October 7 2008 1 Law Blogs What

October 7 2008 1 Law Blogs : What You Must Know : Creation, Use, and Ethical & Liability Issues New York City Bar Association New York, NY Daniel E. Clement, Attorney at Law, NYC Scott H. Greenfield, Attorney at Law, NYC Eric Turkewitz, Attorney at Law, NYC Kevin O’Keefe, CEO, Lex. Blog, Inc, Seattle lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

lex. Blog 2 TM Building Blogs for Lawyers What we’ll cover • • Introduction to blogs Ethical & liability issues Blog publishing platforms Better blogging practices RSS, the secret to successful blogging Growing traffic to your blog Social networking for lawyers

• • Web site Covers niche area of law or locale Published by one lawyer or practice group Directed to regular readers within target audience of blog publisher As easy to update as writing an email - no coding experience needed Distributes content via RSS and email Unique domain name & url address Found via search engines, known domain, or links What’s a law blog? 3 lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

What it’s not 4 lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers • Journal • Posts archived by calendar • Blend of personal information, random thoughts and political views with legal information & insight

lex. Blog TM

http: //privacylaw. proskauer. com/

lex. Blog TM

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Where do you find them? • • Google – standard search Google Blog Search Other blogs Blog directories – ABA (blawg) legal blog directory – Justia (blawg) legal blog search • Lex. Monitor – journal of law blogs 5

Key features 6 • • • Name of blog Blog publisher Authors Categories/topics Promotional categories – About you – Your services – Contact info with intake form • Email subscription • Comments • Social bookmarking lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers 7 General advantages • • New blog launched quickly Easy to use ‘Learning curve is very low’ Inexpensive ‘Insignificant marketing expense’ Comprehensive publishing, content syndication (RSS) and interactive communication tool • Cannot tell difference between well designed blog and website

• Complementary to site • Blog is ‘educational magazine’ published by law firm • Networking ‘leaving the office’ • Joining the conversation ‘blog is your voice’ • Draw traffic to site & lawyer bios • Can a blog be your website? Relationship to firm website 8 lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

Advantages to a lawyer 9 lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers • Enhance reputation of lawyers as trusted and reliable authorities • Establish brand based on expertise • Educational & tasteful marketing • Syndication of content via RSS • Far superior search results to Web sites • Cost savings

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Why superior search results? • Software architecture designed for publishing & getting content indexed • Relevant & substantive content • Regular content updates • Incoming links ‘Blog : Better listing on Google’ 10

lex. Blog 11 TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Importance of search engines • Two-thirds of people do online research before selecting a service or product • Nearly 70% of business executives and in house counsel go online to research lawyers during the hiring process • What do people find when googling you?

Advantages over current Internet marketing • Web site articles 12 lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers – Poorly indexed & optimized for search engines - Pdf’s especially – Frequency of content? – Difficult search – No table of contents/navigation – Users do not return to site • Email newsletters – Corporate firewalls may block – Spam filters may block – Far less viral marketing effect

• • 3, 000 plus law blogs 4 new law blogs per day > 30% of large law firms 49% growth in large law firm blogs from November, 07 to March ‘ 08 Adoption rate 13 lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Who’s reading blogs? • 75% reporters use blogs & RSS to locate experts and get insight on stories • Corporate executives – >20% read at least one business blog/week – 96% generally familiar with blogs – 30% working understanding of blogs • Busiest Americans read blogs 14

lex. Blog 15 TM Building Blogs for Lawyers RSS Real simple syndication • • • Streams content to target audience Built into blogs Builds subscribers Content reaches target audience Content reaches amplifiers – Bloggers – Media - trade & general mass media • Email if not using RSS

lex. Blog TM Newsreader Collects RSS feeds

Aim high! Connecticut Employment Law Blog • 5000 visits in first 6 weeks • Few calls a week, new client • Nearly 100 incoming links from third party websites and blogs • Regularly cited by leading law & employment bloggers (3 of the most read) • CT law periodical coverage 16 lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

Where’s the content coming from? 17 lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers • • Current content - extend it’s reach Online news Legal cases Info from trade magazines & newsletters • Info from CLE’s • RSS feeds = “The Discussion”

