TakeLegalAdvice.com was launched in March 2007 by Mark Wyatt and Mary Heaney. Mark was former publisher of The Lawyer magazine and founder/publisher of Legal Week. Mary Heaney was founding editor of Legal Week and The Lawyer and launched ground-breaking award ceremonies, directories and large scale networking forums around the world. As well as heading up TakeLegalAdvice, they are both also part of the management and editorial team of The European Lawyer.
TakeLegalAdvice was apparently the first law firm comparison service in the UK legal market. The aim was to give consumers information and choice on the law and law firms which, at that time, was not a well established concept. Mark and Mary felt the arrival of the Legal Services Act would irrevocably change the legal marketplace and would force law firms to rethink how they serviced the market. Law firms felt threatened by the internet and did not necessarily see the potential. Also, there was a tendency to think that work coming by way of the internet would be of lesser quality than traditional ways of attracting business.
Because TakeLegalAdvice was a first in the UK, it was a steep learning curve for law firms and there was quite a bit of “educating” to do, both of law firms and of potential users of legal services.
How it works
TakeLegalAdvice.com aims to match consumers and businesses with the most appropriate law firm for their legal problem. The matching process is based on a combination of factors including expertise, location and the firm’s preferred client profile (by income and assets). Firms will only receive leads which meet their specification. The cases are automatically sent to the firm via email and provide all key details relating to the client’s case. Firms bidding for the work then have the option to respond to the user by telephone or email explaining how they would handle the matter. All member firms are expected to contact the client within 48 hours.
As it says on the site, addressing potential users of the system: “Simply provide a quick summary of your case and your contact details and our award winning software will match your criteria with at least one firm who has the capability to help. You will receive an email alert to view the solicitor’s response in your password protected inbox. Details will include estimated costs, how he/she would approach your case, and background information on the law firm.”
Mary Heaney says “We dominate most web related solicitor searches and have a number of white label agreements in place including an exclusive partnership with Times Online. Visitors can find us easily using any of the leading search engines. As soon as the user has submitted his/her details on the system, our team of case managers will review each case. If necessary the user will be contacted directly for further clarification. Assuming the case has potential, the team will then use the site’s matching software to identify and generate a list of the most suitable law firms within the TLA network.
The information on the case is sent out and firms give an answer, indicating how they will handle the problem and how much it is likely to cost – in so far as they have information to do so. It is then up to the client to get in touch with the firms unless the client gives an early release agreement (many do this, particularly if they need immediate help).
Should it transpire that there are insufficient grounds or budget for a referral, the case manager will redirect them to alternative legal resources such as the Community Legal Advice Service or the Citizens Advice Bureaux.”
Present coverage and future plans
TakeLegalAdvice covers England and Wales and provides coverage for all postcodes. Around 400 firms are members, from all areas and of all sizes.
There is also a service called TakeLegalAdvice Business. This links firms who specialize in commercial law with businesses needing legal advice.
Mary Heaney says that the company is currently upgrading the website and adding some new features, both for consumer and business. They are also launching a new service called Procurelaw aimed exclusively at major corporates.
Comments from users
H Batra & Co is a three partner firm in London with a broad mix of work. Himanshu Batra says:
“We first heard of TakeLegalAdvice.com in the media and realised that it was a new and different way of getting business. Our experience has proved this. We would go so far as to say it is fantastic for any firm which aspires to grow bigger, acquire a great client base and reach into markets which, otherwise, it might not be able to. With this service, you are opening your law firm to a complete new set of people who are not geographically bound and who are web savvy. Clients we have acquired through this source also spoke highly of their experience as a user of the service.
For us Takelegaladvice.com was an unexpected source of new work and made up for some of the downturn in work as a result of the recession. Possible cases pop up in your inbox and you have the opportunity to speak directly to the client and agree steps forward. You do not have to leave your busy desk to spend time and money networking and acquiring new work. We also found the TakeLegalAdvice staff very helpful and good to deal with.”
Bargate Murray is a small City law firm focusing on B2B advice in company, litigation, trade, employment, super-yacht and marine work. Quentin Bargate told me that, as a relatively new firm, they were very aware of the need to find new channels to market their services and had joined TakeLegalAdvice about three years ago. He says:
“We were initially concerned that the referrals might not be suitable for our rather specialised work areas but there have been enough useful referrals to make the membership worthwhile. Indeed, we have had a few very interesting leads that have generated significant fee income. There are other referrals which are not of interest, but these can be filtered out without too much difficulty.”
However, for their particular B2B practice, they would like to see a greater business focus; from their perspective, the service appears to be too much directed towards high street law at present. They are interested in Procurelaw, when this gets underway.
Howard Stone, a sole practitioner in London, says:
“My experience with TakeLegalAdvice has been pretty good. It has become more sophisticated and has improved. Quite a lot of work comes through it from employment to matrimonial, trust and probate and probate litigation as well as some business litigation. I would recommend it because it’s quite a good source of work. I have been approached by a number of other service providers but they don’t compare.”
The three firms above are all London firms. Another member, from a rural practice, who prefers not to be mentioned by name, is not so happy. He says:
“My TakeLegalAdvice experience has been disappointing – I haven’t earned any fees in the 8 months or so that I have been signed up, and there have been few leads worth pursuing. I have a population of around 300,000 within a 25 mile radius of my practice, but there have been few worthwhile leads within that catchment. My overall view is that while the model may work for firms in high population, concentrated urban areas (particularly where one might capture the commuter as well as the resident) for my generalist, provincial firm it has not been a success.
A peripheral issue is how you define the leads you do not want. For instance, I don’t want to exclude those cases where someone might be income or even asset poor, since they might have a worthwhile claim (personal injury, or trophy spouse of a millionaire …), but the effect is that one also gets leads from single parents on benefits with domestic violence issues – and some distance away. And my firm doesn’t do Public Funding work.
One or two of my leads have been simply along the lines of “I want a quote for conveyancing”. That sort of thing is worth chasing if it’s on your doorstep, but probably not otherwise since people like that are probably just after the cheapest job.”
A general comment about referral sites?
The comment above, about a referral service not being so suitable for a rural firm, reminded me of a comment made in this newsletter in the review of ContactLaw by Mary Porch of Kester Cunningham John, a firm in East Anglia (see the November/December 2009 issue for the full review). She suggested that firms in smaller market towns would probably be better off relying on their local reputation and contacts. She also felt that a referral service is less useful if the firm does not do publicly funded work.
This may well be a general conclusion relating to referral sites. If you have any comments about any of these reviews, or suggestions for future reviews, please contact me at delia@venables.co.uk.
Delia Venables is joint Editor of this Newsletter.
