ICANN Betting on '.law' Domain

Coming this summer, there will be a new way for law firms and lawyers to distinguish themselves on the Internet: a “.law” top-level website domain.

Important questions remain. How many lawyers and firms will pay the $200 to $500 or more it is expected to cost to just secure each domain name? Will established firms such as those that comprise the Am Law 200 or the NLJ 350 gain any benefits from switching from “.com” to “.law”?

The Web extension “.law” falls under the category known as a generic top-level domain name (gTLD). It was proposed for the legal industry in the new gTLD Program of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) ' the nonprofit group that also recently proposed Web extensions for “.sucks,” “.porn” and other salacious terms.

After a private auction in September 2014, Top Level Domain Holdings, the parent company of Minds + Machines Group Limited, won the rights to the “.law” domain over 68 other applicants. Lou Andreozzi, the CEO of “.law,” says he hopes a proposed strict vetting process ' ensuring that only real lawyers can use “.law” ' will make the Web extension appealing.

In January, ICANN and Minds + Machines, entered into a registry agreement in which Minds + Machines will operate the “.law.” domain. See, http://bit.ly/1HmdfCx. The Santa Monica, CA-based firm was granted an exclusive license to operate the new top-level domain by ICANN, which regulates the Internet namespace, and will provide registry and registrar services for “.law.” Andreozzi says the amount Minds + Machines paid to ICANN is “confidential due to ICANN rules.” He also says he is in discussions with bar associations, legal journals and other legal market players worldwide to distribute “.law” domain names. ICANN has not returned a request for comment.

Andreozzi, who is the former chairman of Bloomberg Law and previously the CEO of LexisNexis North American Legal Markets, Martindale Hubbell and lawyers.com, says that lawyers who use the “.law” extension will be recognized as credible attorneys, much in the same way “.edu” is associated with educational institutions and “.org” is with non-profits.

“This is something that the professional really needs,” Andreozzi says, noting that his organization plans to work with bar associations to verify that those applying for a “.law” domain are in fact lawyers.

“We will work with various companies to ensure that the people that buy the sites are actually lawyers. That is one huge advantage. Now you have a blank piece of paper to start over. It is really going to create an environment that people will jump on that these people are legitimate,” Andreozzi says.

The “.law” domain, which will become generally available in August, Andreozzi says, will annually cost between $200 and $500 and upward for premium names such as “http://personalinjury.law” or “http://ohio probate.law.” While there are other law industry domain extensions, the “.law” domain will be the gold standard as far as top-level domains for lawyers, Andreozzi says.

John Morgan, founder of Morgan & Morgan, and chairman of “.law,” says the domain will give lawyers and law firms a “once in a lifetime opportunity to rebrand their identities online, clear up any confusion with other extensions and differentiate themselves from nonlawyers.”

The value of the domain, Morgan adds, is in its ability to distinguish legal practices to potential clients. Other legally focused domain identifiers may offer a similar promise, but the certification process “.law” will require will add to its credibility, he says.

“Many of them will be successful but with '.law' it's going to be much more acceptable,” he says. “For example, if you go to Skadden.com, you don't know that it's law firm. With '.law' you will know who it is, and give a better user experience for people trying to find the right information, the right people and the right services.”

That said, the kind of corporate clients that use Skadden ' one of the nation's most well known firms ' know it's a law firm. It's typically not the type of firm an individual would seek out in, say, a personal injury case.

While Andreozzi is confident that the “.law” domain will become the industry standard, others are not jumping on the bandwagon just yet.

“I do not view this as a credibility boost for law firms and attorneys ' to me, '.com' remains the gold standard, a sign of credibility and legitimacy. It's also the preferred domain of our clients and prospects, and I want to engage in their language and on their level,” says Katherine Hollar, chief marketing officer of Shook, Hardy & Bacon.

However, the crowded “.com” space does pose a challenge for new or expanding legal services, according to Andreozzi.

“What is left of '.com' is not too many good names and a lot of people sitting on domains that will never be available and then selling them for huge markups,” he says. “We believe this is the right price point for a premium service, and from everyone we have talked to, people think we are pricing it too low rather than too high.”

