Surveys: Bar websites

A comprehensive survey of barristers' websites has found that a large majority neglect the potential value of news about members' achievements.

Fifty-two per cent of the profession's Home Pages present only static brochure-style information; they lack even the most basic updates about the set's activities. On other sites, news and announcements are on a separate page, where visitors are much less likely to see them; 20% of barristers' sites have no news of any kind; and only one third of sites include news published in the last month.

252 Bar websites were surveyed in June 2008 (web addresses were found for another 40 sets but these were unavailable when the survey was conducted; the Bar Directory lists 686 sets of chambers altogether). Of the sites surveyed, 121 (48%) had news on the Home Page, and another 81 (32%) carried news elsewhere.

News items were mostly professional announcements, about new tenants or QC appointments, which were almost invariably in the "Chambers congratulates.." style and very rarely told visitors anything useful about the individual's experience or qualities. Another group concerned seminars. Only about a quarter of news pages mentioned members' cases, and there were a handful about pro bono activity.

Only 86 of the 252 sites included recent news. There were many examples of "news" where the latest item was badly out of date, including: on many sites, the QC appointments in January, or legal directory recommendations last autumn; a list of recent cases in which the most recent was in 2005; requests for pupillage applications with a closing date months previously; picture features of Christmas parties; invitations to seminars which had already taken place; the "current" newsletter, published in spring 2006.

Gerald Newman of LawComms commented "The Bar cannot afford to let their websites become cobwebsites. Sets should ensure that someone has the time, opportunity, and skill to utilise their vast resources of raw material to provide attractive online news and content to help keep their reputation ahead of the competition".

SURVEY: CHAMBERS BAR AWARD WINNERS NOT DOING THEMSELVES JUSTICE ONLINE

A survey of the 22 winners of Chambers Bar Awards in September 2007 shows that only two sets make maximum use of their website to publicise their award.

Nearly one third of the sets do not mention the award at all, or expect visitors to roam their site to find out about it, while the remainder could improve the way they cover the news of the award.

A surprise finding was that 7 of the 22 websites of these prominent sets either lack a news page altogether, or have only news that is completely out of date.

"Legal Technology Insider" (issue 203, November 2007) and the Society for Computers and the Law's online news pages featured the survey.