A Close Look at the Law Marketplace

What is the Law Marketplace?

A law marketplace is a platform that connects legal professionals with prospects searching for legal services. It serves as a bridge between individuals in need of legal representation and the lawyers that can effectively handle their needs. These online resources exist to allow attorneys to offer prospective customers an opportunity to find the representation they need to get their legal issues handled.
With a law marketplace in operation, potential clients can go online and interact with law firms, attorneys, or limited legal licenses to identify those that can resolve legal matters. A law marketplace connects prospective clients with attorneys based on a number of factors. Of course, one of these is the experience and ability of the attorneys who are signed in to the system, but there are other premises that factor into the process.
For example , the financial situation of the potential client plays a role in the match process. Also, what kind of uniformed service is being provided? Those are some of the core pieces of information that are collected to facilitate the match process. In effect, the online law marketplace identifies the attorney that is best suited to resolve the issue at hand. It also allows the attorney to identify the kind of business that is being brought to them by the service.
This benefits all parties to the process. The attorney gets to know that they can expect a certain amount of business from law marketplace services. At the same time, they have the ability to accept or decline the client if it is not a good fit. Unlike matching services that are strictly based on dating preferences and needs, though, law marketplace systems also do a good job of connecting clients with attorneys that can help them in a more suitable way.

Characteristics of Top Law Marketplaces

An array of distinguishing features has emerged that the leading law marketplaces share in common. These Key Features include the following:
Lawyer Ratings and Reviews. Leading marketplaces strive to provide consumers with ratings and reviews for the lawyers listed within their platforms. Snowball ratings, or those accrued as a result of all previous users’ experiences with the listing lawyer, are aggregated in these platforms and displayed prominently. Law marketplaces often allow new users of their platform to filter lawyer options by those with the most positive reviews or the best ratings. In addition, lawyers are invited to respond, very visible to the public, to negative reviews and ratings. The opportunity to respond protects lawyers’ interests by facilitating dialogue and ameliorating negative reactions to unfavorable reviews.
Service. Law marketplaces feature an online chat service or ticketing system to answer questions, guide users and provide customer support. They provide phone numbers and dedicated email addresses to clients and lawyers for direct phone and email communications.
Straightforward Interfaces. Law marketplace interfaces are clean, easy to use and aimed at streamlining the search and hire process. They allow users to quickly organize and view law service offerings, compare prices and easily save searches and retain their search results for future reference.

Perks for Law Practitioners

Law marketplaces offer significant benefits for legal professionals as well. Over recent years, they have struggled with a number of issues: tighter competition for clients, pressure to reduce costs, increased regulatory pressure, increased commoditization of law, and the proliferation of both freelance lawyers and alternative legal service providers. Law marketplaces offer greater reach for their firms than traditional marketing practices, streamlined client communication with their clients, and greater practice management.
Greater reach for firms
Many of the smaller firms suffer from a poor reputation in the marketplace and suffers from marketing inertia. Law marketplaces can leverage shared brand power, including custom logos for member firms, web pages and social media connections, to promote firm repute to a national and sometimes even international audience.
Lawyers join these platforms to attract more clients without the added expense of a marketing budget that they can ill afford. By filling their calendars with paying clients, they start to see the leads (continued well into the future) that law marketplaces yield. Our research shows that the lawyers who recognize the benefits of these platforms range from those just starting their careers to those over the age of 55, so it’s clear that there is flexibility for both recent graduates and veteran lawyers to use law marketplaces to their advantage.
Company page and client surveys
Lawyers join marketplaces to tap into a stream of pre-qualified leads. They offer online profiles that introduce services and style, and law firms are encouraged to add at least three testimonials from past clients. As well, legal professionals joining the marketplace force themselves to get along with clients. Communication and follow up is managed through marketplace software, avoiding any potential conflict in this regard. The client chooses the method of review, be it referral, Stars or Points and surveys convey satisfaction levels (all surveys are also managed through marketplace software).
Data
As well, lawyers have access to a plethora of data about their practice, including insights on which areas of law are attracting the most interest and which communications channels (email, phone, chat, etc.) yield the best results. Lawyers can examine data by demographic, enabling them to refine their messaging as needed.
Practice Management
Law marketplaces help with practice management, from appointment booking through to billing and payment processing. For members, they effectively become a premium-priced virtual staffing service with a full cadre of virtual staff and support solutions to be availed of, such as lead generation and business management platforms, billing and collections automation, and 24/7 appointment booking.
The real revolution in the marketplace comes from a combination of factors, including the fact that clients have the option of forming a relationship of their choice without the pressure of sales. As well, senior lawyers benefit too from the extended reach that this offers when they choose to semi-retire. And lawyers who embrace change should, at the very least, take a look at these new consumer-driven platforms.

