Legal Research

"A Blogging Guide for St. Louis (and Other) Lawyers (and Others)"

Posted by Dennis Kennedy: "With the help of my St. Louis blogging pals, Matt Homann, George Lenard and Evan Schaeffer, I recently put together a roundtable article on "blogging for lawyers" for the St. Louis Lawyer magazine. The article is now out in print, but I believe it's only available in print to members of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis in its final form. I liked the way the article turned out so much, and the information in it is so good, that I couldn't stand the idea that the article wasn't widely available. So, I dug up our unedited draft of the article and post it below. As longtime law-related bloggers know, St. Louis has long been referred to as "Blawg City USA," and this is the first time Matt, George, Evan and I have shared in one place our recollections, observations and practical pointers about blogging. Hope you enjoy reading the article as much as we enjoyed writing it. Let us know what you think about the article.

A Blogging Guide for St. Louis Lawyers

Having a website has been a requirement for lawyers and law firms for many years. As people continue to migrate to the Internet as the place to find information, the return on investment from advertising in traditional print outlets for legal marketing, especially in the yellow pages, has been called into question. There's probably not a lawyer reading this article who hasn't been told recently that he or she should have a blog. Does a blog really make sense for you or your firm?

St. Louis is the home of four of the earliest and best-known lawyer bloggers. We brought them together to get their insights and reflections on blogging for lawyers in 2009.

In this article, you'll hear about blogging from Matt Homann (The NonBillable Hour), Dennis Kennedy (DennisKennedy.Blog), George Lenard (George's Employment Blawg), and Evan Schaeffer (Trial Practice Tips and The Legal Underground), who have combined for more than 20 years of blogging experience.

Questions include:

1. When and why did you start blogging?...

2. What is a blog?...

3. Why should a lawyer have a blog today?...

4. What do you write and how do you decide what to write about?...

5. Is it still a good time to start a blog?...

6. How would someone get started in blogging?...

7. What are the best benefits of blogging?...

8. How do the ethical rules affect blogging?...

9. Are there "best ethical practices" for lawyers who blog?...

10. What is the future of blogging?...

Full text and active links are available at the source site listed below.

Source: DennisKennedy.com, 23 June 2009

Full post as published by Stark County Law Library Blawg on June 25, 2009 (boomark / email).