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Kevin O’Keefe of lexBlog has a great post called Chicken Little and the ethics of lawyer blogs.
The very first line in the post, Lawyers are foolishly getting sucked into a discussion of whether lawyer blogs should be regulated as lawyer advertising and, if so, how, really says it all.
Blogging is for the most part something we already do in our practices. We communicate and blogging is just another way to do that.
Lawyer communications take place in person or via mediums such as the phone, mail, fax, email, websites, and now blogs. We do not need separate ethics rules governing each medium of communication. The same rules apply when talking in person as on a blog.
Why are we even having a conversation about different ethics rules for blogging? My view and one that I have expressed often is that someone is scared by blogging. They are threatened by it. And they don’t understand it.
Who is behind the push for “new ethic rules” for bloggers? It certainly is not the solo or small law firm. We are the ones out in front with this new and great way to communicate with our clients and the general public. We are the ones that understand the basic concept of blogging and what it can do for us. We understand how we can use it to market our firms and our services. We are not afraid to try new things.
It is really to the point that those who are scared of us are scared of technology in general. If they had their way, they would want us all to go back to the old IBM Select typewriters and carbon paper. That way they could use their big firm office pool full of help to draft all their documents and other pleadings. While us solos and small firm lawyers try to play catch up again. Being scared of blogs is just about as stupid as big law being scared of the personal computer, telephone, fax machine, copy machine and scanner.
Blogging is just another example of something we can use to be on a more level playing field as big law. We can use it to communicate. We can use it to market. We can use it to reach the masses without spending our life savings. And most important and in my opinion our obligation, we can use it to provide information to the general public. Information that answers their questions and concerns in a format and in a way they can understand and use.
That is most likely what scares those behind the push for “new ethics” rules the most. We are providing information to the public, and oh my god, we are providing it for FREE. They are not really wanting to have new rules as much as they are wanting to slow us down.
As O’Keefe states:
We do not need new ethics rules addressing blogs written by lawyers and judges who don’t know the first thing about blogs or for that matter communicating with real people via the Internet. And that this cat is out of the bag – lawyer blogs are here to stay. Lawyer blogs break down the barriers between non-lawyers and lawyers, share helpful information with the public, help people evaluate lawyers, and are improving the image of our profession.
And that is what scares them. Bloggers are not the enemy. Their own fear and slow process of accepting change is the enemy. Instead of trying to run from it, those behind the push for these so called new ethic rules should be running towards blogging.
No ethics body is going to put a lid on lawyer blogs. Any lawyer who fears they may is screaming the sky is falling.
Get over yourself big law, we are not going away. In fact, if you don’t get on board, you will be extinct like the dinosaur. Solo and small firm bloggers are forming networks of like kind bloggers and working together. Big Law you need to take advantage of blogging, stop bitching about the need for new ethics rules and just do it, BLOG!!!!
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