Only law firm partners will be allowed to register a .law or .abogado address when they go live next year, domain name registry Minds + Machines (M + M) has said.
In a statement revealing the general availability requirements for the suffixes, M + M said other legal professionals such as paralegals or researchers will not qualify.
Both .law and .abogado (Spanish for “lawyer”) will be restricted to licensed lawyers or law firms, said M + M, which will examine all applications to ensure the registrant’s licence is current.
Registrants may choose their own names, firm names or an accepted variation of it at standard prices, the registry said. Generic names, such as divorce.law or miami.abogado, will follow the same eligibility requirements but will be priced at a premium, it added.
In addition, a challenge procedure will be set up to deal with cases where either a law firm or lawyer no longer qualifies for the domains.
Antony Van Couvering, chief executive of M + M, said: “Our goal for .law and .abogado is to create an internet home for those who are qualified and licensed to practise law. If someone sees a website with a .law or .abogado domain name, they will know that the owner is a lawyer.”
It comes as the .lawyer and .attorney domains, operated by United TLD Holdco, will be made generally available on October 8.
Minds + Machines; .law; .abogado; .lawyer; .attorney
