<i><b>Product Review</b></i> JD Supra Seeks to Revolutionize Online Content for Lawyers

As summer associates struggle to answer obscure research questions over the next couple of months, and when their predecessors start full time this fall, they may find an answer to their late-night prayers in JD Supra, a new online service that offers completely free access (with registration) to a variety of documents, including legal memoranda, briefs and unpublished court decisions.

Inspiration for the service struck founder and San Francisco-based attorney, Aviva Cuyler, late one evening while she was writing a brief and wishing for a service like the one she created. 'I thought there should be a place where the legal community could share its work in a freely accessible database,' she says.

Content Marketing

Although she set out to create a resource for lawyers, she quickly discovered that beyond lawyers, there are many people searching the Web for legal information. In fact, a 2006 Harris Interactive survey found that the number exceeds one fourth of all Americans. 'People are becoming more sophisticated,' Cuyler notes. 'The first thing they do is find information about an issue, then look for a lawyer.' She hopes that JD Supra will enhance that process for the consumer and provide the lawyer with an opportunity to engage in content marketing.

Since the company's launch in late February of this year, they have indeed engaged. It has enlisted 275 contributors, ranging from solo practitioners and small-firm lawyers to founding contributors: 180-lawyer Lane Powell PC in Seattle (which has submitted 75 articles) and 500-lawyer Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo P.C., based in Boston (36 articles).

According to its associated blog, JDScoop.com, JD Supra also has contributors in China, from Liang Yongwe, a Beijing-based firm specializing in FDI and overseas direct investment; Italy, from Mantova-based Studio legale Tedioli offering bankruptcy guidance; Spain, from Madrid-based Go'i y Cajigas Abogados providing M&A advice; South Africa, from DE Professional Consultants, with offices in various countries advising on tax matters; and, various firms in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Cuyler reports that the diversity of information available has encouraged tens of thousands of visitors to the site since its launch. In addition, thousands have registered to retrieve news and updates.

In exchange for uploading documents, JD Supra provides each lawyer or organization with a free profile. Those that want links back to their Web site, blog and e-mail pay $240 per year. The company also expects to begin generating revenue through limited advertising. It has five full-time employees with a team hailing from CT Summation and Yahoo, among others. JD Supra is privately funded and Cuyler hopes that it becomes 'a central hub for information about the law and the people behind it.'

The Equalizer

Mitch Matorin, a solo practitioner based in Needham, MA, sees JD Supra as one way to help level the playing field between small and large firms. As an attorney with 15 years of large firm experience who opened his own practice in July 2007, he views JD Supra as a tool for potential clients to find qualified solo or small firm attorneys with the experience to handle matters that they otherwise would direct to large firms simply out of familiarity. JD Supra permits them to see examples of his actual work product and make a reasoned hiring decision. To that end, he has already posted several examples and plans to constantly add more.

That said, however, 'it is always a sensitive proposition when you are thinking about posting a document in pending litigation, although technically almost everything you file is public,' says Matorin. In some instances, therefore, he has redacted identifying information from his documents.

By seeking exposure to the potential client pool visiting JD Supra, he is offering material that will persuade them to essentially hire a large firm attorney for a more reasonable price. While there are many ways to engage in traditional attorney advertising, including a listing in Martindale Hubbell and a Web site, neither allows someone reviewing the credentials of an attorney in a substantive way. Searching through documents on JD Supra could provide some perspective on the quality of work or litigation experience.

'Ultimately, its utility will end up depending on number of contributors and users,' says Mark Kindall of nine-lawyer Schatz Nobel Izard, P.C. based in Hartford, CT. He highlights that while court decisions are easy to find, briefs with attachments are much more difficult to source. Schatz Nobel has uploaded 79 documents, including pleadings and decisions from courts across the United States.

So, summers or first years struggling both to sold research puzzles and minimize use of paid online tools may be well-served to learn about JD Supra. It offers a great opportunity to stand out by taking a creative approach to your work.

