Legal Bloging for a Job

So the holiday season is over and it’s back to work.  Let’s get started, shall we?

I came across a story the other day about Mark Herrmann, co-author of “Drug and Device Law”, a blog he co-wrote for the past several years.  Mr. Herrmann credits his blog with the new job offer he recently received.  He also states that though the blog took up most of his Sudays, or at least Sunday mornings, he has a hard time figuring the financial benefits.

He says that the blog definitely raised his own profile and that of the firm’s, going so far as to say that one idea suggested on his blog was later made into a law by the FDA.  On the other hand, he didn’t know how much business he could attribute to the blog.   He did receive some business from it, but he doesn’t think he got a return on his investment.

Probably not. If his firm is charging $350 an hour (we have no idea if that’s right) and he’s spending several hours every week blogging.  Forget it.  That’s a lot of work for a very highly trained attorney to do, and justifying that much of an expense will always be hard.

Of course, had they hired someone else to do their blog for them.  Say, a company that charges 1/10th of the amount spent on his blog…

(Photo courtesy rcade’s flickr page.)

Facebook Ethics

For judges in Florida, it looks like Facebook may not be a safe place.

Florida’s Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee ruled that judges can’t friend (That’s a verb now too.  Thanks, Facebook.)  attorneys that appear before them as it might imply favoritism or otherwise improper familiarity.

Ok, that makes sense.  Attorneys probably don’t want to go on Facebook, post their pics from the Halloween party where they are dressed up as a naughty nurse/vampire/X-man, only to appear in the judge’s courtroom the next morning to hear “Nice costume, counselor.”  Oposing counsel might not like that.

Come to think of that, I’m pretty sure no one would like that.

Updates.

We’ve been doing a lot of SEO work recently and are configuring, coding, seo-ing.  (What?)  So please forgive us if our stuff is out of whack for a while.  We’ll still be posting, but stuff can be coming and going as it pleases.

Law Firm Online Marketing and…THE FUTURE!

On Fridays, we like to take a step back from day-to-day drudgery and focus on the philosophical, the romantic, even the luminous.  (Or maybe we’re just over-caffeinated.)

Because our company focuses on blogs for attorneys, we often come across some law firm websites that are, say, less than well made.

Granted, the most common way for new clients to come to most firms is by word of mouth.  You know someone who recommends their lawyer, they know someone who worked with this law firm, etc.  But the internet isn’t going anywhere, and its integration into our daily lives continues unabated.  (Just ask yourself how different it was 10 years ago, even 5 years ago.)

We know lawyers have a full plate, and solo-practitioners and small law firms may not have the resources or time to devote to optimizing their websites, but we are still amazed at how often these firms do the very least.   (Read this recent article about online marketing basics for a good idea of what we are talking about.)

The promises of the internet, in all its over-hyped, world-changing, brave-new-world exuberance so often read about but so infrequently confronted, is changing every day.  In 10 years, you won’t be able to do anything without it.  It will be everywhere, it will be a part of every moment of our lives.  Paying bills and making web-calls is just the beginning.   (Take a look at Oxford Professor Nick Bostrom’s work at the Future of Humanity Institute to get an idea of what we’re talking about.  Amazing stuff.)

So embrace it, lawyers of America.  The internet is a part of your world, and that part is going to get bigger and bigger every day, for a lot of days to come.

(Photo courtesy tellumo’s Flickr page.)

Our WordPress Blog

That's a lotta blogs.

We decided to host our blog on a free WordPress platform.  Why?  Well, several reasons, really.  Mostly because it is easy, and because we wanted to show you how easy it is.  It probably took us about 4 minutes to set this blog up and add a new template.

But no matter what platform we use or what platform you use, the whole point of a blog is to keep your audience informed.

So that’s what we’re going to do.  Count on posts from us telling you about the world of blogging, legal issues, and pretty much anything else we like.

(photo courtesy Annie Moss’s Flickr page.)