User-Generated Site JD Supra Goes Live

By Larry Bodine

Launched today, JD Supra offers lawyers a free platform to post official court filings and articles that can be accessed without fee by anyone using its site – www.jdsupra.com.   It is one of the first Web 2.0 businesses designed expressly for the legal community. 

“In a world in which YouTube and Google have established new rules for user-generated content and universal search, JD Supra hopes to redefine those two key concepts for the legal profession,” founder Aviva Cuyler said.

44 million research the law and lawyers online

According to a recent study by Web research firm ComScore, more than 44 million people now use the Internet to research the law and seek legal services in their area.  While most law firms have Web sites and many attorneys are active bloggers, JD Supra creates a central site where legal content is aggregated for easy research and one-stop shopping for legal counsel.  Attorneys who post content can create in-depth professional profiles highlighting their practice expertise and experience along with latest postings. The profile is available by browsing or keyword searching, as well as via link to posted documents. All documents are connected to contributor profiles. Thus, when potential clients research a subject, they are can connect to an attorney they can see has experience with their particular issue.  

“Someone conducting legal research or investigating a particular topic online is much more likely to then contact a lawyer who has posted relevant documents,” Ms. Cuyler said.

JD Supra also works as a qualified resource for the media. Reporters can use the site to find a lawyer with experience and point of view on a specific issue for possible commentary.  In turn, attorneys can direct journalists to newsworthy court filings, decisions and verdicts simultaneous with their filing. Contributors can designate a posting as a “Hot Document” for added urgency.  Users will be able to flag it in the “Scoop” section, available from the home page. Additionally, journalists and other interested users can subscribe to an RSS feed of these hot documents to stay current on issues of concern to them.

Established legal research services such as Westlaw and LexisNexis charge fees for searches.  Many legal documents, especially trial material and even some court decisions, may be unavailable even through these paid subscription services.  Court filings in particular are invaluable for research – offering detailed expositions of case law and arguments, as well as insights into judicial rulings. 

At JD Supra, these documents will now be accessible -- for free.  Attorneys registered on JD Supra can instantly upload documents in Word or PDF format, including:

• Court filings – pleadings, memoranda, briefs, entire complaints and motions.
• Decisions or rulings on motions, cases and appeals, as well as verdicts in specific cases.
• Attorney articles, white papers, client alerts and other attorney-written content.
• Document templates, such as trademark applications, a transactional due diligence checklist, sample family trust, letter of intent for property transaction, or response to an RFP.

“JD Supra is a true game-changer for legal research and marketing,” said Tim Stanley, founder of FindLaw and CEO of Justia.com, a legal information company.   

"JD Supra is helping build a full spectrum of quality legal content, without a bias in terms of practice orientation, market location or firm specialty,” he added.  “In my view, JD Supra is the next generation of the virtual law library of shared information, encouraging participation by those who contribute and giving unfettered access to everyone who needs it.”

Using Google Mini, a robust search appliance licensed from Google, Inc., JD Supra offers universal search technology to help lawyers – from solo practitioners to attorneys working at medium and even large firms – better showcase their practices and also connect with peers and potential clients.

JD Supra generates revenues by selling advertising space on the site, as well as through premium services to attorneys and participating law firms.  However, the site does not charge lawyers for posting content or creating profiles that link to their posted content. 

Support from major firms

Already, several national and international firms are participating in JD Supra’s launch, including Morrison & Foerster, Mintz Levin, Barnes & Thornburg, and Lane Powell, as well as Canadian firms Clark Wilson and Lang Michener.  Also joining as a founding contributor is the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the leading digital freedom advocacy group, which litigates cases around the world and generates steady content related to privacy, intellectual property, cyberlaw and free speech.

The website was founded by Aviva Cuyler, a San Francisco-based litigator who developed the site with a team of experienced Internet and legal marketing professionals.

“The idea for the site emerged when I was handling a case that required me to regularly work deep into the night briefing pre-trial issues,” Ms. Cuyler noted.  “I knew that other attorneys had already researched and addressed the same issues we were up against, but I didn’t have access to their thinking.  The inefficiency of that scenario, which unfortunately is all too common in our profession, struck me as a recurring problem in need of a solution.  And it inspired me to create a free venue and online exchange in which lawyers can share their work product and other content in a searchable database open to all users.”

Effective marketing technique

JD Supra provides effective marketing for attorneys who can use the site to network with other practitioners and prospective clients.  Users researching a particular topic – say, immigration, employment or bankruptcy law – will be able to quickly find their way to relevant postings that have the potential to lead to live engagements.  The site also allows attorneys to create free detailed profiles of themselves and their firms, linked to their posted documents and enhancing marketing efforts.

The site should appeal to a cross-section of sophisticated users, including in-house counsel, legal scholars, entrepreneurs, and big firm attorneys interested in an up-to-date document search on a complex issue – say, an article on patent interference or a recent ruling in a securities class action.  The site could prove to be a potent referral source for any lawyer based on the strength of timely content postings.

JD Supra is a Web business ready for prime time, given that lawyers are among the most prolific content generators.   Cuyler and her development team have created the an ideal location to bring buyers and sellers of legal services together, as well as scholars, non-profit advocates, the media and others who follow legal issues.  The site should demonstrate that in the law, as in any other source of deep content, “If you build it, they will come.”