But, with the potential for multiple generic top-level domains aimed at distinguishing legal services, it remains uncertain which will become the most prominent. Legal startups may be unwilling or unable to generate the capital required to register a “.law” domain, and may find novel ways to rely on the “.com” standard.

“I think time and resources would be better spent ensuring strong, engaging, relevant content,” Hollar says. “Research and experience show that when browsing online, clients seek relevant case work and relevant industry expertise. A '.law' domain name is no substitute for that.”

Governmental Advisory Committee Concerns

Any domain in a regulated industry including the legal sector is subject to greater scrutiny by the government. In fact, in 2012, ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), issued an early warning for the extension “.lawyer” since it is “linked to a regulated market sector, and [the applicant] AtomicStation LLC, does not appear to have proposed sufficient mechanism to minimize potential consumer harm,” the warning said. Minds + Machines has received six GAC early warnings, five of which were for its own top-level domains.

“GAC flagged this as a potentially concerning top-level domain because it is in a highly regulated field,” says John McElwaine, a partner with Nelson Mullins, who specializes in trademark law. “The GAC wanted to be certain that there were certain processes in place so when someone registers a domain name within '.law' that the e-mail you are getting from someone is a lawyer.”

Cybersquatters, which register a domain name but do not post a website under that name, typically lack a legitimate claim and registers a domain name with the intent to sell the name, prevent the trademark holder from gaining access to the name, or divert traffic, according to the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University (cyber.law.harvard.edu).

“Generic words and that type of terminology that is not subject to trademark clearinghouse and the need to sell those is understandable business practice,” McElwaine says. “But if you are going to try to mine what law firms filed through the trademark clearinghouse that would be wrong, like a '.sucks.' I think it's going to be unique business models that want to provide this additional level of trust, a process whereby '.law' is verified and coming from credible services. It can only help, compared to '.com,' which is a free for all and you don't know what you are going to get.”

Erin E. Harrison is the Editor-in-Chief of Law Technology News, an ALM sibling of Internet Law & Strategy.

Coming this summer, there will be a new way for law firms and lawyers to distinguish themselves on the Internet: a “.law” top-level website domain.

Important questions remain. How many lawyers and firms will pay the $200 to $500 or more it is expected to cost to just secure each domain name? Will established firms such as those that comprise the Am Law 200 or the NLJ 350 gain any benefits from switching from “.com” to “.law”?

The Web extension “.law” falls under the category known as a generic top-level domain name (gTLD). It was proposed for the legal industry in the new gTLD Program of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) ' the nonprofit group that also recently proposed Web extensions for “.sucks,” “.porn” and other salacious terms.

After a private auction in September 2014, Top Level Domain Holdings, the parent company of Minds + Machines Group Limited, won the rights to the “.law” domain over 68 other applicants. Lou Andreozzi, the CEO of “.law,” says he hopes a proposed strict vetting process ' ensuring that only real lawyers can use “.law” ' will make the Web extension appealing.

In January, ICANN and Minds + Machines, entered into a registry agreement in which Minds + Machines will operate the “.law.” domain. See, http://bit.ly/1HmdfCx. The Santa Monica, CA-based firm was granted an exclusive license to operate the new top-level domain by ICANN, which regulates the Internet namespace, and will provide registry and registrar services for “.law.” Andreozzi says the amount Minds + Machines paid to ICANN is “confidential due to ICANN rules.” He also says he is in discussions with bar associations, legal journals and other legal market players worldwide to distribute “.law” domain names. ICANN has not returned a request for comment.

Andreozzi, who is the former chairman of Bloomberg Law and previously the CEO of LexisNexis North American Legal Markets, Martindale Hubbell and lawyers.com, says that lawyers who use the “.law” extension will be recognized as credible attorneys, much in the same way “.edu” is associated with educational institutions and “.org” is with non-profits.

“This is something that the professional really needs,” Andreozzi says, noting that his organization plans to work with bar associations to verify that those applying for a “.law” domain are in fact lawyers.

