Martindale Hubbell Connected - Lawyer Social Networking

I signed up for a free account with Martindale Hubbell's Connected Web Site today. I like the concept and think it has good potential. My first reaction was "great, just what we need, yet another social networking site." However, after exploring it and thinking through the various opportunities, I think that this new LexisNexis product definitely has strong potential to develop into a valuable niche tool.

LexisNexis has really taken considerable steps to become a highly customer centric organization through both acquisitions and internal process enhancements. As a result, I am pretty confident that MH Connected, or any product and service they introduce into the marketplace has been well researched and designed to maximize end user value.

LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook are not conducive to the identification and selection of lawyers, because they do not have the type of information that LexisNexis stores in its databases. The available areas of practice on Martindale are what make it all happen. It enables a corporate executive in Memphis to immediately link up with an M&A lawyer in Buenos Aires.

There will be tremendous value in being able to display exceptional client recommendations via this site. A corporate general counsel who may be using one defense law firm, may opt for another upon finding out that two close peers are using another and are extremely satisfied by the results.

Plaintiff's firms and other consumer-oriented practitioners will not be able to generate new business directly using the service, however, may realize considerable benefit in using it to develop a strong referral network that can lead to increased customers.

The one thing to remember is the transparency that the Internet is enabling. If you are a decent, hard working, honest and respectable individual, the Internet can be your best friend. If you are a professional shyster, it will catch up to you and you will not be able to hide. Think of it as a magnifying glass on your reputation and act accordingly.

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