As summer associates struggle to answer obscure research questions over the next couple of months, and when their predecessors start full time this fall, they may find an answer to their late-night prayers in JD Supra, a new online service that offers completely free access (with registration) to a variety of documents, including legal memoranda, briefs and unpublished court decisions.

Inspiration for the service struck founder and San Francisco-based attorney, Aviva Cuyler, late one evening while she was writing a brief and wishing for a service like the one she created. 'I thought there should be a place where the legal community could share its work in a freely accessible database,' she says.

Content Marketing

Although she set out to create a resource for lawyers, she quickly discovered that beyond lawyers, there are many people searching the Web for legal information. In fact, a 2006 Harris Interactive survey found that the number exceeds one fourth of all Americans. 'People are becoming more sophisticated,' Cuyler notes. 'The first thing they do is find information about an issue, then look for a lawyer.' She hopes that JD Supra will enhance that process for the consumer and provide the lawyer with an opportunity to engage in content marketing.

Since the company's launch in late February of this year, they have indeed engaged. It has enlisted 275 contributors, ranging from solo practitioners and small-firm lawyers to founding contributors: 180-lawyer Lane Powell PC in Seattle (which has submitted 75 articles) and 500-lawyer Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky, and Popeo P.C., based in Boston (36 articles).

According to its associated blog, JDScoop.com, JD Supra also has contributors in China, from Liang Yongwe, a Beijing-based firm specializing in FDI and overseas direct investment; Italy, from Mantova-based Studio legale Tedioli offering bankruptcy guidance; Spain, from Madrid-based Go'i y Cajigas Abogados providing M&A advice; South Africa, from DE Professional Consultants, with offices in various countries advising on tax matters; and, various firms in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Cuyler reports that the diversity of information available has encouraged tens of thousands of visitors to the site since its launch. In addition, thousands have registered to retrieve news and updates.

In exchange for uploading documents, JD Supra provides each lawyer or organization with a free profile. Those that want links back to their Web site, blog and e-mail pay $240 per year. The company also expects to begin generating revenue through limited advertising. It has five full-time employees with a team hailing from CT Summation and Yahoo, among others. JD Supra is privately funded and Cuyler hopes that it becomes 'a central hub for information about the law and the people behind it.'

The Equalizer

Mitch Matorin, a solo practitioner based in Needham, MA, sees JD Supra as one way to help level the playing field between small and large firms. As an attorney with 15 years of large firm experience who opened his own practice in July 2007, he views JD Supra as a tool for potential clients to find qualified solo or small firm attorneys with the experience to handle matters that they otherwise would direct to large firms simply out of familiarity. JD Supra permits them to see examples of his actual work product and make a reasoned hiring decision. To that end, he has already posted several examples and plans to constantly add more.

That said, however, 'it is always a sensitive proposition when you are thinking about posting a document in pending litigation, although technically almost everything you file is public,' says Matorin. In some instances, therefore, he has redacted identifying information from his documents.

By seeking exposure to the potential client pool visiting JD Supra, he is offering material that will persuade them to essentially hire a large firm attorney for a more reasonable price. While there are many ways to engage in traditional attorney advertising, including a listing in Martindale Hubbell and a Web site, neither allows someone reviewing the credentials of an attorney in a substantive way. Searching through documents on JD Supra could provide some perspective on the quality of work or litigation experience.

'Ultimately, its utility will end up depending on number of contributors and users,' says Mark Kindall of nine-lawyer Schatz Nobel Izard, P.C. based in Hartford, CT. He highlights that while court decisions are easy to find, briefs with attachments are much more difficult to source. Schatz Nobel has uploaded 79 documents, including pleadings and decisions from courts across the United States.

So, summers or first years struggling both to sold research puzzles and minimize use of paid online tools may be well-served to learn about JD Supra. It offers a great opportunity to stand out by taking a creative approach to your work.