“We will work with various companies to ensure that the people that buy the sites are actually lawyers. That is one huge advantage. Now you have a blank piece of paper to start over. It is really going to create an environment that people will jump on that these people are legitimate,” Andreozzi says.

The “.law” domain, which will become generally available in August, Andreozzi says, will annually cost between $200 and $500 and upward for premium names such as “http://personalinjury.law” or “http://ohio probate.law.” While there are other law industry domain extensions, the “.law” domain will be the gold standard as far as top-level domains for lawyers, Andreozzi says.

John Morgan, founder of Morgan & Morgan, and chairman of “.law,” says the domain will give lawyers and law firms a “once in a lifetime opportunity to rebrand their identities online, clear up any confusion with other extensions and differentiate themselves from nonlawyers.”

The value of the domain, Morgan adds, is in its ability to distinguish legal practices to potential clients. Other legally focused domain identifiers may offer a similar promise, but the certification process “.law” will require will add to its credibility, he says.

“Many of them will be successful but with '.law' it's going to be much more acceptable,” he says. “For example, if you go to Skadden.com, you don't know that it's law firm. With '.law' you will know who it is, and give a better user experience for people trying to find the right information, the right people and the right services.”

That said, the kind of corporate clients that use Skadden ' one of the nation's most well known firms ' know it's a law firm. It's typically not the type of firm an individual would seek out in, say, a personal injury case.

While Andreozzi is confident that the “.law” domain will become the industry standard, others are not jumping on the bandwagon just yet.

“I do not view this as a credibility boost for law firms and attorneys ' to me, '.com' remains the gold standard, a sign of credibility and legitimacy. It's also the preferred domain of our clients and prospects, and I want to engage in their language and on their level,” says Katherine Hollar, chief marketing officer of Shook, Hardy & Bacon.

However, the crowded “.com” space does pose a challenge for new or expanding legal services, according to Andreozzi.

“What is left of '.com' is not too many good names and a lot of people sitting on domains that will never be available and then selling them for huge markups,” he says. “We believe this is the right price point for a premium service, and from everyone we have talked to, people think we are pricing it too low rather than too high.”

But, with the potential for multiple generic top-level domains aimed at distinguishing legal services, it remains uncertain which will become the most prominent. Legal startups may be unwilling or unable to generate the capital required to register a “.law” domain, and may find novel ways to rely on the “.com” standard.

“I think time and resources would be better spent ensuring strong, engaging, relevant content,” Hollar says. “Research and experience show that when browsing online, clients seek relevant case work and relevant industry expertise. A '.law' domain name is no substitute for that.”

Governmental Advisory Committee Concerns

Any domain in a regulated industry including the legal sector is subject to greater scrutiny by the government. In fact, in 2012, ICANN's Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC), issued an early warning for the extension “.lawyer” since it is “linked to a regulated market sector, and [the applicant] AtomicStation LLC, does not appear to have proposed sufficient mechanism to minimize potential consumer harm,” the warning said. Minds + Machines has received six GAC early warnings, five of which were for its own top-level domains.

“GAC flagged this as a potentially concerning top-level domain because it is in a highly regulated field,” says John McElwaine, a partner with Nelson Mullins, who specializes in trademark law. “The GAC wanted to be certain that there were certain processes in place so when someone registers a domain name within '.law' that the e-mail you are getting from someone is a lawyer.”

Cybersquatters, which register a domain name but do not post a website under that name, typically lack a legitimate claim and registers a domain name with the intent to sell the name, prevent the trademark holder from gaining access to the name, or divert traffic, according to the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University (cyber.law.harvard.edu).

“Generic words and that type of terminology that is not subject to trademark clearinghouse and the need to sell those is understandable business practice,” McElwaine says. “But if you are going to try to mine what law firms filed through the trademark clearinghouse that would be wrong, like a '.sucks.' I think it's going to be unique business models that want to provide this additional level of trust, a process whereby '.law' is verified and coming from credible services. It can only help, compared to '.com,' which is a free for all and you don't know what you are going to get.”

Erin E. Harrison is the Editor-in-Chief of Law Technology News, an ALM sibling of Internet Law & Strategy.