Company Press Releases

Dolan Media Company
Press Release

Dolan Media Acquires 14 Newspapers, Web Sites of Lawyers Weekly

MINNEAPOLIS, MN, September 1, 2004 – Dolan Media Company announced today that it acquired the 14 newspapers and associated Web sites of Lawyers Weekly, Inc., a leading publisher for the legal profession. The deal closed Tuesday, Aug. 31. Purchase price and terms were not disclosed.

The acquired newspapers include the 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 three regional newspapers serving in-house and corporate attorneys, Atlantic Coast In-House, New England In-House and Midwest In-House, and two newspapers specializing in legal news for the medical community, Missouri Medical Law Report and Virginia Medical Law Report. Also included were sophisticated Web sites associated with the acquired titles which enable newspaper subscribers to obtain current professional news, case briefs and insights, and years of archival information. The acquired newspapers have a combined circulation of nearly 93,000 and reach more than 150,000 attorneys, or approximately 15% of the profession in the United States.

James P. Dolan, president and chief executive of Dolan Media, and Susan P. Hall, chairman of Lawyers Weekly, Inc, announced the transaction jointly. "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."

"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."

Except for a small number of overlapping corporate positions which were eliminated immediately at the closing, Dolan said he planned no job reductions among the 127 Lawyers Weekly employees.

About Lawyers Weekly
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 moved 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, NC; Novi, MI; and St. Louis.

About Dolan Media
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, IL, with call centers in Manchester and Independence, IA.

Cherry Tree is a founder, investor and board member of Dolan Media.