Recently in Blogs Category

This post was written anonymously: "...Publishing your expertise on your blog gets instant street cred with adversaries.  We all do it.  In fact, it's the first thing we do.  We Google our adversaries name to find out who they are.  When they find hundreds or thousands of results dealing with the very issue you are arguing about on behalf of your respective clients, you immediately have the upper hand..."

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Source: The Greatest American Lawyer, 4 March 2010,  reproduced with permission of the author.

This post was written by Gyi Tsakalakis: "Once you are getting visitors to your law firm website, the next step is getting them to interact with it. If your website or blog is part of your law firm marketing plan (and it should be), merely getting people to look at your site isn't going to equate to potential client inquiries and new clients.

Video can be an effective tool to turn traffic into a potential client inquiry. However, the overwhelming majority of lawyer internet videos have been, quite frankly, bad."

What makes a bad law firm website video?...

What makes a good law firm website video?...

DIY vs. hiring a professional...

Full text and the active link are available by clicking on the author's name.

Source: Lawyerist.com, 6 March 2010. © 2007-2010 Lawyerist Media, LLC. Reproduced with permission of the site editor, Sam Glover.

This post was written by Ben Stevens: "A superb new blog, Tablet Legal, was launched just under a month ago, and Josh Barrett has already published several excellent articles about iPads and the attorneys who will use them.  For instance, consider the following topics:..."

Continue reading this interesting post and reach the active links by clicking on the author's name.

Source: The Mac Lawyer, 25 February 2010. Copyright © 2010, J. Benjamin Stevens, reproduced with permission of the author.

This post was written by Tom Mighell: "The Legal Beat is Lawline's companion blog. They've assembled news articles, updates, and posts on topics such as attorney malpractice, business development skills, entrepreneurship, technology, and more."

The active links are available at the source site listed below.

Source: Inter Alia, 30 December 2009  

Posted by J. Benjamin Stevens: "Blogs are not just for lawyers - there are several excellent blogs aimed at paralegals and legal assistants.  I have listed several below, and I invite you to let me know of others that I can add to this list:

• The Paralegal, published by Ana Pierro
• Paralegal How To
• Practical Paralegalism, published by Lynne DeVenny
• Paralegalese
• Paralegal Pie, published by Kim Walker
• Paralegal Gateway
• The Estrin Report, published by Chere B. Estrin
• ICC Law blog
• The Empowered Paralegal, published Robert E. Mongue
• Patti's Paralegal Page
• The Paralegal Mentor, published by Vicki Voisin"

The active links are available at the source site listed below.

Source: The Mac Lawyer, 30 November 2009

Posted by Kevin O'Keefe: "Everything I've learned about blogging and social media, I've learned by reading, talking with people, attending conferences, and, of course, trial and error.

The lions share of my learning has come from reading lots of blogs. Blogs I subscribe to in an RSS reader where I can browse headlines by folders I set up by particular subjects.

Social media, including blogs, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, social networking sites, and hell of a lot more, is hard for me to keep up with. And I'm leading a company that's serving as a social media partner to law firms, not practicing law or running a law firm like you.

So it piqued my interest when Ritu Pant, a web strategist of a couple years, posted a list of 25 blogs to help you stay current with social media on the Freelance Folder blog.

I'm going to use the list to do a better job of staying up to speed with social media news, trends, and ideas. I'll share what I think worthwhile for lawyers and legal professions on my blog and in my Twitter feed.

As a legal professional you may wish to subscribe to the blogs to learn more about how to use social media. You'll always see things I miss.

For those unfamiliar with the power of a RSS reader, here's a list of the 25 blogs in a social media folder in my RSS reader, NetNewsWire. Scanning headlines from these blogs organized by folder so I see the aggregated post titles is the only time effective means of consuming such blog content.

[See the source site listed below to view screenshot]

I can't vouch for the list yet, but reviewing the blogs in the list, a number I already subscribed to, and titles of posts from the list, the 25 blogs look pretty good. As with all my subscriptions, I'll fine tune the list cutting some blogs and adding a few more to my social media folder."

The active links are available at the source site listed below.

Source: Real Lawyers Have Blogs, 29 November 2009

From the blog: "I have seen a few significant changes in blogging over the years, but none that may be quite as important or wide-ranging as the new FTC regulations, 16 CFR Part 255, concerning endorsements. Effective December 1, 2009, bloggers who endorse a product or service must disclose whether they have a "material connection" to the advertiser that might affect the weight or credibility of the endorsement.  This means that bloggers that receive cash or any other payment, including free products, for their endorsement must disclose that connection.  The new regulations contain a number of examples that illustrate the various situations that may constitute a "material connection," but none of them are particularly illuminating.

