their addresses on the World Wide Web. When typed in the
address field (Internet Explorer) or location field (Netscape) of a user's Internet
browser, they connect the user's computer to the lawyer's web site, email or both.
While computers rely upon a long series of numbers and dots called an IP (internet
protocol) address to do this, domain names, allowing the use of letters, as well as
numbers and dots, were developed to make it easier for humans to remember a
web site's location. Some well known examples of domain names are "Yahoo.com",
"CNN.com" and "Business.com".
Although the World Wide Web was quickly gathering steam as early as 1993, only
25 law firms had established a web site by the end of 1994. In 1995,
lawyers in a state so populous as New Jersey, had yet to establish a single web site.
Five years later, at the dawn of the Millenium, virtually every large firm, and tens of
thousands of smaller firms in the United States have established a presence on the Web.
(According to Network Solutions, the number of lawyers establishing web sites has more than doubled in each of the last five years, and lawyers have led the
way as one of the
top two industries in the world economy in the registration of domain names.)
As attractive and affordable Web site options for lawyers multiply, the rush of lawyers
to the Web continues.
The enormous migration of lawyers to the Web over the past several years is reflected in the fact that, along with internet services providers, lawyers are
the largest segment of the world economy in the registration of domain names. For a ranking of the top registrants of domain names, check out the statistics maintained by Network Solutions, the leading registrar of domain
names on the Internet. While many firms initially chose surnames, firm names or partners' initials as their domain names, a few of the more prescient adopted domain names reflective of their practice, and which aided them in the
"branding" and marketing of their practices in the legal services arena.
Management Section of the American Bar Association
As lawyers and law firms grow in their familiarity with the Internet, and as they come to recognize the unique advantages and potential marketing
opportunities of a descriptive legal domain name, there is an accelerating trend toward the adoption of descriptive legal domains as either a firm's primary domain, or as one of several domains directing visitors to the firm's Web
site. It is now becoming common for many firms to have multiple descriptive legal domains. For most solos and
smaller firms, however, a single descriptive legal domain is all that is required to achieve
an identity in the legal marketplace through its "branding" characteristics.
While the use of a surname domain is understandably a matter
of
great pride for its namesake(s), its use as a domain name is redundant (the lawyer's or firm's name is presumably known to exisiting clients and
already prominently displayed on
everything the practice produces), and represents the worst sort of wasted opportunity
for the "branding" and marketing of that practice. A legal domain name should be
selected, not to restate the obvious, but as a complement to one's surname or firm name,
to establish or strengthen one's standing in the marketplace.
The Benefits of a Descriptive Legal Domain Name
As mentioned previously, the use of a surname or surname initials as the only domain of a practice is redundant and represents a lost opportunity to create or
strengthen a lawyer's or firm's identity in the marketplace. A descriptive domain, by its very nature,
instantaneously describes and defines the nature of a law practice to clients and
potential clients. Whether general, such as "TheWashingtonLawyers.com ",
or more specific, such as "InjuryAdvocacy.com", a descriptive legal domain distinguishes its practice and conveys a sense of
stature.
While it has been a mainstay of commercial marketing for several hundred years, the concept of "branding", or creating a brand name for
your legal practice, has worked its way into the planning lexicon of most legal marketing gurus in only the last decade. Now, it would seem, legal marketing consultants can agree upon at least two principles:
1. Establish your practice identity in the marketplace; and
2. Commit the resouces required to accomplish it.
Law firms of virtually every size and sort stand to reap significant returns from the
branding opportunities afforded by the right descriptive legal domain.
Benefits to Large Practices
Even the largest and most venerable of firms can enhance their marketing strategies,
however, by considering the employment of a complementary domain descriptive of their
geographic scope, such as "TheNationalPractice.com" or "TheInternationalLawyers.com", or descriptive of the specialties for which they are
best known, such as "SupremeCourtAdvocacy.com". Firms frequently use alternative complementary descriptive domains selectively, incorporating the descriptive domain on some materials,and in some contexts, while using their surname or initial-type domain in others. The largest firms must, at a minimum, consider the potential consequences of failing to now secure the most appropriate descriptive domain(s) for possible future use, as the most attractive domains continue to disappear.
Another trend developing at the largest, and many medium sized firms, is the employment of multiple descriptive legal domains directing clients to various
practice groups within the firm. The employment by a large firm of descriptive legal domains in this manner conveys to potential clients the firm's stature, expertise and awareness of Internet technology and trends. Large firms
that fail to secure at least a geographically descriptive legal domain in the near future face the strong possibility that the most appropriate names for their firms will have been taken by their competitors within the next 12 to 24
months. (Domain names are registered at the rate of one every three seconds.) When weighing the relatively modest cost of securing an appropriate legal domain against the risk of losing a firm's most appropriate legal
domain to the competition, it is clear that the prudent firm will protect against this risk by securing the right name or names, even if the firm does not intend to use it in the immediate future.
Medium Sized Firms
Medium sized firms of, for example, 20, or even 50 attorneys, share
in many of the same marketplace issues as do the large firms, and derive the same benefits from a descriptive legal domain that a large firm does. For medium sized firms, however, it is likely to be more difficult to achieve
widespread market branding than it is for the largest firms that may have been in existence for two, or even three times as long as a medium sized firm.
Medium sized and small sized firms are also generally more
vulnerable to the defections, break-ups and spin-offs, which often change the firm name. Should a firm's name be changed for any reason, a legal domain incorporating the practice's surnames or initials would have to be
abandoned and a new legal domain adopted. If a new legal domain again defaults to the use of partner surnames or initials, the firm remains vulnerable to the possibility of having to abandon its domain name once again. In these
circumstances, a geographically descriptive legal domain, such as "TheCaliforniaLawyers.com," not only enhances the image and stature of the firm, it guarantees uninterrupted continuity in the firm's identity and its domain
name.
And, like large firms, medium firms can also derive benefit from
employing practice specific domains for specific practice areas within the firm.
Small Firms and Solos
In the overcrowded and constantly changing legal marketplace, small
firms and solos face the greatest challenges in establishing and maintaining a practice identity or persona. Quite simply, it is enormously difficult for a solo or small firm to differentiate, identify and distinguish itself in the
national, or even regional, marketplace. While a relative handful of specialty boutique firms have been able to successfully carve a well-known niche in their respective fields, the vast majority of small and solo practices have
never quite been able to get to that "next level" in terms of market identity.
While a descriptive legal domain will not automatically guarantee
the same success as that of the elite boutiques, it immediately provides the solo or small firm with an ascertainable identity in the legal marketplace and is a powerful tool for future marketing efforts. Selecting the Right Legal Domain and Marketing Tips.)
The biggest mistake made by solo and small firms with web sites or a
web page is relying upon the cumbersome and often incomprehensible URL of their web page provider. Whether the web page shows up in a subdirectory or sub-domain of one of the major legal web site providers, such as Martindale Hubbell
or West, or even worse, as a long series of relatively meaningless characters, the message conveyed to clients and potential clients is that you are "renting" space and/or don't know what your domain is, or simply don't
care.
Whatever default URL is assigned to your web site by your provider,
you can change it (as many firms have done), by securing a descriptive legal domain and linking that domain to your web site in place of the default URL. (Although technically speaking, the default URL of the provider remains the
"true" URL, the new domain name can be linked to the web page in such a way that it actually shows up as your domain name.) Many firms with web pages in the West directory, for example, have chosen to purchase and employ
their own domain name in place of the subfile directory provided with the West service. Our web site is an example of the use of multiple domains. Depending upon how you arrived at our web site, you may find different URL's
in the address box of your browser.
Start-ups and Spin-offs
Lawyers leaving a firm, individually or as a collective spin-off,
and those "hanging out a shingle" for the first time, whether fresh out of law school or after leaving government employment, face the greatest challenges in developing an identity in the legal marketplace and, consequently, stand
to benefit the most by securing and marketing with a descriptive legal domain name. Indeed, as legal marketing gurus have observed, the World Wide Web provides the greatest opportunity ever for "leveling the playing field"
for solos and small practices.
A spin-off of seasoned lawyers from a major law firm may well face
the same problems of name recognition as the new lawyer fresh out of law school. In both cases, the use of a descriptive legal domain that conveys stature and expertise, coupled with a quality web site, can immediately, "level
the playing field" between the new practice and the established competition. In fact, the new practice with a quality legal domain and web site to match, may even quickly gain a significant marketing advantage over existing
practices which have failed to keep up with the times by adopting their own descriptive legal domains.
In short, where name recognition is lacking, there can be no faster
or more effective way for a new or emerging legal practice to establish its identity in the legal marketplace than by selecting and employing the right legal domain name in conjunction with a quality web site.
Value
The value of a legal domain name is dictated by both traditional and
non-traditional valuation considerations. The familiarly accepted considerations of valuation relating to supply and demand, comparable sales, and ratio of cost to return also pertain to the valuation of domain names in general, and
descriptive legal domains, in particular.
Supply
Over 22,000,000 .com domain names, including nearly every word in the
English language, have been registered as domain names, at the current rate of a new domain name registration every three seconds. The vast majority of the most obvious, descriptive and categorical domains for identifying a legal
practice were registered several years ago. Most are in current use, while others are being held as web sites are being constructed, and a relative handful, such as ours, have been placed on the market for purchase or lease.
While several thousand legal-type domains may be found at the major domain auction sites such as "SnapNames.com" and "Pool.com", almost all of these names have been registered by non-lawyers and would be
worthless, if not embarrassing and counterproductive for use as legal domain names for a practice seeking to carve a respectable niche in its market. There are, in fact, only a limited number of variations of "injury,"
"accident," and "lawyer," which are suitable as domain names, and virtually all have been taken except for those listed in our catalogue and a few scattered among other domain name resellers. The supply of truly
effective legal domains is quite limited relative to the size of the American legal community, and is shrinking rapidly. Many of our domains may, of course, also be suitable for use by legal professionals in other English speaking
countries, as well.
As the size of the American legal community grows, and as more and
more lawyers and law firms gravitate towards descriptive legal domains, it is clear that demand for quality legal domains will continue to increase indefinitely. This accelerating trend, combined with the finite and dwindling supply
of quality legal domains, ensures that values of descriptive legal domains will continue to remain high and will inevitably go higher. It is, in fact, a microcosm is what is happening with respect to the domain name market in
general. Cheesy, awkward and inappropriate legal domain names will remain plentiful, cheap, and ultimately, unusable. Quality legal domain names, which provide the benefits described in other sections of our site, are relatively
scarce and will become even scarcer.
Net Cost, Return and Residual Value
Any discussion of the valuation of domain names, legal or otherwise,
must take into account the ultimate true cost the purchaser which, in our case, involves at a minimum, consideration of the actual out-of-pocket cost to the purchaser and the current and ultimate return on that cost.
While the "return" on any intangible asset can be
difficult to quantify, particularly when tied to marketing efforts, the instant branding provided by a descriptive legal domain immediately conveys to every client and potential client the firm's unique stature in the legal community,
and provides a positive and lasting impression of the practice which it identifies. Furthermore, if the firm decides to avail itself of the "free advertising" provided by Internet search engines, an appropriate submission to
Internet search engines and directories can significantly enhance the firm's ability to be identified and listed during an Internet search by a potential client. The submission of your web site through search engines can, in many cases, provide the most effective "free advertising" in the world.
The residual value of a well-chosen legal domain name is potentially
enormous. As the supply of available quality legal domain names dwindles, and as demand increases and interest in such domain names continues it's exponential growth, the prospects for appreciation are bright, indeed.
Consider, if you will, what you would have paid for prime beachfront real estate 35 years ago.
The ".com" Factor
The endings after a domain name ".com", ".net"
and ".org" are known as the Top Level Domains (TLD). When domain names were implemented as a counterpart to numerical Internet addresses in the early 1990's, these were the three major original TLD's available to the
public for web site addresses. (Some others were ".edu" for educational institutions, and ".gov" for governmental entities.) ".Com" was established for commercial and for for-profit enterprises;
".net" was established for network service providers, and ".org" was established for non-profit organizations.
Although these restrictions on the use of these top level domains
have been lifted over the past several years and, although these domains have been made available for registration for any of those purposes, the origin, evolution and association of these top level domains with their originally
intended purposes have ultimately defined their value in the domain marketplace.
Because of these factors, the ".com" domain has become
embedded in the American and international consciousness and has achieved a special significance as the most credible and prestigious, as well as the most recognizable domain, on the Internet. In point of fact, virtually all of the
major corporations of the world, such as IBM, Microsoft, Ford, General Motors, and Coca Cola have ".com" domains, as do most of the smaller corporations of the world, and those that don't are often willing to pay handsomely
for the privilege, as demonstrated by the eagerness of "beyond.com" to pay a reportedly enormous amount to upgrade from its prior ".net" address on the Internet.
As with bricks and mortar real estate, the value of Internet real estate (domain addresses), is dictated in largest part by location. Would you rather
own or rent on the beach front, or on a back alley?
For better or worse, the connotation of domains other than ".com" for commercial purposes is often one of awkwardness, inferiority or worse.
As a general rule, the fair market value of a ".com" is at least four to five times greater, if not more, than the fair market value of a ".net" domain, and at least ten times greater or more than a ".org"
domain.
If you would like to be provided with a complete list of domain names,
please click here for an excel spreadsheet.
Home Page of KrowenLaw.com Jerril J. Krowen, Esq. Law Office of Jerril J. Krowen P.O. Box 288 Topsfield, MA 01983 Phone: 781-231-5200 Fax: 781-231-8500 
Rare Domains For Sale .com is sponsored by: 
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