Comments on: How Do You Use Legal Blogs?

By: Victoria Pynchon

Victoria Pynchon — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 20:54:54 +0000

I use legal blogs like I used to use Witkin; like I continue to use the Daily Appellate Reports that report all California and 9th Circuit cases on a daily basis; and, like I used to “use” my colleagues down the hall. Now that I am a solo mediator/arbitrator, I can no longer kick off my shoes (so to speak); lean back; and, run my good to great to terrible ideas past the securities or IP or antitrust expert the next door down. If I have a particular issue — once I needed to know the law on using a fictitious name for the Plaintiff in a sexual harassment suit. I’m pretty certain I did an all states and all fed search in Westlaw & found nothing. Then I did a blog search and found my precise issue addressed by an employment law blogger. I also subscribe through RSS feeds and put in my newsreader blogs in my specialty mediation/arbitration/ADR neutral practice. I would do this even if I were not also blogging, just to keep up on the best current thinking concerning the issues that concern my litigants. If you don’t want to just “phone in” your mediation or arbitration practice, you’ve got to stay as sharp as your sharpest clients. Academics are great (and I read their blogs too) but I need to know how the attorneys are thinking. I also read the blogs on CEO’s in my industries of specialty to see how they’re thinking. Were I still trying cases, I’d read juror blogs for sure. Hey! has a judge EVER blogged and could he/she? Good question. Thanks for the opportunity to weigh in! Best, Vickie Pynchon

By: Lorelei Laird

Lorelei Laird — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:51:14 +0000

I’m not sure if you want a non-lawyer’s perspective, but if you do, here goes: As a legal writer who’s not a JD, I rely heavily on Web search results when researching the basics of legal issues. That includes blog results. I don’t have a free subscription to services like Westlaw, so I may use these things more heavily than an attorney would. Obviously, this is not a substitute for interviews or any library research that might be necessary, but it gives me a good start.

I also watch blogs like yours to stay current on what’s happening in specific areas of the law. It doesn’t hurt that I might meet knowledgeable and Web-savvy sources this way, either. As you know, I was able to find you through this blog to quote in an article. (Not yet published online as of yesterday, but I’m watching.)

By: Help a Blogger Out « I Am Not a Lawyer

Help a Blogger Out « I Am Not a Lawyer — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:43:19 +0000

[...] any actual lawyers reading this, please consider bopping over to the California Blog of Appeal and helping a nice lawyer who’s helped me in the past. The blogger is Greg May, an appellate lawyer up in Ventura who gave me quotes for a recentish [...]

By: Mitchell Rubinstein

Mitchell Rubinstein — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 03:34:54 +0000

Greg May over at the California Blog of Appeal is running an interesting posting entitled How Do You Use Legal Blogs? Greg is preparing for a presentation at a local California bar association.

Personally, I do not separate internet research using Google from blog research. I typically enter my search terms in Google and both blogs and web sites come up. I use Google to research other lawyers, other parties and yes, information about my client. Have they been involved in similar cases?

I use blogs in particular for academic research purposes. Specifically, I regularly visit certain blogs to look for an idea to write an article about. Additionally, since I often teach paper courses, I often steer students to these same blogs to help them find a paper topic.

If an interesting case was just decided or an important new regulation just came out, I may type that in Google to see what others have said.

Mitchell H. Rubinstein
Cross Posted on Adjunct Law Professor Blog (URL above)