So, Legally India sometimes gets mail, both electronic and physical, addressed by, presumably, a clueless intern searching Google for a law firm name and clicking the first link they see.
LI is therefore sometimes privy to some of the less public proposals law firms receive.
(Name of partner, magazine and law firm redacted - let’s call them Lex Legal & Partners - while magazine rechristened to Global Merger Stars.)
Dear [law firm founding partner],
Further to my email last week, would [Lex Legal & Partners] like to move forward with inclusion in [Global Merger Stars’] 2013 Q3 Review?
Heading into 2013 dealmakers were optimistic and predictions were that this would be the year when the transactions market went back into growth after five years of decline and that 2013 would close as the most active for private equity investment since the crisis hit. The uptick has unfortunately not yet been seen but M&A markets are growing and are set to continue recovery through the remainder of 2013.
Within this report we will be taking a look over Q3 as the period comes to a close. AI would like to invite [Lex Legal & Partners] to be included within this report as a leading player in India.
We have two options for you to consider. The first gives you a half page of coverage (approx. 500 words) and the second allows you 100 words of editorial coverage. I’m sure you will agree however that the first option gives more value for money, we do however want to ensure that we have a package that caters to all budgets and requirements.
Option 1 - £295.00 (500 word/half page inclusion) • [Lex Legal & Partners] will be profiled as leading players in India • 500 words of editorial content • Inclusion of your logo, photo (if provided) and contact details • Click-through links to your website and email address on the digital issue • A complimentary hard copy of the magazine • High resolution PDFs for your own use • A 2 year digital subscription to [Global Merger Stars]
Option 2 - £200.00 (100 word inclusion) • [Lex Legal & Partners] will be profiled as leading players in India • 100 words of editorial content • Inclusion of your logo, photo (if provided) and contact details • Click-through links to your website and email address on the digital issue • A complimentary hard copy of the magazine • High resolution PDFs for your own use • A 2 year digital subscription to [Global Merger Stars]
If you would like to go ahead with inclusion, please reply confirming which option and the applicable cost i.e. “option 1 - agreed at £295”.
If you have any questions at all please do not hesitate in contacting me. I look forward to your reply.
Kind regards
[…] - [Magazine] TERMS & CONDITIONS APPLY AND ARE VIEWABLE VIA OUR WEBSITE
You can view our latest issue [REDACTED]
The magazine’s latest issue, running to more than 100 pages, includes a full-page glossy advert by a virtually unknown Kolkata firm, two suspiciously one-sided reports of M&A deals with two of India’s largest firms (including photo, email and website in one case), while four Indian law firms, including one rather old-school solicitors firm, are cited as ‘contributors’, whatever that means.
For better or worse, advertising is forbidden for Indian law firms, numerous enterprises have been around for years to serve the demand.
Other than Global Merger Stars, which seems to cover every jurisdiction out there, many legal magazines targeted purely at India have similar business models and advertorial policies (e.g., expensive ‘subscriptions’ or advertising get you awards, interviews, coverage, and so on).
One partner tells me: “We get stuff like this very often. Including from the big guys.”
Having spoken to a few partners about the phenomenon, the perceived value in such thinly veiled advertisement is apparently several fold.
- Put a copy of the magazine your firm is featured in, into your waiting room for clients to leaf through.
- Win an award from the same magazine a little while later, which can also be presented in the waiting room.
- Be seen and increase brand recognition.
And although everyone more or less knows or suspects that much of lawyers’ coverage is paid for, mostly there is a tacit agreement of ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’. And some of the more uncritical readers are even wholly unaware, suspects one partner who takes advantage of such ‘advertising’ services.
The US bar has long held that advertising can be beneficial for consumers and in increasing access to justice, if done in an ethical manner (though arguably the US has been somewhat unsuccessful on that front).
But it highlights what is ultimately the biggest problem with paid coverage and other pseudo-advertisements of Indian corporate lawyers: because local bar restrictions do not permit lawyers to advertise openly and in a regulated manner, lawyers who thirst for ways to get their brand out there have to resort to the murky.
And that can’t be good for the branding of India’s noble profession.
Full disclosure: Legally India obviously has a commercial interest in allowing law firms to openly advertise but the opinions expressed by the author, who is Legally India’s publishing editor, are personally and honestly held.
Picture by sludgegulper
Comments
Second of all, it is actually very hard to know for sure whether any law firms' names I could mention have definitely paid the magazine and how much, since it's never specified what is paid for, what is genuine, and so on. And that's kind of the point I'm making - it becomes a dubious exercise for all involved.
