New England Biz Law Update
Dolan Media Company has acquired the 14 newspapers and
associated websites of Lawyers Weekly, Inc., a leading publisher for the legal
profession.
The deal closed Aug. 31. Purchase price and terms were not
disclosed.
James P. Dolan, president and chief executive of Dolan
Media, and Susan P. Hall, chairman of Lawyers Weekly, Inc, announced the
transaction jointly.
The newspapers being acquired include the three regional
newspapers serving in-house and corporate attorneys, Atlantic Coast In-House, New England In-House and Midwest In-House.
Other publications acquired are: the company’s national
title Lawyers Weekly USA, as well as Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, Rhode Island Lawyers Weekly, Virginia
Lawyers Weekly, Ohio Lawyers Weekly, Michigan Lawyers Weekly, Missouri Lawyers
Weekly, North Carolina Lawyers Weekly and South Carolina Lawyers Weekly.
Also acquired were two newspapers covering law for the
medical community, Missouri Medical Law
Report and Virginia Medical Law
Report.
The transaction included sophisticated websites allowing
subscribers to the newspapers to obtain current professional news, case briefs
and insights as well as years of archival information.
The acquired newspapers have nearly 93,000 circulation and
reach approximately 150,000 attorneys, or about 15 percent of the profession in
the United States.
“These are high quality, must-read publications and we are
delighted to be associated with them,” Dolan said in making the announcement.
“We look forward to working with their brilliant current staff members.”
Except for a small number of overlapping corporate positions
that were eliminated immediately at the closing, Dolan said he planned no job
reductions among the 124 Lawyers Weekly employees and in fact was likely to
increase staff in the future.
“Lawyers Weekly products
have always been highly respected in the legal community, and Dolan Media is
firmly committed to maintaining the same level of editorial excellence,” said
Hall. “This is an excellent opportunity to expand the newspapers’ editorial
mission with the additional resources of a larger company.”
In-House Publisher Paul D. Boynton said he is “thrilled” to
be working with Dolan Media. “The company’s resources will enable us to
continue growing our new In-House publications that have been so well received
by in-house lawyers and the legal community at large. We can explore exciting
new opportunities as well.”
Lawyers Weekly, Inc., dates from 1972 when it launched Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly in Boston,
a must-read paper for members of the Massachusetts bar. As its success grew,
the company repeatedly launched new newspapers and grew into books, newsletters
and other products, all emphasizing very high quality content.
Its principal operations are on West Street in central
Boston, a location that Dolan said will continue to be its base. State offices
are in Richmond, Va.; Raleigh, N.C.; Novi, Mich.; and St. Louis.
The legal profession had always been Dolan Media Company’s
largest customer group. With this transaction, law now provides more than half
of its revenues, Dolan said.
Closely held Dolan Media, based in Minneapolis, is a leading
provider of highly targeted, specialized business information products and
services. It operates daily and weekly business newspapers, including court and
commercial newspapers and business journals, in 21 U.S. metro markets.
Dolan’s Greene & Associates telemarketing unit is a
leading business-to-business teleservices company based in Lincolnshire, Ill.,
with call centers in Manchester and Independence, Iowa.
