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News Articles

Australian Financial Review
29 June 2001
"Yahoo! website hits real estate market"

Yahoo! will today enter Australia's competitive online real estate market, launching its site Yahoo! Australia & NZ Real Estate.

Mr Crowe said Yahoo! had the advantage of being an internationally recognised brand, which meant the people unfamiliar with the Australian real estate market would be more likely to go to a Yahoo! site.

Yahoo! also followed the one-stop shop model, which has proved successful for real estate sites in the US, and which realestate.com.au seems to be following in Australia.
"The goal is to provide every service that you would need if you're buying or selling or renting, and all of the associated components that come along with that," Mr Crowe said.

Yahoo! has entered into partnerships with local content providers for products related to buying or selling real estate. These include movinghome.com.au, lawyersearch.com.au, HWW and Your Mortgage Magazine.

Your Mortgage
June 2001
"Lawyersearch.com.au"

Lawyersearch.com.au brings the legal marketplace online by not only helping prospective clients find the right legal representation but also by allowing lawyers to find the right specialist who refers clients to them.

By filling out a brief template describing your legal problem and the price you are willing to pay, Lawyersearch.com.au puts you in contact with a number of professionals that may suit your needs. While lawyers are looking at your brief outline of the matter, your personal details are kept private and an email will be sent to you once four lawyers have made a reply.

Lawyersearch.com.au also caters to lawyers in that once registered and verified, they can bid on work outlined by prospective clients. Although this site is free for clients, lawyers who retain work from this site are charged a pre-disclosed fee for the service. Lawyers can also use this site for business-to-business referral where specialists in certain fields of law can be found and contacted. It should also be noted that Lawyersearch.com.au has no affiliation with any law firm.

Although only new, this site is well set up and easily navigated. At present it contains links to templates for conveyance/real estate legal problems as well as general legal problem templates for the individual and business.

Not only does Lawyersearch.com.au open up the legal market place, it also provides efficiency and peace of mind to the client. The normal search for legal representation often involves referrals from friends, which can be risky, or ringing around with the help of the phone book.

By using Lawyersearch.com.au, firms and individual practitioners interested in taking on the possible cases are listed for the client with an "inside" view which gives information on practices. As well as this clients avoid being given the run around by lawyers too busy to return calls as all lawyers referred to the clients have looked at the job outline and are interested. All lawyers registered with this site have had their credentials verified and their practice investigated, making Lawyersearch.com.au a safer alternative to finding a lawyer on your own.

Edward Sunna, a Sydney sole practitioner, says that the Law Society's restrictions on advertising means he is reluctant to spend money on promotion when the constraints may lessen its impact. Lawyersearch, he says, enables him to circumvent those problems.

"Clients provide details of the work they require and law firms who think they meet the profile can bid for the work."

"The clients benefit and the lawyers get the work that suits them."

According to Sunna, it is increasingly important to be proactive about attracting clients, as businesses are increasingly less likely to retain one law firm to service all their needs. "Businesses are increasingly looking for specialisation." he says. And with business owners becoming technology-literate, Sunna believes the Internet is a vital tool for lawyers.

Lawyersearch.com has announced it is forming partnerships with other small business sites.

"F2 extends service"
Property Australia Magazine
April 2001

SYDNEY: f2, Fairfax Interactive Network, has announced a deal with online legal services procurement site lawyersearch.com.au to provide legal services for users of its real estate website, domain.com.au.

Domain.com.au provides property listings, information and services for buyers, sellers and renters of property throughout Australia. Lawyersearch.com.au is a service that matches clients to solicitors based on a client’s needs, the solicitor’s skills, geographic proximity to the client and the client’s budget.

The new service allows domain.com.au users to find a property online, and then immediately find the solicitor in their local area who can offer the appropriate legal advice and conveyancing services.

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Lawyersearch Press Releases

"Perfect Match:  Legal Matching Service launches on the Net "
Sydney, 17 January 2001

Lawyersearch.com.au, an online legal services procurement site dedicated to matching clients with local specialist lawyers has launched on the Net with over 140 lawyers listed to their service, announced Lawyersearch Chairman Richard Warburton today.

Mr Warburton said in the first stage of its launch, Lawyersearch.com.au partnered with two leading real estate websites, McGrath Partners and the Sydney Morning Herald’s domain.com.au, providing solicitors who can assist property purchasers with their conveyancing needs. He said Lawyerseach.com is a unique service, matching clients to solicitors based on the clients’ needs, the solicitor’s skills, geographic proximity to the client and the clients’ budget.

