Wiley offices in Washington, D.C.

Recently, Am Law 200 law firm Wiley not only shortened its name, but also swapped its .com web domain for .law.

While Wiley's domain move is uncommon in the legal industry, observers say it will likely become a necessity as law firms attempt to assure clients' potential cybersecurity concerns and rebrand themselves.

The overall rebranding was a strategy to refocus on the wider array of practices the firm offers while still maintaining the name recognition earned from previous successes, Wiley said. Likewise, the switch to .law was also strategic to further its branding as a legal authority and give prospective clients greater assurance, the firm said. 

Noting the bar license verification required to register a .law domain, Wiley partner David Weslow said potential clients have a greater confidence that the law firm website they clicked on is owned by an actual law firm.

"The consumer knows the site they're reaching is legitimate and not a scam site," Weslow said, noting reports of consumers being duped by fraudulent sites.

Absent the verification, the steps to registering a .law domain are minimal, noted Christa Taylor, chief marketing officer of Minds + Machines, a top-level domain provider that owns the .law registry.

Taylor noted that Minds + Machines is a wholesaler that sells .law and other top-level domains to registrars and resellers. The variety of registrars causes the price of .law domain to vary, she added. However, Wiley confirmed it paid under $200 to acquire its new .law domain.

To be sure, the .law domain hasn't caught on with law firms. Robert Algeri of law firm website design company Great Jakes Marketing said one of the factors holding back .law is muscle memory, 

"If you already have a good .com domain, the safest course of action is to stick with it," he said. "People will reflexively go to .com."

Still, Algeri said the .law domain is "short and sweet" and will eventually become more common.

".Law isn't a trend yet but it will become a trend," Algeri said. "The reason is due to another trend that is affecting law firms. Law firms are shortening their name just as Wiley Rein has shortened its name to Wiley. As the name shortening trend continues, they won't be able to find a corresponding .com." For Wiley's part, the firm said it decided to switch its domain to .law early during rebranding discussions.

Still, as a host of law firms continue to trim their names to match the sleek and modern branding of their corporate clients, security consultants warn previously owned domains can't be forgotten.

"The risks are minimal as long as the company owns the previous domain names, and keeps extending them before the domain registration expires," wrote Iron Bastion information security consultant and researcher Gabor Szathmari in an email. "In case the domain name registration is not extended for any reason in the distant future, an attacker can simply reregister the domain name to assume control."

Someone could choose to restore the email service or set up a fake website on the former domain name to deceive former clients or employees, he said. To prevent potential phishing schemes, Szathmari suggested firms submit a change of web address notification to search engines to migrate results from the old site to the new site.

He also recommended updating the firm's web servers, reconfiguring email systems and a host of other tasks when switching domains.