The new regulations also require advertisements that convey a consumer's experience with a product or service as typical when, in reality, it is not, to disclose what the typical results would be.  Advertisers can no longer portray a result and disclaim it with fine print that says, "Results not typical."  The rules for celebrity endorsements under Part 255 have also changed.  Celebrities must disclose their connections with an advertiser and both parties can now be held liable for untruthful or misleading advertising.  Celebrities also must disclose their relationships with advertisers when they promote products outside of traditional commercials or print advertising, such as on talk shows or in interviews. Finally, if an advertisement refers to a scientific study for support, the advertiser must disclose his or her relationship to the researcher or research agency.

There are several other changes in the law that must also be complied with, as well as several new examples to illustrate the application of the pre-existing rules that have been in effect since 1980.  It is important that bloggers understand these rules and examples because they can be held liable for up to $11,000 per post for a violation.  It is a changing blogging world out there, and it seems as if the law is starting to catch up."

The active links are available at the source site listed below.

Source: The Greatest American Lawyer, 9 November 2009

Posted by Lisa Kennelly: "We had another great turnout for today's webinar on marketing your blog, with close to 140 attendees.

You can download the chart Kevin used by clicking on the image above. [See source site listed below for graphic] If you were not able to attend, or would like to view the webinar again, you can view the recording on our support site, which also houses several of our previous webinars on a variety of topics.

If you have any questions about anything discussed in the webinar, feel free to contact Kevin (kevin@lexblog.com) or Pam Garfield, our Director of Client Services (pam@lexblog.com)."

The active links are available at the source site listed below.

Source: Real Lawyers Have Blogs, 12 November 2009

New Report Provides a History of the Child Pornography Guidelines

Posted by Sabrina I. Pacifici: "The U.S. Sentencing Commission has issued a report, The History of Child Pornography Guidelines, as a first step in its review of the punishment prescribed for the sexual exploitation of children...The Commission has sought to implement congressional intent in the area of child pornography offenses in a manner consistent with the SRA and subsequent legislation. As discussed in this paper, in amending the child pornography guidelines over the years, the Commission has reviewed sentencing data, considered public comment on proposed amendments, conducted public hearings on proposed amendments, studied relevant literature, and considered pertinent legislative history."

The active link is available at the source site listed below.

Source: beSpacific, 8 November 2009

2009 Business Social Media Benchmarking Study

Posted by Sabrina I. Pacifici: "2009 Business Social Media Benchmarking Study 'was designed to assess current trends in the use of social media in North American businesses. Based on 2,948 valid responses to our online Business Social Media Benchmarking Survey during August and early September, 2009, the results provide a very useful benchmark for where businesses, and business people, are finding value in social media across different activities and sites. The study was focused on social media utilization - how people and companies are using social media in a work context today - and not on adoption. All study participants currently used social media in their day-to-day jobs as a resource for business-relevant information and/or worked for a company currently managing, developing or planning social media initiatives.'"

The active link is available at the source site listed below.

Source: beSpacific, 8 November 2009

Tort Bench and Jury Trials in State Courts, 2005

Posted by Sabrina I. Pacifici: "Tort Bench and Jury Trials in State Courts, 2005: 'Discusses tort cases concluded by a bench or jury trial in a national sample of jurisdictions in 2005. Topics include the types of tort cases that proceed to trial, the differences between tort cases adjudicated by judges and juries, and the types of plaintiffs and defendants represented in tort trials. The report also covers plaintiff win rates, punitive damages, and the final award amounts generated in tort trial litigation. Lastly, trends are examined in tort trial litigation in the nation's 75 most populous counties, based on comparable data in 1996, 2001, and 2005.'"

The active link is available at the source site listed below.

Source: beSpacific - Accurate, focused law and technology news by Sabrina I. Pacifici. 8 November 2009 Copyright ©2002-2009. BeSpacific LLC. All Rights Reserved. Subscribe <http://www.bespacific.com/mt/subscribe.html>.

Posted by Tom Mighell: "Here's an interesting blog - Technola is a technology blog for legal aid and public interest advocates, with a focus on sharing tools, resources, and best practices for the effective use of technology in the nonprofit legal sector. It's published by Matthew Burnett and Kate Bladow, both of Pro Bono Net."

The active link is available at the source site listed below.

Source: Inter Alia, 6 November 2009