Legal nonprofit is fourth to join the online network for lawyers since the New Year

March 11, 2009 — New York, NY, March 11, 2009 - LexisNexis(www.lexisnexis.com), a leading global provider of content-enabled workflow solutions, today announced that Pro Bono Net, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing access to justice through innovative uses of technology and increased volunteer lawyer participation (www.probono.net), is the fourth and latest legal organization to join the Martindale-Hubbell Connected Alliance Partner Program. Martindale-Hubbell Connected (www.martindale.com/connected) is the premier global online network for legal professionals. As an Alliance Partner, Pro Bono Net will host a dedicated online community within the network where lawyers new to pro bono work can become engaged, and where Pro Bono Net’s 50,000 plus members will network and collaborate with each other and with the larger legal community.

A part of LexisNexis®, Martindale-Hubbell Connected is designed specifically for the needs of corporate counsel, law firm lawyers and other legal professionals to enable them to connect, network, communicate and collaborate in a trusted and authenticated environment with colleagues. Beta launched in June 2008 with 20 pilot members, the network has grown through word of mouth to approximately 2,500 lawyers and is scheduled for formal launch at the end of March.


The Alliance Partner Program for Martindale-Hubbell Connected offers legal associations and other select non-profit legal organizations secure and dedicated network communities – enabling a quick and easy method for these organizations to greatly expand their members' networking and collaboration capabilities while also integrating their group within the premier global online network for legal professionals. Lex Mundi and the Council on Litigation Management joined the Alliance Partner Program in February. The Minority Corporate Counsel Association joined in January.


"Martindale-Hubbell Connected provides us a platform to reach a broader audience of lawyers who may be interested in pro bono work," said Mark O'Brien, executive director and co-founder of Pro Bono Net. "Our participation in this dynamic online community will help us to promote greater understanding of the barriers to pro bono, facilitate collaboration and information sharing, and inspire more creative uses of information technology to increase access to justice for the millions of poor people who face legal problems every year."


"We are honored that Martindale-Hubbell Connected can play a role in educating lawyers about the need for pro bono representation and to provide wider access to the tools and resources available to lawyers and legal organizations offered by Pro Bono Net," said Ralph Calistri, senior vice president of Global Client Development at LexisNexis and CEO of Martindale-Hubbell. "Martindale-Hubbell Connected is emerging as a true legal 'community' that offers much more than just professional networking."


About Martindale-Hubbell Connected
Martindale-Hubbell capitalizes on its traditional resources and global reach — and adds dynamic Web 2.0 capabilities to create a unique online community for legal professionals with access to a database of more than a million authenticated lawyer contacts, more than 45 million suggested connections and tools for corporate counsel and private practice attorneys.


The resulting Martindale-Hubbell Connected network offers members the ability to expand their professional network with authenticated contacts, to uncover new relationships and trusted referrals, to share information and insights, and to efficiently collaborate in a virtual community. It also offers access to compelling, user-generated content contributed by peers as well as authoritative content such as statistics, counsel-created research, competitor profiles, marketing trends, ratings and client reviews, and online events and forums.


The launch of this network is part of a broad transformation of Martindale-Hubbell into the preeminent online destination for legal professionals. Other elements of this transformation include an agreement with LinkedIn offering martindale.com users direct access to the LinkedIn network, new peer review ratings, integration of Chambers ratings within lawyer and law firm profiles on martindale.com, video marketing capabilities for law firms, legal content and more.


About LexisNexis
LexisNexis® (www.lexisnexis.com) is a leading global provider of content-enabled workflow solutions designed specifically for professionals in the legal, risk management, corporate, government, law enforcement, accounting and academic markets. LexisNexis originally pioneered online informat