Andersen Consulting is teaming with e-commerce start-up LawCommerce.com to help develop an electronic marketplace of products, services and online technology solutions for the legal industry.

Andersen Consulting also is acquiring an unspecified minority interest in LawCommerce.com. More than 30 law firms from Silicon Valley, Wall Street and across the United States will be charter members in the LawCommerce.com e-marketplace. Andersen said it will provide LawCommerce.com with assistance in strategic business planning and creating the core infrastructure for the e-marketplace from its eBusiness Dot-Com Launch Center in San Francisco. The LawCommerce.com e-marketplace is designed to provide law firms, solo practitioners, administrators and other members of the legal profession with a ready-made market of goods and services tailored to their needs. Products and services available on the site will range from legal-specific products (legal software, forms and agreements, legal books), to legal and business related services (online legal research, litigation support, expert witness sourcing, temporary staffing), to various insurance and benefit offerings (malpractice insurance, 401k services), to supplies, equipment and materials (office supplies, computers, hardware). LawCommerce.com will also serve as an online center for communication and collaboration for legal professionals, enabling them to interact through e-solutions available at the site. These e-solutions will include new Web-based research tools; online deal collaboration sites; online training and continuing legal education services; Web-based recruiting services; and application service provider (ASP) solutions. Andersen Consulting operates 24 Dot-Com Launch Centers around the world, designed to provide initially-funded e-commerce start-ups and spin-offs with the tools and resources necessary to scale rapidly and become viable businesses.