MCCA joins Alliance Partner Program for Martindale-Hubbell Connected online network for lawyers

Association will host dedicated online community for its members within the global Martindale-Hubbell Connected network

January 26, 2009 — New York, NY, January 26, 2009 - LexisNexis announced today that The Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) has joined the international Alliance Partner Program for Martindale-Hubbell^® Connected (www.martindale.com/connected) – the premier, global online network for legal professionals. As an Alliance Partner, the MCCA will host a community within Martindale-Hubbell Connected specifically for its members, allowing their nearly 20,000 constituents to better network and collaborate with each other and with the larger legal community.

A part of LexisNexis^®Client Development solutions, Martindale-Hubbell Connected is a global online community designed specifically for the needs of corporate counsel attorneys, law firm lawyers and other legal professionals that enables them to connect, network, communicate and collaborate in a trusted and authenticated environment with colleagues.  Launched in beta in June 2008 with 20 pilot members, the network has grown through word of mouth to more than 2,000 lawyers and is scheduled for formal launch in the first quarter of 2009.

The Alliance Partner Program for Martindale-Hubbell Connected offers legal associations and other select non-profit legal organizations secure and dedicated network communities.  This provides them a quick and easy method for their members to greatly expand their networking and collaboration activities while also integrating their group within the premier global online network for legal professionals.

The MCCA mission is to advocate for the expanded hiring, retention and promotion of minority attorneys in corporate law departments and the law firms that serve them, said Peter Chin, Director of Programs. Martindale-Hubbell Connected will help advance that mission by enabling us to host our own online community where our members can meet, network with each other, collaborate, and share news and opinions.”

We are thrilled that the MCCA has joined the growing Martindale-Hubbell Connected community, said Ralph Calistri, CEO of Martindale-Hubbell.  MCCA members will be able to network and collaborate with each other within the MCCA community on Martindale-Hubbell Connected, and interact and connect with other lawyer communities without having to leave the Martindale-Hubbell^® network.”
 
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 the 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 the Minority Corporate Counsel Association

The Minority Corporate Counsel Association advocates for the expanded hiring, promotion, and retention of minority attorneys in corporate legal departments and the law firms that serve them. MCCA furthers its mission by publishing research on achieving diversity and best practices in the legal profession, honoring innovative diversity programs with its Employer of Choice and Thomas L. Sager awards, and assisting diverse law students through the Lloyd M. Johnson, Jr. Scholarship Program.

MCCA’s work has been recognized with awards from the National Minority Business Counc