Minds + Machines, which won the private auction for .Law a couple of weeks ago announced that .Law and .Abogado (Spanish for Lawyer, M+M was the only applicant for .Adogado) are expected to launch in early 2015.

Both .Law and .Abogado will be restricted to licensed lawyers or law firms, and all initial applications and renewals will be examined to verify that the registrant’s license is current.

To be eligible for a name as a law firm, the firm must provide legal services and a partner or equivalent must be a licensed lawyer.

Other legal professionals, such as paralegals or researchers, will not qualify for a .law or .abogado domain name.

A challenge procedure will be available in the case of disbarment or other event that causes a current registrant to no longer qualify for a .law or .abogado name.

Final detailed rules will be announced prior to the launch.

In general, registrants may register their own names, firm names or an accepted variation of it at standard prices.

Generic names under .law and .abogado – for instance, divorce.law or miami.abogado – will follow the same eligibility requirements, but will be priced at a premium.

Antony Van Couvering, CEO of Minds + Machines, said:

“Our goal for .law and .abogado is to create an Internet home for those who are qualified and licensed to practice law. If someone sees a website with a .law or .abogado domain name, they will know that the owner is a lawyer. If it doesn’t have a .law or .abogado ending, there’s no way to know who’s behind the domain name.”

Prior to launch, Minds + Machines will be reaching out to legal professionals from a variety of jurisdictions around the world to help make sure that its verification principles and procedures are consistent, fair, and thorough.

Updates about .law will be posted at http://www.mm-registry.com/law.