“Lawyersearch.com allows the client to find a solicitor with all the convenience of the Internet. They find a practitioner on their own terms, in a convenient location and within their price limits,” Mr Warburton said.

“The process is also extremely convenient for the solicitor who can pick and choose their matters once they have registered with the site. When a matter relevant to their practise is entered, they receive an email and with the click of a mouse they can submit their interest in the matter."

“This is a very cheap, low maintenance way for lawyers to source new business. Membership is free and no fees are paid to Lawyersearch.com.au until the client has signed a retainer with the solicitor. Lawyersearch.com.au avoids a lot of the time and hassle involved when clients cold call a solicitor’s office, explain the matter over the phone and then meet the solicitor in person for an initial briefing, all before the solicitor even secures the clients’ business.” Mr Warburton said.

Apart from its goal of making the connection between lawyer and client pain free, Lawyersearch.com.au aims to maintain the integrity associated with the legal profession, said founding Director of Lawyersearch and lawyer Jason Yat Sen Li.

“We have gathered together a board of directors who are extremely well respected in the commercial, legal and broader communities. With Chairmain Richard Warburton and Directors Neville Roach and Wendy McCarthy, lawyers and clients can feel secure they are registering with a business of high professional and commercial standards,” said Mr Li.

“We welcome all legal practitioners who share our values to register on the site free of charge by visiting www.lawyersearch.com.au,” he said. Lawyerseach.com.au will be launching on the NSW State Chamber of Commerce site giving solicitors access to small business clients and will bw announcing further partnerships in the near future.

Putting Convenience into Conveyancing
Leading Real Estate websites team with Lawyersearch.com.au
Sydney, 18 January 2001

Two leading real estate websites, McGrath Partners (mcgrath.com.au) and domain.com.au, have partnered with online legal services procurement site Lawyersearch.com.au, linking professional services to make the process of purchasing a property easier.

Lawyersearch.com.au is a unique service that matches clients to solicitors based on the clients’ needs, the solicitor’s skills, geographic proximity to the client and the clients’ budget.

Chairman of Lawyersearch.com.au Mr Richard Warburton said purchasing a property is often the first occasion for many people to approach a lawyer and it can be intimidating or difficult to find a solicitor to suit your needs for a one off transaction.  

“Lawyersearch.com.au allows the client to find a solicitor with all the convenience of the Internet. They find a practitioner on their own terms, in a convenient location and within their price limits,” Mr Warburton said.

“Finding a solicitor is no longer a harrowing experience. Once the client enters their request on the website, the solicitors submit an application for the business, so the client is put back in the driver’s seat,” he said.

The client receives a choice of lawyers, views their legal experience, fees and location and can choose a lawyer in their own time from the convenience of their own home.

The partnership between Lawyersearch and McGrath and Domain enables people to find a property online and then, without leaving their desks, find a solicitor in their local area who can offer legal advice and conveyancing services.

John McGrath, Chief Executive of McGrath Estate Agents, said this total solution approach to property services is the way of the future.

“Our aim is to be a total solution property services group that provides 6-star service and streamlined and seamless transactions to our clients. In choosing our alliance partners, we look for those that satisfy our criteria of professionalism, client service, integrity and are website driven,” Mr McGrath said. 

“Lawyersearch.com is the ideal solution to help our clients find the right solicitor who can complete their property transaction.”

“Our website is about providing that total property service from start to finish, making Lawyersearch.com a welcome addition to the services we already provide.”

Managing Director of Supersites & Commerce for f2, Mr Martin Hoffman said that this deal reinforces domain.com.au’s commitment to becoming a one stop shop for consumers property needs.

“domain.com.au is continually developing ways to provide a total property service for online users. We are committed to offering services that complement the purchase or sale of property, making lawyersearch.com.au a welcome addition to our current range of services,” he said.

Media inquiries:

McGrath Partners           Terri Sissian                    02 9386 3342

domain.com.au             Mr Chris Meehan             0407 149 544

Providing Business Solutions:
State Chamber of Commerce (NSW) teams with Lawyersearch.com.au to solve the problem of sourcing the right lawyers for business.
Sydney, 7 May 2001 

Leading business organisation, State Chamber of Commerce (NSW), has partnered with online legal services procurement site Lawyersearch.com.au, to help businesses find lawyers.

