When it comes to making use of the Web, law firms generally have not been pioneers. The Murthy Law Firm, which handles immigration matters, is an exception.
Founded in 1994 by Sheela Murthy, an Indian immigrant, the firm introduced a site that provided legal information that same year. “So few law firms were even on the Internet, it was considered weird,” Ms. Murthy said.
From the beginning, her strategy was to post lots of information about immigration. And today, by at least one ranking, murthy.com is the world’s most visited law firm site.
Based in Owings Mills, Md., the firm has managed this despite its modest size — more than $10 million in annual revenue and about 110 employees, 20 of whom are in India and 27 of whom are lawyers, including five nonequity partners. Ms. Murthy, 51, is the sole owner.
In a recent conversation that has been edited and condensed, Ms. Murthy discussed why she decided to give away legal information online, how she discovered that she was a terrible boss, and what she thinks immigration reform would mean for businesses.
Q. How did you end up in Maryland?
A. I was born in Baroda, India, and attended University Law College in Bangalore. There, I met my husband, Vasant Nayak, a photographer and digital artist. He was studying in the United States and encouraged me to apply to law school here. I graduated from Harvard Law in 1987, worked for big firms in New York and Baltimore and started my own firm in 1994.
Q. What got you interested in immigration law?
A. I went through hell to get my green card. The process of becoming a citizen was painful, stressful and took 12 years. I’d wake up in a cold sweat panicking about my life. I was struck by my attorney’s lack of sensitivity and how little he cared. He only called when he wanted to tell me he was raising his fees.
Q. What led you to create a Web site back in 1994?
A. My husband, who built our site and today serves as a technology, marketing and operations consultant to the firm, insisted the Internet was the wave of the future. He suggested I grow the business by offering free legal information online. I thought, “If I didn’t love this man, I’d think he wants to bankrupt me.” But I was so frustrated by my own immigrant experience that I decided to start a Web site partly to make people feel empowered and respected.
Q. How did your early site do that?
A. Each day, I answered about 100 questions from immigrants. It helped familiarize me with real-life issues. I also started the weekly Murthy Bulletin soon after starting the firm. It’s an e-mail newsletter, which lawyers weren’t really doing then. Today, it has about 43,000 subscribers. Around 1995, we started accepting credit card payments — another thing almost no law firms were doing. But it was the only way I could help a client in California. There was no time to wait for a check in the mail.
Q. What type of reception did the Web site get?
A. It was like, build it and they will come — it caught on like wildfire.
Q. What resources are available on your current site?
A. It’s aimed at building an online immigrant community. There’s no hard sell — its priority is not to bring in clients but to help and show we care and know our stuff. We clarify the most complicated laws, using tools like teleconferences, podcasts and blogging.
Our moderated bulletin board has over 165,000 members who share information and knowledge about visa processing trends and related matters. On Monday nights, we have a real-time chat where one of our senior attorneys explains immigration law and processes. Every two or three years, we redo the site from scratch, working with a Web development firm.
Q. How’s business?
A. Clients are banging down the door. They throw themselves at our feet asking us to take them on. The feeling is, “If they give this much away for free, what must it be like if you pay them?”
Q. Given your site’s popularity, have you tried to generate income from its visitors?
A. No. We’ve kept it very pristine. We’ve been approached by insurance companies, travel agencies and airlines about doing ads. While we like the idea of getting $5,000 a month with no effort, we don’t want clients wasting time looking at a bunch of ads before they get the information they need.
Q. What has been your biggest challenge as a business owner?
A. I’m intense. I work 12 to 18 hours a day, no lunch break, bathroom breaks of less than 30 seconds. In the beginning, I assumed my staff shared my vision and passion and expected them to be excited just because I was. I worried about overpaying people, and worked them to death. I expected them to be my slaves, whipping limping horses. I was such a moron, I don’t think I even knew the Department of Labor laws.
Q. How did your staff respond?
A. Around 1997, three out of four of my paralegals walked off the job within a week of each other. It was like a bucket of water thrown at my face. I hired new paralegals, and my husband started coming into the office. The new paralegals started taking their problems to him. I’d be on the phone all day. I had a don’t-waste-my-time-with-this attitude. I’m not touchy-feely and sensitive like my husband. But I knew I had to reinvent myself.
Q. Did you?
A. I’ve come a long way, but I’m a slow learner. I still expect a lot from people, but I’ve had a reality check. I understand how important it is that they understand my vision and feel like partners. Now, all new employees meet with me for an hour. I share my background, and my experience with an uncaring lawyer. I explain that, as a client, I don’t care how much you know, I care how much you care. Today, 50 percent of my employees have been with the firm for more than five years.
Q. Why do you think they stay?
A. During interviews, I ask how I can create their dream job. If someone says they would rather write all day instead of talk to clients, I work it so they can — and vice versa. I try to capitalize on my attorneys’ strengths. If I can create that ideal job, you’ll stay until you’re dead or retired.
Q. How do you think immigration reform would affect businesses?
A. Reform would just offer a faster track for certain people — like immigrants with science, technology and math skills. This is good for employers because we’re not producing enough of these employees in the United States. Ultimately, talented immigrants would be encouraged to stay, jobs would be created, and the United States would continue to lead the world in innovation.
Q. How would it affect your business?
A. It wouldn’t make much difference for us — though we’d be busier because more of our clients would be eligible for a visa under the newly created EB-6, or start-up, visa category.
Q. What’s next for the firm?
A. We’re torn between maintaining our size and growing. Growth means more stress — more employees, more cases and more work. But we struggle with this.
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