Finally, since I personally don't think advertising is a horrific evil (and since I may be biased), I'm not sure of the benefits in naming and shaming anyone? Nor do I think does it make a difference, since I believe probably 70-80% of the profession are probably at it...
I was wondering whether a legal news portal should report all (including the names) in the event it has chosen to come out with a story on it. Whilst it being an issue to discuss on what all you should disclose, I do understand that it may sour your relations with the magazine and particularly these firms, which of course would be indispensable for you. So understand your refrain from that perspective.
Cheers
And in terms of magazines, we actually have no real relationships with any of them, but call it 'professional courtesy' if you will, or that it could be seen as a little uncouth of me (and perhaps biased) to rant about rivals' business practices on my soapbox.
Also, this was just a little column to raise an interesting issue - it was not intended to be an investigative report into advertising, so getting a comment from every single law firm about whether they advertise or not was outside its scope alas. Not that most would have told me anyway :)
The article refers to this as "murky". I disagree. It is very clear. This is advertising and our deeply respectable law firms should start respecting the law. Even if they dont, there is a compelling economic argument for them not to advertise in this manner. Awards are similar. There are a number of firms that put loads of awards after their email signature blocks. Who cares - if a client is swayed by that, chances are it is not going to be a client you want to have. This type of advertising is, in my opinion, not worth it. I would be very interested to hear the views of other readers though - I may be wrong. After all, the Indian firms that do this must see some real value in it (more than just having visitor's reading this in the waiting room and general brand recognition - does it lead to more work is the question).
Kian has hit the nail on the head though when he talks about how advertising should be permitted and it should be done openly and ethically.
And some law firms, every year buy out the entire awards function. All over south east asia this happens.
http://www.legallyindia.com/Non-editorial/contact-us#Principles
I also hope our contents speaks for itself, particularly when compared to any other publications in this space.
I accept that many of the deals stories are essentially law firm PR (where most firms do not have a problem being covered), but at the same time readers genuinely want to know about those deals being done so it's not like we are publishing complete puff pieces, and we try to cover as great a variety of deals as possible.
And we also generally try to do as many non-PR stories as possible. A litmus test could also be that I think we've probably published 'bad' or 'difficult' news stories about pretty much every major firm (and law school, for that matter) out there.
Ultimately, we try to report fairly and accurately about the industry but law firms have armed themselves with increasingly sophisticated PR machines. When the PR machines are feeding us inanities, we generally ignore them (unlike others at times); when they send us something that might be of genuine interest to readers, we try to cover it.
Here is also some more background on PR and law firms from a recent column:
http://www.legallyindia.com/201208313077/Legal-opinions/mint-column-legal-ads-vs-legal-journalism
I know it's tempting to shout 'paid news' whenever you don't like the tone of a news story or think it is too positive, but I think it also belies a misunderstanding of the nuances and difficulties inherent in journalism in a profession that, for the most part, is still quite opaque and secretive.
Also I'm sure LI makes enough money by selling bar exam notes through their "advertising partner"
But seriously (if you are indeed serious), comment moderation may take longer sometimes for the following reasons:
-we might be eating lunch, sleeping, or otherwise may not be available for moderation at certain times of day
-Especially controversial comments might need to be edited, which takes a little while longer than just publishing, or we might need to check briefly. Or sometimes we're holding back comments as tips, so we can report them as news story.
-Sometimes we accidentally forget to comment or click the wrong button by accident. With dozens of comments or sometimes hundreds per day, this does happen but is not intentional.
In other words, no, not paid news.
In any case, as much fun as we're having, it would be nice to stop shooting the messenger and get back to the issue raised in the column, which, to respond to rollaj above, was intentionally somewhat open-ended and short.
Best wishes,
Kian
For those asking for law firm names, I really don't think much would be served with my publishing them. For one, I have never heard of that magazine except in that email I received. I therefore can't be sure whether 100% of the content in it is paid for, though it certainly seems so. Therefore, mentioning any of the law firms appearing in it and saying they are all advertising could put me on thin ice without further research, if one of them perhaps didn't.
What I suggest you do, if you are interested in names, is to look at a legal magazine or website (some of which are mentioned in the comments), and try to figure out which bits of editorial are paid for and which aren't. Some might be bleeding obvious, and in some cases I think it is nearly impossible to be sure.
Feel free to share your findings here, or if you happen to know for a fact otherwise.
FYI, as indicated on our 'principles' page, on LI we do take sponsored articles but always mark these clearly as 'sponsored', 'advertisement' or 'knowledge partnership'.
