Some of the fastest-growing practices near the bottom of survey assessing firms' on-line presence


Birmingham and London firm Wragge & Co has taken top spot in Web technology firm Intendance's annual Web site round-up of the top 50 fastest-growing law firms, with London firm Howard Kennedy trailing in last.


Second best site went to City firm Simmons & Simmons, with SJ Berwin third, dropping one spot from 2005. City giants Linklaters and Herbert Smith were fourth and fifth. Last year's winner, regional firm Shoosmiths, fell 13 places.


Languishing at or near the bottom of the table are, curiously, firms Intendance notes as two of the fastest growing by turnover: London and south-east firm DMH Stallard and Howard Kennedy. This might be due to the difficulty in keeping up on-line with the pace of change within the firm, the report said.


It also suggested that those firms which are putting together usable sites with quality content on them will stand out in what will become a market where differentiation is vital. For now, though, it appears that there is still little correlation between how wonderful a firm's Web site is and the rate of increase in turnover at a firm.


Tony Williams, founder of management consultancy Jomati and ex-managing partner at Clifford Chance, had some choice words about law firms' Web sites and what they should deliver.


'A Web site needs to reflect the personality, depth and culture of the firm,' he said in his forward to the report. He noted that if a Web site does not do this, dissatisfaction on the client's side will result, something 'to be avoided at all costs'.


A significant trend the report pointed out is much better usability in law firms' Web sites. Best in show for usability was Herbert Smith. The other categories firms' sites were rated on were content, design and marketing. Marketing is the woolliest area of assessment, involving questions of whether the firm is 'implicit or explicit in portraying its values' and how the site made users feel. Charles Russell came top in the content category, which most Web commentators have long maintained is 'king'.


Pinsent Masons also did well, managing tenth place overall, primarily because of good usability and content. The national firm also runs the lauded Out-Law.com Web site, a testament to concentration on content.


Interactivity - still a hot topic in Web site construction because of the use of 'plug-ins' such as Flash, which can make pages slower to load and can require the downloading of proprietary software - also divides the field, as does the use of extranets and microsites. Intendance reports that while a quarter of those sites surveyed have 'extensive' facilities such as these, one-third have none at all.