Below is my response to a recent thread on a list I am on.
“Uncredited sources”, perhaps and perhaps not. Most if not all of the items I include in my Home Office Lawyer Blog comes from others in the field. Examples, My Shingle, Greatest American Lawyer and The Practice to just name three. And my own experiences as a solo that practices out of his home. While I would consider Foonberg’s book still valuable. Don’t discount blogging as only a source of uncredited articles and post.
Not only are LPM blogs such as those above mentioned a great source of information. Niche practice blogs are a great source of business. And solos are leading the charge in the use of this great marketing tool. In addition, blogging has opened up a great source for networking with others in the same area of practice and same office setup that was not available when I first started practicing only 8 short years ago.
Blogging a niche or even a general practice blog is one of the methods we can use to provide FREE information to the general public about our area of practice. It is a way to answer questions the public may have about their particular legal question at any given moment. Even if it might be 2:00 a.m. Lets not discount our duty to provide information to the pubilc. No longer should we shield ourselves behind those self proclaimed ivory towers that so many in our profession have erected. No longer should our office lobbies be the best and nicest things our clients see.
We have the opportunity to show the public that we lawyers have changed the way we practice, provide information and bill. And it is bloggers and especially solos that are leading the way.
Recently the Futurelawyer had the following post about this very subject, called A blog shows that we are not stuffy old law firms.
Blogs are reaching lawyers all over the world, and this discussion points out the competing viewpoints. Each lawyer who reads this blog has a particular expertise, and a blog can help you to acquire a broader presence and give you a soapbox for your expertise. Even the FutureLawyer blog, although aimed at lawyers and paralegals, has attracted readers who are or have become clients of the firm. What is your expertise? Why aren’t you blogging about it? Does your firm have a blog? Lawyers are not known for being shrinking violets. We put our ideas and abiliites on the line all the time. Believe me, blogging is a lot easier than talking to a jury.
We have the opportunity to provide information to the public in a form that is easy to navigate and they understand. In my humble opinion, we have an obligation if not a duty to do so.
Kevin O’Keefe touched on this some months ago when he stated the following:
Legal education via blogs serves the public and lawyers
No doubt the public is starved for legal information. That’s the case whether a sophisticated corporate client or a consumer. Both distrust lawyers with most only contacting a lawyer as a last resort. Why not give the public what they want? That’s free reliable legal information on the Internet – from lawyers, of all people. Americans go to the Internet for everything else.
It’s sound marketing to improve the image of the legal profession. The better the reputation of lawyers and the more people see, via a blog, what lawyers offer, the more likely they are to hire lawyers. Anyone that gets out in front in improving the image of our profession by providing legal information on the Internet sticks out like a shining star. Shining stars doing good things for people get work.
So, I will ask the question again, why aren’t you blogging?
Related posts:
