In case you haven’t heard, there’s been quite a bit of drama recently between WordPress and WP Engine, a major hosting company that also owns popular plugins like Advanced Custom Fields.
Traditionally, WordPress has been an open-source platform supported by a vast community of contributors. However, the conflict reportedly began when the WordPress trademark owners felt that WP Engine wasn’t contributing enough financially to the project.
Whatever the reasons, the situation has escalated to the point where WP Engine has forked WordPress and may be developing its own version.
Despite all this, 99% of law firms shouldn’t be too concerned. You can continue using WordPress as usual, whether you’re hosted on WP Engine or another provider.
The only real change is that we may start seeing different versions of WordPress, which is something to be aware of as this unfolds.
What Does the Future Look Like?
Despite the current issues, WordPress remains an excellent CMS. It drives significant traffic for law firms and helps sign a lot of cases for our clients.
It’s user-friendly, flexible, and has a massive ecosystem of plugins and developers. We’ve loved working with WordPress for these reasons.
That said, technology is moving fast. AI and low-code/no-code platforms are making software development easier and more powerful. With the drama surrounding WordPress and WP Engine, it wouldn’t surprise me if a new competitor enters the market.
There’s no question that the reputations of both WordPress and WP Engine have taken a hit, and this could open the door for innovation. We already use platforms like Webflow for some clients, and we’ll continue to monitor the landscape to ensure we’re offering the best solutions.
Thoughts on Closed Systems
This situation also raises the debate over closed systems. For example, Scorpion, a company many law firms are familiar with, offers a proprietary CMS.
We’ve always been against closed systems because they lock you in—you’re dependent on that one provider for everything, from updates to pricing.
But now, with the WordPress drama, we’re seeing the flip side.
WordPress, although open source, is tied to a foundation and a trademark controlled by a single individual who has the power to influence its
