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Patrick Lamb of In Search of Perfect Client Service: LexBlog Q&A

Patrick LambYou won’t find Patrick Lamb mincing words on his blog, In Search of Perfect Client Service. Going strong for almost five years now, Patrick’s blog is a place to share his take on client service, drawn from his experience at Chicago business litigation firm Valorem Law Group.

"People like my candor and irreverence, and while they might not always agree with me, they tell me they find my views provocative," Patrick says. "I love it when people tell me I made them think."

Not only has blogging made Patrick’s thoughts and writing "sharper and clearer" but he’s received feedback and engaged in dialogue about his posts with everyone from a department chair at the University of Chicago to some of the blogosphere’s heavy hitters like Gerry Riskin and Rob Millard.

We reached out to Patrick for this LexBlog Q&A to find out more about his secrets of blogging regularly for four-plus years.

See our email exchange with Patrick, after the jump.

Lisa Kennelly: Briefly, describe your practice and the type of clients with which you work.

Patrick Lamb: Valorem’s is a business litigation practice, and our clients run the gamut of start-up entrepreneurial companies with bet-the-company problems to Fortune 500 companies with everyday business disputes.

Lisa Kennelly: Why did you first decide to start a blog?

Patrick Lamb: I decided to blog after hearing Kevin speak at an event Matt Homann hosted in April 2005 called LexThink here in Chicago. There were a number of bloggers who showed how easy it was to blog mechanically. I had been thinking about the client service topic for years and was happy to find an outlet for my ideas.

Lisa Kennelly: What has the response been like to your blog from other attorneys, clients, or anyone else?

Patrick Lamb: People like my candor and irreverence, and while they might not always agree with me, they tell me they find my views provocative. I love it when people tell me I made them think.

Some responses include:

[Recently], I received an email from Professor Ron Thisted, Chair of the Department of Health Studies at the University of Chicago, discussing my post on wisdom.

Professor Thisted was kind enough to compliment my blog, saying: "I greatly enjoy your blog. I think of it as reflections on maximizing (net) value (to our clients, ourselves, our colleagues, and our world), which can pretty much apply to everybody, whether they think they are in a client-service business or not."

He then went on to refer me to his project on wisdom at the University of Chicago.

I find myself getting emails or comments from a wide range of people choosing to share their thoughts or asking for my views on client service, all of which start with a blog post.

Lisa Kennelly: What are your strategies for regular blogging? How do you combat writer’s block or make time in your schedule to post to the blog?

Patrick Lamb: The only time I don’t blog is when I am in trial, which isn’t often enough these days. Otherwise, I try to use the early mornings, evenings or weekends. But if something just jumps my head while I’m working, I’ll frequently just take a few minutes right then and write a post. Because my blog is more about ideas rather than reporting events, I can’t be as predictable or regular as I would like. Inspiration is sporadic!

Lisa Kennelly: What has been most rewarding about blogging? What has been most challenging?

Patrick Lamb: Blogging makes me feel accountable for thinking through my ideas on client service, which makes my thinking crisper and better. Being part of the broader blogging community is a source of great inspiration, since so many people have so many interesting and thought-provoking things to say. So I learn way more from the blog world than I contribute to it. As far as challenges go, my greatest challenge was the technical stuff associated with blogging. All those worries ended when I signed up with LexBlog, so I don’t really see any challenges.

Interested in hearing more? Recent LexBlog Q & A posts:

Or, see our full list of legal blog interviews.