A BONEHEAD RULING

Larry Bodine and I do not agree on the value of "Best Lawyer" lists (my employer, ALM Media Inc., partners with Best Lawyers to produce "The New York Area's Best Lawyers," which runs as a Special Advertising Supplement in New York magazine) -- but I'm 100% in synch with his diatribe  against a recent New Jersey ethics committee ruling that makes it unethical to advertise in these listings.

In his Professional Services Marketing blog Bodine takes on the committee with fury:

"The fact that a Committee on Attorney Advertising  exists is ridiculous, and when it snuffs out marketing initiatives, it is repellent. ...

Lawyers have the right to market themselves in any honest way that will bring in clients. ...For the courts to pinpoint a particular marketing technique as "unethical" is a waste of its time and an insult to the U.S. Constitution (see Amendment No. 1)."

I am always dumbfounded with these sorts of rulings. It's almost as bad as when the State Bar of California felt it necessary to waste a whole lot of time trying to develop rules on professional courtesy (hand me my insulin). Or when its president Terry Anderlini (otherwise a perfectly nice guy) went on an utterly embarrassing rant against lawyer jokes (it succeeded only in entertaining the news media for weeks.)

But I totally disagree with Larry about the value of peer-ranked lists. (He says: "I've always thought that promoting yourself as a "Super Lawyer or "Best Lawyer was pathetic, self-aggrandizing and meaningless.")

Sorry, Larry, but I love the lists.  I always grab the Best Doctors list to see if my orthopod is among those listed (he is.) If nothing else, it makes you feel good to see you are in good hands. Who else to tell you who's a good lawyer than other lawyers? (Of course, it would also be nice to have an e-bay feedback system to see how clients would rank their lawyers and docs.)

I think they really do have value -- if the methodology is sound -- and I also think consumers are smart enough to "consider the source" in evaluating how much weight to put on an advertising supplement.

Do I think the head of a multi-national corporation will be swayed by this list. Um, no. Do I think it might help someone with an elder law issue? You betcha. Do I think this would be the only source? Not if the consumer is smart. They'll talk to friends, they'll get recommendations from their other lawyers, they'll go online, they'll do their homework.

As far as I'm concerned (and interestingly, this ties into my prior post about The Long Tail), the more information the better if it helps consumers find the right lawyers.

(BTW: I had nuttin' to do with the ALM project, but I did suggest to its director, Jason Leder, that in the next edition, they might be wise to add a note to the methodology page, clarifying that once the list was compiled, winning lawyers and their firms were invited to purchase the firm profile advertisements that accompany the list -- just in case a reader might not realize that the profiles are advertising copy.)