Barristers outshine law firms with on-line services

Barristers' chambers are ahead of law firms when it comes to setting up Web sites, research revealed last week.

A survey of 100 chambers conducted by Web site consultancy Intendance found that 95% had functional Web sites - far higher than for solicitors' firms.

Hardwicke Building in London had the best overall Web presence, according to the survey, which judged sites on their content, usability and design.

It outshone all other chambers for content, scoring 84%, and was praised for its extensive catalogue of information.

However, most Web sites were weak on content, with an average score of only 52%, compared to 76% for design and 63% for usability.

Monckton Chambers had the easiest site to navigate, scoring 94% for usability, while 2 Harcourt Buildings received full marks for design with 100%.

The survey's overall loser was 48 Bedford Row, which scored only 24%.

However, the set only has two tenants.

Nearly half of the sets compared in the survey were clustered in the 61-70% overall score band - suggesting that chambers are keeping a sharp eye on their competitors' Internet presence.

The survey said there is no correlation between the size of chambers and the quality of their Web sites.

The Intendance survey identified considerable room for improvement on some sites: only nine of the chambers reviewed featured recent cases and almost a third left out-of-date news items and events information on-line.

Just eight provided an extranet, allowing clients to access legal information.

Only 12 of the Web sites reviewed were printer-friendly, and five were considered too slow to download.

Steve Bradley, the IT manager at Hardwicke Building who designed the chambers' Web site, said: 'The most popular items are the individual CVs for barristers, and articles written by our members on legal topics.

'There is a lot of information for prospective pupils as well, including an on-line brochure with video interviews with pupils and supervisors.'

He added: 'We developed the site internally and the hosting costs are just a few hundred pounds per year.'

Stephen Turvey, director of LPA Legal Recruitment, which commissioned the research, said: 'The best chambers' Web sites are informative, easy to use and have innovative features that show leading-edge use of technology.

'Improving the content of their sites would benefit them greatly.

Clients could not only review an individual barrister's CV before deciding whether or not to instruct them, but also assess the breadth of experience available in a set of chambers as a whole, which could potentially lead to new instructions from existing clients.'

He added: 'The best Web sites are not necessarily the most expensive.

Many chambers could dramatically improve their Web site without significant additional expenditure, and some could even save money by adopting a more coherent Internet strategy.'

Rachel Rothwell