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Time commitment • Brief posts – 2 paragraphs, 2 to 3 sentences each – Expectation is less than that of articles • Harvard Business School - 1 x/week * • Less than articles, newsletters & alerts * Harvard Management Communication Letter, Vol. 2, No. 4, November 2005 18

Legal Ethics & Liability Matters lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

lex. Blog 19 TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Blogs covered as advertising? • Free Speech • Commercial Speech - Sullivan • Reasonable limits on commercial speech - Bates

Applicable New York rules • • • Websites covered Label as ‘Attorney Advertising’ Name of lawyer Location of office General advertising rules 20 lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers General ethics rules 21 • Cannot give specific advice • Cannot breach client confidences • No false or misleading communication

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Use disclaimer • • Not legal advice General public information Need to see lawyer in your state No attorney client relationship 22

lex. Blog 23 TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Liability issues • • Defamation IP Fair Use Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act

Blog Publishing Platforms lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

Free • • Blogger Can you use them as professional? Do you know how to blog? Do you have the time to learn? 24 lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Low cost • Type. Pad • Go. Daddy, Yahoo & the like 25

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Professional blog software • Types • Word. Press • Moveable Type • Drupal • Expression Engine • Who • You • Web developer • Professional blog developer 26

Better blogging : 5 keys to success lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers What we’ll cover • • • Keeping posts simple & clear Effective linking Creating good titles Using tags Frequency of posts 27

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers 28 Keep posts simple & clear • Blogs not read like a novel or treatise • Brevity or will lose subscribers • People scan on the net • Bullets • Salient points in bold • Offer insight & commentary • Who is your audience

Legal Sanity by Arnie Herz http: //tinyurl. com/5 pkyl g Legal

True Gotham by Douglas Heddings http: //tinyurl. com/ 6 rzgg 5 Legal

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Link effectively – why? 29 • • • Links are the currency of blogging Best blogs send people away Helps readers Helps SEO Helps marketing Provides trackbacks

• Link to all references • Do not use url in text • Anchor text is key vs. ‘click here’ • Authors • Posts • Link only to first reference of subject Link effectively: How? 30 lex. Blog TM Building Blogs f

Connecticut Employment Law Blog by Dan Schwartz http: //tinyurl. com/3 gy 83 p Ct

Equine Law Blog by Allison Rowe http: //tinyurl. com/3 zafhp

Climate Change Update by Thelen Reid http: //tinyurl. com/4 jvlsh

Texas Appellate Law Blog by Todd Smith http: //tinyurl. com/3 pdj 4 o Legal

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Create good titles : Why? • SEO • Readers using RSS readers • Posts displayed by syndication 31 • News sites • Social networking sites • Common sense

Think syndication Th

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Create good titles : How? • Short • Subject is well defined • Keywords are in beginning of subject 32

Chicago IP Litigation Blog by David Donaghue http: //tinyurl. com/673 cza

D & O Diary by Kevin La Croix http: //tinyurl. com/5 z 8 yz 6

American Constitution Society Blog http: //tinyurl. com/6452 cr

Palm Beach Criminal Lawyer Blog by Ron Chapman http: //tinyurl. com/6 aufed

Effective use of tags : Why? 33 lex. Blog • SEO • Organizational tool/hyper search • Readers • You • Social media & networking sites TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers 34 Effective tags : How? • • Specific to subjects in post Not rise to level of category or subcategory Limit number to 4 or 5 Use consistent text for similar tags

Connecticut Employment Law Blog by Dan Schwartz http: //tinyurl. com/59 u 4 dr

Pennsylvania Employment Law Blog by Russell Krafft http: //tinyurl. com/5 jenfc

lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Frequency of posts • Once a week • Make it easy on yourself • Use reader • Engage in conversation • Answer questions you receive 35

RSS: The Secret Sauce of Blogging lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers What we’ll cover • • • Why use RSS • • How to reference content discovered in RSS feeds • How to use RSS feeds to market your blog How to use a RSS newsreader How to subscribe to particular sources How to subscribe to particular subjects How to subscribe to mentions of you, your blog, and your firm How to use RSS feeds to further enhance your reputation 36

