The lawyer ranking and review company Best Lawyers has acquired Good2bSocial, a digital marketing agency that specializes in serving law firms, legal marketers, lawyers and organizations in the legal industry.

With the acquisition, Best Lawyers will expand the services it offers law firms to include digital marketing strategy, content marketing, social media, search engine optimization and website development.

Founded in 1981 by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, Best Lawyers was one of the earliest companies to create peer-reviewed rankings of lawyers. In 2021, the private equity firm Abry Partners acquired Best Lawyers.

Good2bSocial was founded in 2015 by Guy Alvarez, who had previously led digital marketing at Practising Law Institute, KPMG, and ALM Media, and Kevin Vermeulen, who had previously led sales and marketing for ALM Media, most recently as senior vice president and chief revenue officer. (I worked with both Alvarez and Vermeulen during my tenure at ALM.)

Good2bSocial’s leadership and staff will remain with the company. Alvarez and Vermeulen will be executive vice presidents of the Good2bSocial business unit and will continue to oversee its daily strategy, management and growth.

“Bringing Good2bSocial into the Best Lawyers family is another strategic step to provide unmatched service and benefits to our customers in the legal profession,” Best Lawyers CEO Phillip Greer said in a statement. “Their team’s knowledge, experience and success in legal marketing adds a new layer to our growing portfolio of capabilities and will serve as an invaluable resource to our clients who are looking to grow their practices and set a new bar among their competition.”

Best Lawyers says that the acquisition marks another key milestone in its evolution and growth strategy. Earlier this year, it announced that it was ending its relationship with US News & World Report, with which it had partnered since 2009 to publish law firm rankings, and instead would publish its Best Law Firms rankings independently.

Good2bSocial cofounder Alvarez said that he and Vermeulen are excited to join forces with Best Lawyers.

“Our team has always been dedicated to helping law firms improve their online presence and generate more business through digital marketing. With the resources and expertise of Best Lawyers, we will be able to take our services to the next level and help even more firms succeed in today’s digital age.”

Best Lawyers said that the deal will have no impact on its ranking methodology and transparency. “The core of Best Lawyers’ transparent Purely Peer Review ranking process will not change and will continue to deliver on the strong foundation that the brand’s customers have come to expect.”

The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.