Lawyersearch Chairman Richard Warburton launched today Lawyersearch's Small-Medium Business Service on thechamber.com.au.

"Our business is dedicated to helping Small and Medium Business find the right lawyers for their business. What better place to launch the home of business in NSW, thechamber.com.au," Mr Warburton said.

"We are pleased to have an organisation such as Lawyersearch trading as a merchant within the Chamber's online marketplace," said the Chief Executive of the State Chamber of Commerce Katie Lahey today.

"thechamber.com.au was specifically established to assist small and medium sized businesses to fully maximise the opportunities offered by the Internet, and we are working very hard to provide the tools and resources to help them do this. 

"Developing partnerships with companies such as Lawyersearch is part of our strategy to demonstrate to SMEs (Small Medium Enterprise) the value of trading online," Ms Lahey said.

Using innovative database matching technology, unique business processes and high touch customer service Lawyersearch's applications connect business with pre-qualified lawyers, matched to their particular requirements.

"SME's have traditionally struggled to find the right legal advice at the right price to match their particular situation. Previously they have used less than perfect methods to source their lawyers - word of mouth, law societies, even the Yellow Pages. They now have a more sophisticated way to source their legal needs." Mr Warburton said

"Small business face enough hurdles without having to encounter stress in the search for an affordable local lawyer. Lawyersearch allows business to find solicitors with all the convenience of the Internet. They find a practitioner on their own terms, in a convenient location and within their budget. Lawyersearch removes the hard work and confusion by putting the small business owner in charge of the process," Mr Warburton said.

Founding Director and lawyer Jason Yat-Sen Li said, "The legal services sector generates $6 billion in income annually (including $1.8 billion from commercial law and $1.15 billion from property law) and Australia has approximately 1 million SMEs - 70% of which are connected to the internet. " 

"The SME market is large but highly disaggregated. SME's are high volume users of legal services but they have poor sourcing habits. Lawyers have no clear distribution channels to market to SME's and rely heavily on referrals." said Mr Li.

"The solution we provide is an interactive online tendering process at zero cost to business. Revenue is earned from the supply-side as a marketing cost," said Mr Li.

"Partnership with the NSW State Chamber of Commerce allows us to access a large aggregated SME customer-base while being able to piggy-back on the major marketing initiatives the Chamber will be doing to promote their marketplace," said Mr Li.

"We provide the marketplace with value-added content, access to legal services and the ability to build the market as a "total solution" to SME sourcing and procurement needs. It is a win-win situation," said Mr Li.

Apart from its goal of making the connection between lawyer and client pain free, Lawyersearch.com.au aims to be the honest broker in this important process. 

"We have gathered together a board of directors who are extremely well respected in the commercial, legal and broader communities. With Chairman Richard Warburton and Directors Neville Roach and Wendy McCarthy, business can feel secure they are registering with an organisation of high professional and commercial standards," said Mr Li.

Lawyerseach.com will be announcing soon further partnerships with other small business sites and SME aggregators.

Media inquiries: 


Adam MacGregor State Chamber of Commerce (NSW) 02 9350 8105

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Affiliate Press Releases

Launch of conveyancing service on leading real estate website
Sydney, January 18 2001

domain.com.au, Australia’s leading real estate website provides comprehensive property listings, information and services for buyers, sellers and renters of property throughout Australia. The services provided include a powerful search tool for thousands of listings from leading real estate agents, a loan calculator and application facility, virtual tours, local demographic information and advice from leading Fairfax property journalists.

Lawyersearch.com.au is a service that matches clients to solicitors based on client’s needs, the solicitor’s skills, geographic proximity to the client and the client’s budget.

This service allows domain.com.au users to find a property online, and then immediately find the solicitor in their local area who can offer the appropriate legal advice and conveyancing services.

Managing Director of Supersites & Commerce for f2, Mr Martin Hoffman said that this deal reinforces domain.com.au’s commitment to becoming a one stop shop for consumers property needs.

“domain.com.au is continually developing ways to provide a total property service for online users. We are committed to offering services that complement the purchase or sale of property, making lawyersearch.com.au a welcome addition to our current range of services”.

Chairman of lawyersearch.com.au, Mr Richard Warburton said purchasing a property is often the first occasion for many people to approach a lawyer and it can often be intimidating or difficult to find the right solicitor to suit their needs for a one off transaction.

“Lawyersearch.com.au allows the client to find a solicitor with all the convenience of the internet. They find a practitioner on their own terms, in a convenient location and within their price limits.”

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