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers RSS Newsreaders

lex. Blog Desktop RSS Newsreader

lex. Blog Google Reader

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers How to subscribe to particular sources

lex. Blog TM Subscribe to blog’s posts

lex. Blog TM Grab the RSS feed url

lex. Blog TM Subscribe to News Website

lex. Blog Grab the RSS feed url

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers Subscribing to particular subjects

lex. Blog TM Google Blog Search

lex. Blog TM Subscribe to Google Blog Search Result

lex. Blog TM Subscribe to Blog Search Results

lex. Blog TM Google News

lex. Blog TM Subscribe to Google News RSS Feed

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers Subscribe to your self for vanity feeds 37 • • • Name Company/firm’s names Blog’s name Blog url Website url

lex. Blog Search and subscribe to your url

lex. Blog Referencing content from RSS feeds

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers RSS feeds to further enhance your reputation & market blog • ID A-list bloggers • Legal area • Industry • People with interest in legal area & industry • ID A-list publications • ID A-list keywords & phrases • Topics • People • Competitors 38

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers RSS feeds to further enhance your reputation & market blog 39 • • • Enter discussion with thought leaders Network with media – trade & mass Network with conference coordinators Best blogs send people away Blogging at its best is a conversation Marketing is a conversation

Marketing Your Blog : Growing Traffic lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers What we’ll cover • • • Defining success Entering into the “discussion” with other leaders Registration with blog directories and blog search engines Law blog announcement sites Twitter Social networking sites ala Linked. In, Stumble. Upon Blogroll Meeting “A-list” bloggers Commenting on other blogs SEO Press releases 40

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers Defining success • What is your goal? • Traffic is not goal • Be realistic • Influence takes time 41

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers Entering into the discussion with other leaders 42 • • • Talk about their posts Talk about what’s relevant to them Don’t be a troll Best blogs send people away Best way to become influencer

Blogs are a Rotary meeting • Find the discussion • Listen to the discussion • Engage in the discussion • Empower your audience • Use your blog to organize in person meet ups 43 lex. Blog TM Building Blogs f

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers Register with blog directories and blog search engines • • • ABA Blawg Directory Justia Blawg. Search Lex. Monitor Vertical law blog directories Local blog directories Inter alia – blog announcement site 44

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers Twitter 45 • • Get your account Individual versus firm Personal versus information tweets Add value to the discussion Share your posts Reference context of post Follow leaders to grow twitter followers

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers Social Networking Sites • Linked. In • Stumble. Upon • Getting others is key • Facebook • Friend. Feed 46

• • • What is it? Custom on each blog A list blogs Blogs of interest Using to get noticed Leveraging blogroll to gain intro’s Blogroll 47 lex. Blog TM Building Blogs

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers Meeting A-list bloggers • • Email Twitter In person Comments in blogs and Friend. Feed 48

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers Commenting on other blogs • • • More than valuable than posts Bloggers love comment love Legal blogs Industry blogs Local blogs 49

• Post titles • Blog categories • Blog post format • • Anchor text in links Bullets Bolds Headers • Garnering organic links • Effective blogging leads to SEO 50 lex. Blog Building Blogs fo TM

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers Mainstream press • Press releases • Building a relationship with reporters 51 – Report on what they report – Email – Post as a resource on ‘news story’ • They have jobs – understand what it is • They are your friend • Use of Linked. In with reporters

lex. Blog Building Blogs for Lawyers And more… • Syndication of content – Existing sites – Keep your eyes open • • • Guest posting Having guest posters Interviews Cover events Let Lex. Blog know of successes – ‘Lex. Blogosphere’ 52

lex. Blog Results of social networking & use of social media Re

Thanks & for info/questions Dan Clement DClement@clementlaw. com Scott Greenfield SHGLaw@aol. com Eric Turkewitz eric@turkewitzlaw. com Kevin OKeefe, Lex. Blog, Inc. kevin@lexblog. com lex. Blog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

www. lex. Blog. com