Comments on: Footnotes in a Legal Blog — NO!!

By: Matthew Thomas

Matthew Thomas — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:07:58 +0000

"…no one wants to read a post with footnotes in it."
Yeah. Who wants clarity, references to established literature, or further reading options all without cluttering up the flow of the text?
"No one is going to be impressed you know how to footnote."
Yeah. SO many people footnote to impress others. That's how I got my first girlfriend! "Hey baby… IBID!" lol
"…you most likely will turn your audience off."
Actually, you may be right on this one. But this is a really sad state of affairs. It drives me nuts when I find newspaper articles that specifically refer to a medical study or legal case and don't provide enough information to actually go look it up ourselves. I'm sorry, but I don't always wholeheartedly trust a reporter's interpretation of certain complex publications. I wish there were more footnoting and citing in the world. Of course it would be best if it could be slipped into the flow of the article, but that's not always practical or necessary. Put it off to the side, or down at the bottom or maybe even on another page if necessary but give me as many options as I could possible want.
Oh, and in full disclosure, I am a librarian so there may be a little bias there… lol

By: Victor Medina

Victor Medina — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 22:24:17 +0000

Well, in full disclosure, I have a blog that directly competes, but I have to agree with Grant. The footnotes don't have a place in blog posts. The blog is targeted at prospective clients, and I'm not sure they care what case should be cited in the post. Especially when the author missed the chance to link to the actual case…
Anyways, it's generally a good blog – I think the footnotes are misplaced.
Victor J. Medina

By: Lisa Solomon

Lisa Solomon — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:22:37 +0000

Judging by the length of the post, it looks like the firm just re-purposed an article it wrote for print publication. Also, the firm's tag line ("pertinent information as it relates to New Jersey Family laws") sounds like it was written by someone who would put footnotes in a blog post, if you know what I mean. On the otherhand, the firm is to be commended for making some bold color choices that really make its website stand out (see http://foxrothschild.com/Attorneys/Attorney.aspx?....

By: laoqiao

laoqiao — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:55:53 +0000

I disagree. I thought that the NJ Family Legal Blog posting was fine.
Granted, I saw the blog's webpage, not the RSS feed, but footnotes on a webpage can serve the same purpose as on a piece of paper–they avoid interrupting the flow of the article but are there in case the reader wants to identify and/or locate the source.