Advantages For Those Seeking Juridical Services

The advantages for clients seeking legal services are varied and compelling. First and foremost, law marketplaces offer a centralized database and search tool for clients to find the right attorney for their needs. Most clients are not sophisticated consumers of legal services, and a law marketplace provides them with numerous options and valuable information at their fingertips. Being able to provide easy access to a listing of attorneys who are available for their particular legal need is extremely valuable to the client. In addition to listings, law marketplaces also offer search functionalities to allow clients to filter by criteria like price or location.
Pricing is another benefit law marketplaces provide to clients. Clients want to know what services will cost before they engage a lawyer or law firm. Law marketplaces address this client need by providing clear , upfront pricing for services. Some law marketplaces even let clients bid on legal services, leaving it to the lawyers to decide what work they want to perform and at what price. Whether through bidding or fixed prices, law marketplaces enable clients to know exactly what they will have to pay in advance.
Law marketplaces also offer access to reviews from past clients, which can help clients make informed decisions about which attorney to hire. These reviews may include testimonials, ratings, and other feedback that give clients insight into the experience of others who previously hired the given attorney. Law marketplaces rely on these reviews because they provide a convenient way for clients to express their views about their experience working with attorneys.

Market Challenges

While law marketplaces show great promise in democratizing access to legal services and allowing consumers to make more informed choices in selecting their counsel and getting the right work done at the right price point, there are certain challenges to law marketplaces:
They are not the cure for every problem. As with any tool, law marketplaces are not the cure for all legal issues and do not mean you should completely abandon working with a professional. For example, law marketplaces are maybe the best option for a form document or when all you need is a phone call with a lawyer, but they may not be the right solution if your legal issue is more complicated or would benefit from face to face discussions.
While there are some aspects of the transaction that may involve a face to face meeting, it is fair to say that the majority of it — both on the consumer side and the lawyer side — is done remotely, through computers or tablets. Thus, these marketplaces are primarily technology businesses, not law firms. And that is one reasoned viewed as a potential problem for them. Most lawyers like how they interact with clients and cannot envision working without people in their offices because much of what they do is relationship based and somewhat co-dependent.
Moreover, as a purely technology business, they are learning about providing services and products to a legal audience largely by industry experimentation. There are some rules of the game and some bodies trying to provide oversights and controls, but in the end, these marketplaces operate at their own risks and so too do they operate on a mostly task oriented basis with limited involvement or oversight.
Given how new these marketplaces are, it is not surprising that most of them carry risk to their consumers and those who purchase or donate legal services. These risks vary by marketplace. Some deal with the risks associated with trusting an online platform, which can be a real issue if clients are relying on them to navigate their legal issues. Others deal with the risks associated with providing information about the legal issue in order to create a quote for the needed services. If this information is retained for any period of time, these marketplaces risk losing consumer confidence in their services.
Regardless of the target for the biggest risks, the legal market is a data heavy industry. Because of the high level of privacy and confidentiality demanded by consumers at all times, law marketplaces are inherently challenged to protect this data. This is particularly truer if they store, share, or pass consumer information around on their platforms.
Related to the last point, if private, personal, and confidential information is stored in the cloud and not adequately protected, law marketplaces run the risk of cyber intrusion. If one marketplace is attacked and consumer’s private data is compromised, the legality of all legal marketplace practices may be considered, federal involvement and oversight may be mandated, and consumer confidence in all legal marketplaces nationwide may be adversely affected.
A related risk associated with attracting and retaining consumers is known as the "digital divide." Even as technology and the internet become more widespread, there are many people who do not have access to either or both. This is particularly important when considering vulnerable populations such as low income individuals, people living in rural settings, and those who do not speak English. Digital divide is a risk to marketplaces that wish to benefit from this audience.

The Future of the Law Marketplace Sector

In alignment with the current trends, the future of the law marketplace industry looks set to be heavily defined by advanced technological integration. Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are poised to play a major role in the advancement of these companies moving into the future. At the same time, personalization should also continue to grow. These platforms will need to pay closer attention to the needs of their clients as more legal services and processes are offered online. The law marketplace industry is likely to continue to advance at a quick pace toward a future that is significantly more globalized . Of course, the global expansion of these platforms is dictated in part by the legal systems of the countries where they are trying to break into and operations may be streamlined by having a single location for all information and transactions.
The law marketplace industry has only begun to tap into what is possible when it comes to advancement. Moving forward, there is every reason to believe that they’ll continue down this trail of evolution toward an industry that uses increasingly developed technologies and modern practices to help users navigate the legal process.