Disclaimer: Originally published in July 2017. It is being republished since it still remains an interesting topic till today.
It is difficult being a lawyer in India. Apart from the fairly caricaturist treatment people reserve for lawyers, there are several problems that plague the practice of a lawyer:
1. Unlike the West, a combination of the Advocates Act, Rules of the Bar Council of India and the many more rules and regulations of state and local bar associations and other professional bodies combine to disallow any kind or form of solicitation for clients on the part of legal professionals. Simply put, lawyers cannot advertise their services
2. Such a restriction homogenizes the legal community, making it harder for prospective clients to recognize those with legal acumen and expertise. This is why a common man’s knowledge of lawyers is limited to former and serving politicians, and those who serve famous film stars.
3. As of now, a SC order allows firms and lawyers to set up websites with only minimal info, information that is not only useless but, in fact tends to play down and undermine the work done by the said lawyers. After all, how can one expect to attract a client if one cannot inform the said client about his expertise by his experience on different cases?
It is due to problems like these that lawyers in the name of networking and visibility are at the mercy of word-of-mouth notions and clients that may come to them by way of relatives and friends.
Yes, there are ways to break this monotony, either by being sensationalist or by ways such as writing for newspaper columns and blogs. But, these are limited in scope.
Read More: Demystifying 7 Misconceptions About Lawyers
It is therefore urgent that new disruptive technology completely and innovatively overhauls the legal community as we know it.
It is here, that a new, booming startup like Lawyers Of India caught our eye.
Lawyers Of India [https://www.lawyersofindia.com/] is a rather interesting inventory of lawyers across the country, a website that allows lawyers themselves to make their own social, client-friendly profiles thereby attracting clientele they are best suited to work with. These are personalized profiles, self-styled and suited to the clients a lawyer wants to work with.
For instance, if a woman lawyer is more comfortable with a woman client, such a profile is a plus.
The existence of such a profile is also pretty useful for both lawyers themselves, and law students for the purpose of internships. Lawyers can craft their profile to make an internship with them an exciting opportunity while students can make use of the same by accessibility to said opportunity.
And, it is not simply an inventory of lawyers but instead, allows such lawyers to update their profiles with specific skill-sets that would only add to the value of the said lawyer.
These skill-sets may vary, not only with respect to specializations in very specific fields of law but, also with respect to the skill of being multi-lingual. So, the next time a lawyer would like to attract clients speaking a regional language they are proficient in, it has become even easier.
Further, it also facilitates a lawyer gain brownie points by answering common FAQs and other questions. After all, why bother with an appointment when dedicated lawyers themselves can answer them online.
Lawyers Of India, like other disruptive websites in India such as Bar & Bench and Legally India is only the beginning of the change the legal community must begin to embrace in its effort to bridge the disconnect between perceived notions of lawyer and client.
In fact, in spite of the many restrictions on active marketing and solicitation put on the legal fraternity, it is heartening to see such websites grow and making it easy to find lawyers and learn more about the sector. This is the future of the legal fraternity in the 21st century.
Image Source: Google Images
Disclaimer: We do not hold any right, copyright over any of the images used, these have been taken from Google. In case of credits or removal, the owner may kindly mail us.
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