I can't help feeling though that, to some extent, the debate concerns something happening in the future that's already here and has been here for a long time, namely, lawyers who issue online marketing documents with tasters of what's new rather than substantive content that may be of assistance to clients, potential clients and others. That's been happening more or less since the birth of law firm websites and it increased as more and more law firms came to appreciate the relevance of marketing.

Those firms that distinguish themselves, in my opinion, are those who shake the often irrational fear of giving away some helpful intellectual capital. Many firms did that before blogging came along and will continue to do so on their orthodox websites and on blogs (which, of course, are simply a different type of website).

It's true, of course, that the ease of blogging may only exacerbate what's already here on the "tasters" front. But at the same time, there is already ample evidence that blogging is taking lawyers in new directions, not only in terms of providing useful, substantive material via blogs, but enabling them to publish material more or less instantly and often in a more user-friendly, digestible way (rather than hacking down the planet's trees and sending hard copy mailouts months after the relevant event). Moreover, and this is a significant point that many people forget or underplay, the production of RSS feeds gives subscribers a consumption and filtering power they didn't previously have.

Sure there will be more sites. Sure some will be crud. That, I suggest, is an inevitability. But the good ones will rise to the top and new services will emerge that sift the wheat from the chaff. With RSS and today's filtering tools, that's actually pretty straight-forward.

Open the gates!

That blog may hit #1 in google for their name, but what does it say to prospective clients? besides run...

I do agree that purely marketing blogs will never make it. People will eventually see through the hype and gravitate towards those blogs that provide valuable content.

I don't agree however that we cannot have another 1,600 or more substantive law blogs. Do today's blogging lawyers really believe they are the end all, be all? Perhaps some of us might be taking ourselves a little too seriously?

Whether you are a divorce lawyer in Kansas, a business lawyer in Iowa or even a criminal lawyer in New York, I would encourage lawyers from all over to consider blogging. It is the single best thing I have done in my legal career to attract clients and become a respected authority in my state.

Rush