October lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers 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, LexBlog, Inc, Seattle

2 lexBlog 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

What’s a law blog? 3 lexBlog TM Building Blogs 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 - no coding experience needed Distributes content via RSS and Unique domain name & url address Found via search engines, known domain, or links

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

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5 lexBlog 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 LexMonitor – journal of law blogs

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

7 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers 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

Relationship to firm website 8 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers 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?

9 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Advantages to a lawyer 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

10 lexBlog 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’

11 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers 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? Importance of search engines

12 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Advantages over current Internet marketing Web site articles –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 newsletters –Corporate firewalls may block –Spam filters may block –Far less viral marketing effect

Adoption rate 13 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers 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

14 lexBlog 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

15 lexBlog 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 if not using RSS

lexBlog TM Newsreader Collects RSS feeds

16 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers 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

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

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

lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Legal Ethics & Liability Matters

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

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

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

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

23 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Defamation IP Fair Use Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act Liability issues

lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Blog Publishing Platforms

24 lexBlog 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?

25 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Low cost TypePad GoDaddy, Yahoo & the like

26 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Types WordPress Moveable Type Drupal Expression Engine Who You Web developer Professional blog developer Professional blog software

lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Better blogging : 5 keys to success

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

28 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers 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 Legal Sanity by Arnie Herz g

Legal True Gotham by Douglas Heddings 6rzgg5

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

Link effectively: How? 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 30 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers

Ct Connecticut Employment Law Blog by Dan Schwartz

Equine Law Blog by Allison Rowe

Climate Change Update by Thelen Reid h

Legal Texas Appellate Law Blog by Todd Smith

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

Th Think syndication

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

Chicago IP Litigation Blog by David Donaghue

D & O Diary by Kevin La Croix

American Constitution Society Blog

Palm Beach Criminal Lawyer Blog by Ron Chapman

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

34 lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers 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

Pennsylvania Employment Law Blog by Russell Krafft

35 lexBlog 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

lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers RSS: The Secret Sauce of Blogging

36 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Why use RSS 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 reference content discovered in RSS feeds How to use RSS feeds to further enhance your reputation How to use RSS feeds to market your blog What we’ll cover

lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers RSS Newsreaders

lexBlog Desktop RSS Newsreader

lexBlog Google Reader

lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers How to subscribe to particular sources

Subscribe to blog’s posts lexBlog TM

Grab the RSS feed url lexBlog TM

lexBlog TM Subscribe to News Website

Grab the RSS feed url lexBlog Grab the RSS feed url

lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Subscribing to particular subjects

Google Blog Search lexBlog TM

Google Blog Search lexBlog TM

Subscribe to Google Blog Search Result lexBlog TM

Subscribe to Blog Search Results lexBlog TM

Google News lexBlog TM

Google News lexBlog TM

Subscribe to Google News RSS Feed lexBlog TM

Subscribe to Google News RSS Feed lexBlog TM

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

lexBlog Search and subscribe to your url

lexBlog Referencing content from RSS feeds

38 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers 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 RSS feeds to further enhance your reputation & market blog

39 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers RSS feeds to further enhance your reputation & market blog 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

lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers Marketing Your Blog : Growing Traffic

40 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers 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 LinkedIn, StumbleUpon Blogroll Meeting “A-list” bloggers Commenting on other blogs SEO Press releases What we’ll cover

41 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Defining success What is your goal? Traffic is not goal Be realistic Influence takes time

42 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Entering into the discussion with other leaders 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

lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers 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

44 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Register with blog directories and blog search engines ABA Blawg Directory Justia BlawgSearch LexMonitor Vertical law blog directories Local blog directories Inter alia – blog announcement site

45 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Twitter 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

46 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Social Networking Sites LinkedIn StumbleUpon Getting others is key Facebook FriendFeed

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

48 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Meeting A-list bloggers Twitter In person Comments in blogs and FriendFeed

49 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers Commenting on other blogs More than valuable than posts Bloggers love comment love Legal blogs Industry blogs Local blogs

SEO Post titles Blog categories Blog post format Anchor text in links Bullets Bolds Headers Garnering organic links Effective blogging leads to SEO 50 Building Blogs for Lawyers lexBlog TM

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

52 lexBlog Building Blogs for Lawyers And more… Syndication of content –Existing sites –Keep your eyes open Guest posting Having guest posters Interviews Cover events Let LexBlog know of successes – ‘LexBlogosphere’

Re lexBlog Results of social networking & use of social media

Thanks & for info/questions Dan Clement Scott Greenfield Eric Turkewitz Kevin OKeefe, LexBlog, Inc. lexBlog TM Building Blogs for Lawyers