In Answer to Why We Charge for CuttingEdgeLaw.com

On LinkedIn, someone posted a comment with a question:

"I just checked out this site. It looks good, but I am wondering why you are charging to participate. There are so many legal networking opportunities on the web that are free. Why charge for this one?"

I sent a response to the writer but I'm sharing it here as well:

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Well, first of all, CuttingEdgeLaw.com is much more than a social network.

Ten years ago I wrote a web site that galvanized a movement. I saw what was possible by a team of volunteers and have fantasized about what would be possible with full-time attention. This has been my full-time job for over a year and I worked in development on a part-time basis for three years prior to that. I do not apologize for wanting to be paid for my work which is adding value to the profession. I'm not Facebook that can afford to lose millions of dollars a year because they are collecting millions of names. If every lawyer in the world joined, we'd have only about 2 million members. Probably less than 10% of the lawyers in the world qualify for listings on our site.

There is a wealth of content that has been carefully chosen to reflect a mindset in the law. We add new content every day. The News Feeds are carefully filtered from many sources and distilled and organized onto the site. It often takes me two hours or more to do that each morning.

This information offers incredible value that cannot be monetized. Recently, a lawyer used our Apology articles to work with a client who had killed a child in a car accident. The client was charged with criminal negligence and facing a prison sentence. He was emotionally devastated. The family was devastated. The very mainstream litigator saw that he could do some good for the family and helped his client apologize to the family. The apology was heartfelt and healing. In the evening news, the father of the child told the reporter that he knew the man didn't mean to kill his child, that he'd forgiven him and that they were both able to go forward. I saw the news but didn't know the part my article had played until someone else clued me in. How many of these cases occur in our courts every day? What healing could we lawyers bring to these situations if we only knew where to get the information? What would our profession be like if we were always on the look-out for the opportunity to bring healing and peace to our clients? What would our job satisfaction be like if we made that kind of difference even once a day?

Most of the articles have been professionally edited (or were so well written, professional editing wasn't necessary.) A professional videographer and I have spent an entire year on the road, interviewing lawyers who are pioneers in a movement and documenting the movement by capturing the personal stories of those who've created it. As of this morning, we have 138 video clips which we've developed specifically for this site. Editing continues and we'll substantially add to that number by the end of the month. We seriously considered charging for the content but the goal of the site is to promote the movement and make this information available to all.

If we were free, just anyone could join. We don't want just anyone, especially just any lawyer on our site. The fee assures us that the members are actually committed to a way of practicing law that is more holistic, humane, and conscious. Our members are passionate about the new paradigm of law practice and willing to invest their money. Some have said that they see it like public television - they will benefit from this information being available in the world and they want to make sure that we can continue our work. Most of our new Premium Members have law practices which will benefit as well but not all.

There are many sites that charge lawyers for advertising their services. Many of them charge more per month than we charge for a year. (Have you priced Martindale Hubbell lately?) Those other sites WILL let just about anybody on their site if they're willing to pay the fee.

Already, in the past week, this movement has gained the attention of the media. Jennifer Foster very graciously mentioned us in her letter to the editor of Lawyer's Weekly-NC. As Vice President of the International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers, she recognizes that CuttingEdgeLaw.com is a partner in creating the kind of legal movement that is aligned with IAHL. That letter has led to a story about the movement. In this, our first week of launch, an international magazine and a national weekly popular magazine have also expressed interest in doing features. They're not interested in just any old lawyer networking site. They've been inspired by the possibility of this new way of practicing law. What is it worth to be a member of a site that gets that kind of press for the profession?

Having said all that, there is a social networking part of our work. Many of those pioneers practicing this kind of law have felt alone and welcome the opportunity to connect with kindred spirits. Where do we go for this kind of support? Who else is talking about the trauma of watching your client executed? Or the vicarious trauma of working with divorcing clients or criminal defendants every day? Where can you say that you're afraid because you don't know something? In one week, I had phone calls from two lawyers in the same law firm in the same building who didn't know they were involved in similar soul-searching because their law firm didn't encourage those sorts of interactions. As we give and receive support, we are stronger as a movement and as a community. We have that confidence that allows us to step out a little more, take a few more chances.

I hope this answers your question and I apologize for the length of the post. As you can tell, I am passionate about what I do. I believe there is a lot at stake here. The world is counting on us to learn to collaborate and take care of each other, to put aside our polarizing ways and learn to work together. CuttingEdgeLaw.com provides the information and tools for lawyers to do that work.

J. Kim Wright, J.D.
Publisher & Managing Editor
www.cuttingedgelaw.com

Note: Linked In required me to shorten the length of the post so this isn't exact.