Gyan - there are some fine wines in my wine cellar. How about some sampling some of that at my place tonight?
- Big Daddy
1. The ban on advertising hurts the smaller more merit based firms than the big players, since there is no platform to showcase your abilities.
2. Essentially, what the magazine is selling is not just advertising space (logo, contacts) but editorial content. So essentially, if you pay the 300 GBP, the correspondent will talk brightly of your abilities, give helpful comments from your clients and quote a lawyer from your firm as an expert. This gives a disproportionate (indeed murky) representation of the firm's ability and expertise.
3. The costs also disproportionately aid the big firms. How many small firms can actually spend 30000 bucks on 500 words or 2 lakhs on a subscription.
4. Apart from this, there are the scams, for example, the consultant which holds an event connection you to the General Counsels of 50 Fortune 500 companies and demand an exorbitant amount for it.
If advertising was free and fair these underhand routes would be eliminated.
Dear ............,
Lawyer Monthly Magazine’s ........2013 edition will include an in-depth feature looking at ........
As a India based expert in ...... law I would like to invite you to take part in an interview to appear alongside our editorial profiling your services and expertise to our readers. Lawyer Monthly delivers its monthly edition to 108,229 recipients globally (May 2013 ABC audited figure - ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) - Lawyer Monthly Certificate).
Promoting your services as part of our ......feature guarantees you direct exposure to your end-user demographic of C-level executives, high-net-worth individuals, business owners, and entrepreneurs. This is a paid for opportunity in which we can allow corporate branding and contact details to appear alongside your interview.
The editorial team will cover the following issues as part of the feature and these topics will form the basis of the interview questions:
blah blah blah
ACCEPTING YOUR INVITATION
In order to accept your invitation to appear in the ........ feature please email me stating whether you wish to undertake a one or two page interview. The costs for being involved are as follows:
One page interview - £395.00 (+ VAT where applicable)
Two page interview - £495.00 (+ VAT where applicable)
Once I receive your confirmation my editorial team will contact you to co-ordinate the interview process. The interview will be conducted by email or telephone at a mutually convenient time during ... and you will be fully proofed during the course of September prior to the feature’s publication.
Should you have any questions regarding Lawyer Monthly Magazine, the content of the feature, or if you would like to request a Media Pack please do not hesitate to contact me; we are always happy to provide additional information.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
Leona Sheasby
Lawyer Monthly Magazine
Dear ............,
Lawyer Monthly Magazine’s ........2013 edition will include an in-depth feature looking at ........
As a India based expert in ...... law I would like to invite you to take part in an interview to appear alongside our editorial profiling your services and expertise to our readers. Lawyer Monthly delivers its monthly edition to 108,229 recipients globally (May 2013 ABC audited figure - ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) - Lawyer Monthly Certificate).
Promoting your services as part of our ......feature guarantees you direct exposure to your end-user demographic of C-level executives, high-net-worth individuals, business owners, and entrepreneurs. This is a paid for opportunity in which we can allow corporate branding and contact details to appear alongside your interview.
The editorial team will cover the following issues as part of the feature and these topics will form the basis of the interview questions:
blah blah blah
ACCEPTING YOUR INVITATION
In order to accept your invitation to appear in the ........ feature please email me stating whether you wish to undertake a one or two page interview. The costs for being involved are as follows:
One page interview - £395.00 (+ VAT where applicable)
Two page interview - £495.00 (+ VAT where applicable)
Once I receive your confirmation my editorial team will contact you to co-ordinate the interview process. The interview will be conducted by email or telephone at a mutually convenient time during ... and you will be fully proofed during the course of September prior to the feature’s publication.
Should you have any questions regarding Lawyer Monthly Magazine, the content of the feature, or if you would like to request a Media Pack please do not hesitate to contact me; we are always happy to provide additional information.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kind Regards,
Leona Sheasby
Lawyer Monthly Magazine[/quote]
There's not a single day that Ms. Sheasby doesn't spam me with various offers. Less than 30 mins after a transaction is reported, you will hear from Ms. Sheasby about how they are making a tombstone and that the parties and other advisors have already confirmed their interest. All within 30 mins of a transaction going public! And that invaluable piece of clear plastic could be all mine for only INR 20,000 + VAT!
This is not a clear area I think. There are conflicting views. I personally feel this cannot be enforced, and I have written about the same on my website. You can read it at http://mehnat.in/reasons_lawyers_should_be_allowed_to_advertise.html