Now And Then Somebody Agrees With Us

This week a summary of the latest summary was posted. I find it significant that even within this small set of responses more firms have decided to cancel or are negotiating for more benefits when renewing their listing.

Of the 34 librarians who responded for their firms, 15 have cancelled their listings, five are in the process of deciding whether or not to list, and 14 have retained their listings.

In the golden age of distinguished law firms, Martindale Hubbell listings were a given, the ratings were a powerful marketing tool and the directory was a great tool for finding local counsel.?? Now the ratings don?t matter so much and there are many ways to find local counsel.? The given isn?t a given any longer and the cost-benefit analysis is proving that the cost just isn?t worth the investment for more firms each year.

This is not a new occurence but as more firms are giving up their listings, it makes it easier for those firms who benchmark against certain firms to justify the cancellation internally.

Law firms are slow to change business practices and sometimes publishers are slower to see the writing on the wall.? This writing is getting darker each year and alternatives outside of price negotiation might be considered.? Before I left the law firm world, the most useful part of the Martdinale Hubbell directories were the Law Digest.