Unqualified praise: when being 816th just isn't good enough

I am one of a large number of people -- 815, to be precise -- who will by now have received a letter from the Market Manager of Who's Who Legal (WWL). This letter opens with the following text:

"I am pleased to inform you that you have been identified by our independent research with clients and peers as being amongst 815 of the world's leading trademark lawyers".

It then appears that, on payment of an appropriately extortionate sum of £1,395, I can have my biography (sic) of up to 265 words published in the WWL directory. After 40 years in intellectual property, that works out as around six and a half words per year. If I'm feeling rich, for £2,100 I can extend this biography to between 265 and 530 words. The top of the range entry, for £2,500, will get me between 530 and 750 words.  I'll have to say goodbye to the copyright, though, since WWL require an assignment of all present and future rights, not to mention a waiver of all moral rights.

I don't suppose that many of the sole or small practitioners who read this weblog will be rushing to spend this sort of cash. They may be wondering if all the time spent qualifying for their professions and honing their skills was worth it. After all, 815 directory entries at even the bottom rate of £1,395 looks pretty much like more than £1.1 million -- more than most readers earn.

The fear factor must impel entrants to reach for their cheque books. According to the invitation, "Absence from a legal directory hinders up to 51.4% of clients from hiring a law firm".  Goodness, how do they ever manage to find one then?  Surely nothing as random as personal recommendations, an attractive website or a decent pair of legs (male or female nowadays).

This blogger would be curious to know what readers of this weblog think of directory entries.  Would they go for them if they could? Do they seriously use them as reference points, either by themselves or when combined with other resources?  How many directories would they pay to be advertised in?  How do they feel about assigning their content?

You may be wondering why this blogger is so cynical about this invitation.  It's because he isn't a qualified lawyer, trade mark attorney or indeed anything else -- and has never even come close to practising. He wonders therefore how effective WWL's independent research might be.