Robert Ambrogi Blog
Lou Andreozzi, the former chairman of Bloomberg Law and CEO of LexisNexis North American Legal Markets, has been appointed as CEO to lead the new .law generic top-level domain (gTLD). Andreozzi will head a new division within the Santa Monica, Calif., company Minds + Machines, which has been granted an exclusive license to operate the .law gTLD by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
Also joining the company are Carl Jaeckel, founder of Lawyer Central and CMO of Morgan & Morgan, as COO, and John Morgan, founder of Morgan & Morgan, as chairman.
The .law domain is one of a number of new law-related gTLDs that are becoming available. Others include .attorney, .esq, .lawyer, .llp and .llc.
In a phone conversation earlier today, Andreozzi told me that he believes .law will be the most sought-after of the new domains because it is most descriptive of the profession. Many firms, particularly larger firms, will also want to register it as a defensive measure to protect their brands, he said.
The .law dTLD will be offered exclusively to lawyers and law firms. Applicants will be subjected to a two-step process to verify that they are lawyers. “We want the public to know when they are dealing with someone that it is a licensed lawyer,” Andreozzi said.
The company is also working with bar associations in countries other than the U.S. to set up verification procedures there.
The .law name will become generally available by August, after an initial sunrise period when trademark holders are given an advance opportunity to register corresponding names.
All U.S. law schools will be given free .law gTLDs, Andreozzi said.
Some private companies serving the legal industry will be allowed to purchase a .law name provided they have attorneys working inhouse.