The Practice

New Resource for Trial Attorneys

Are you a trial attorney wondering what happens after trial? Have you ever thought about an issue and said "Hmmmm....I wonder how it works on appeal?" Ever curious about what goes on at the appeal stage of a case?

If you are curious, there is an interesting new blog out by Donna Bader, An Appeal to Reason. Her topics include how appellate attorneys fit into the picture, the role of appellate attorneys and why recycling your post trial briefs is a bad idea.

This is a great resource and an interesting look into the role of the appellate attorney. Take a look at it.

Great new blog

I like outside the box thinking. Outside the box marketing works. Outside the box soccer. Outside the box anything.

Well, here is an outside the box blog from an attorney. New York attorney Richard Jaffe has a new blog. It is a very good read. I highly recommend you take a look.

Nominate bad legal writing!

We have all seen it - bad legal writing. Some of it is worse than others. "By all men these presents known" is how an old insurance release started. What? Huh?

Well, now you can nominate it for the Party of the First Part hall of shame. Now, I don't know if I would nominate opposing counsel for writing a letter where, say, he claims how smart he is, how busy he is and how great he is. (Yes, it comes from a real letter.) I would, however, send it in while taking off one's name from it. (No, I haven't done that yet. It reads better as an exhibit to a motion.)

By the way, from the fine folks who bring you the website:

The debate over Plain vs. Precision English rages on in courtrooms, boardrooms, and, yes, even bedrooms. In The Party of the First Part, Adam Freedman explores the origins of legalese, interprets archaic phrasing (witnesseth!), explains obscure and oddly named laws, and disputes the notion that lawyers are any smarter than the rest of us when judged solely on their briefs. (A brief, by the way, is never so.)

Enjoy!

BlawgWorld Launch

Okay, so I am late with my post. I thought it was tomorrow and not today. But, Blawgworld has launched with the 2007 e-book. Next year, they will call it Blog World, at least if they listen to me.

You can get it here and read my posts about soccer and the law. Give it a read and share your thoughts with me.

Interesting new blog

I admit it is not law related, but this is a cool blog that I came across.  The blog is written by an Econ professor at Sac State. (I have an Econ degree from Sac State, but none of my professors were cool enough to have a blog. Of course, back then, we didn't have blogs!)

I think it is interesting because a professor has her blogged linked off of her school website page. This makes it accessible to her students. And, guess what? She comes across like a real person! Her students get to know her. And, I am guessing they really like her.

This is just another example of one of my mantras: be yourself. Now, as an attorney, you may not want your practice blog to be this familiar, but you should be yourself in your blog and let your personality come through.

You MUST read this

I am not a fan of providing links to other sites. You know that by now. But, this is one I have to provide.

My friend Grant Griffiths and Michael Sherman of the Alabam Family Law Blog are creating a program to walk solos through creating, launching, marketing and maintaining a blog. It is like Vince Lombardi teaching you how to coach a football team!

Oh, and the best part: Grant will be at the California State Bar Annual Meeting in September giving a CLE program on Web 2.0 and blogging. You will be able to hear from him, ask questions, and if I am right, and I think I am, Grant will probably stay and keep talking about this and answering questions until everyone has had a chance.

More on Shameless Self Promotion

Ah, it is Christmas time and that means it is time to give awards to our fellow man. (Yes, I did it yesterday.) Bloggers are especially good at giving awards. Unfortunately, they like to give awards to their friends (which is almost okay) and to themselves (which is never okay). I wrote about this last year. You can read it here. It could be fun before you go on with this one.

This year, instead of ranting, which apparently doesn't get anyone to pay attention, I decided to take a different approach. Here are my 2006 Law Blog Awards:

• Best Blogger who writes a Blog: Jonathan Stein
• Best Blogger who writes more than one Blog: Jonathan Stein
• Best Blogger who writes a LPM Blog: Jonathan Stein
• Best Blogger who writes a practice area Blog: Jonathan Stein
• Best Blogger who writes a blog in English: Jonathan Stein
• Best Blogger who writes a blog in plain English: Jonathan Stein
• Best Blogger who writes an insurance related blog: Jonathan Stein
• Best Blogger who doesn't give a rats a** if anyone gives an award: Jonathan Stein

You get my point, I hope. It is easy to make up awards and then give them to yourself. It is also ridiculously lame. Think of Hollywood, only most people don't care that much about you. I don't mind if you give out awards, but don't give any to yourself and don't give them to your friends. Go out and find the best blogs and give them to those people.

So, in all seriousness, here are my favorite law blogs:

• 3L Epiphany. This might be the best new idea of blogging. I may even vote Ian Best for President!
• Home Office Lawyer. If Grant Griffiths writes any more blogs, I may petition the state of Kansas to change his name to "B log Griffiths." The man is a blogging machine and he puts out some of the best, most unique content.
• LegalEase Consulting. Despite a picture that I still wish she would change, Allison Shields has one of the most interesting blogs about practice management that you will find. Fresh ideas and a great lady.
• PISSD. You should read this for only two reasons: 1) Bob Kraft does not put out anything bad. 2) Can you get a better title? (That is funnier if you pretend Chandler Bing is reading it)
• I Heart Tech. A cool tech blog from a great lady.
• MyShingle. I guess this is like the Rose Bowl - it is the granddaddy of them all (or in Carolyn's case, the Grandmother of them all?). If you only have one blog to read, you should be reading Carolyn. She has been at this longer than anyone I know. She doesn't give herself awards, and while she and I differ on some things, I respect her work.

Heck, for that matter, I respect the work of all of these bloggers. Why? They don't shamelessly self promote. They try to come at you with fresh ideas. They don't constantly rehash the same things. And they are pretty good people.

Now, maybe some of the bloggers who give out awards can take a step back and rethink what you are doing. If you really think you are the best at what you do, fine. But, I bet there are others out there who do it better. And, that my friends, is what makes this, and anything, a challenge. Always knowing there is someone out there better for you to strive for.

Thinking outside the box and marketing

There is a reason I think Ben Glass is one of the best legal marketing minds around. Just as you read about things outside of the law on this blog, Ben is the only one I know who is blogging about marketing and college hoops.

You know how you can tell this is a great post? When is the last time I linked to another blogger's blog and told you to go read the article? Last year sometime? It feels like it. This is a must read if you are serious about marketing your practice.

A challenge for 2007

I received a comment on thisblog. I have redacted some of the identifying information, but this is why I blog.

Just wanted to let you know that you have inspired me. I am a recent law school graduate but am XX. I left a firm job to associate with a solo practitioner. No salary given but support and resources are plentiful. It is both exciting and terrifying and is going well so far. I read your blog daily while trying to decide which way to go and I found courage to follow my heart. Thanks.

It’s a great feeling in the world when someone is encouraged to pursue his/her dreams through something you have done. I would challenge everyone on this list to do something in 2007 to encourage/inspire another.

New Marketing Blog

Ben Glass of Great Legal Markting fame has come out with a lawyer marketing blog. This is, of course, a must read.

If you are a subscribed to GLM, you know the value of Ben's advice. If you are a subscriber to solomarketing, a Yahoo! marketing group for attorneys, you know the value of Ben's advice. If you have no idea who Ben is or why I think he is one of the best legal marketing minds, then you need to read the blog now. You should also go read the website and look at his products.

Ben is clearly ahead of the curve on this and you can only learn from him. Reading his blog is a great start if you are serious about marketing your practice.