If you aren’t familiar with FindLaw, you will be eventually. It has a small army of salespeople who call on law firms day in and day out.

I talk to lawyer after lawyer who HATES FindLaw. In case you don’t know, it’s in the business of selling marketing services to lawyers. I’m not aware of everything the company offers, but I know it builds websites, offers search engine optimization services, and does other Internet things.

My workshops are filled with current and former FindLaw customers. Recently, someone asked me why I hadn’t warned them about FindLaw. I felt guilty. Thus, I’m filling you in now.

FindLaw is owned by Thomson Reuters, which also runs Super Lawyers (the publication skimmed only by other lawyers and law firm marketing directors silly enough to believe that someone cares). Does anyone know how ridiculous it sounds to normal people when lawyers call themselves “Super Lawyers”?

FindLaw is the subject of many, many strong opinions. After listening to input, my take is to stay far away from it. I avoid it like MERS.

• One prominent lawyer criticizes the blog content provided by FindLaw, describing its blogs as “an embarrassment to the legal profession.”
• Recently, the company has been sued for fraud by a law firm it allegedly screwed in Minneapolis.
• The FindLaw sites were negatively affected by a big Google algorithm update last year.
• Now, it’s selling prebuilt, high-ranking sites that Conrad Saam finds “sigh” worthy.
• A few days ago, those prebuilt sites got slammed by another Google update and lost much of their ranking.

I could link to site after site providing negative feedback about FindLaw. I’m not going to invest the time. However, you can do some searching to find out more about the company, the services it provides, and its reputation among lawyers.

Don’t say I didn’t warn you.