The blogs:

• New Jersey Law for Special Needs Children
• Real Estate and Construction Law Monitor
• Environmental and Energy Law Monitor
• Employment Law Monitor

The inspiration behind the four-day rollout came from Cole Schotz Director of Marketing Melissa Shuman. Melissa was formerly marketing manager at Sheppard Mullin, a longtime LexBlog client with over a dozen blogs on our platform.

Melissa saw how successful blogs were at Sheppard Mullin, and worked quickly to implement multiple blogs at Cole Schotz as well.

“My prior firm recognized the benefits of blogging early on,” Melissa says. “By being Internet-based, obviously the readership takes on a life of its own and spreads much farther than the original mailing list. The convenience after the initial setup takes place is also a time saver, as content can be distributed almost instantly once the marketing department receives it.”

Melissa said she decided to launch four blogs at Cole Schotz right away because it made sense from a cost-saving standpoint alone. Using blogs to disseminate information, instead of the customary regular paper mass mailings, would vastly decrease the expenses of print, such as layout, printing and mailing.

Secondly, and just as important, blogging would help Cole Schotz’s visibility go from regional to national.

“At Cole Schotz, there has been a lot of enthusiasm for the launch of the four blogs,” Melissa says. “They are eager to learn the ins and outs of blogging, are excited about how each of their blogs look (which I think have been beautifully designed with the help of LexBlog) and they are excited to get started. One of the key plans for our blogs is to regularly update readers as to how the new stimulus package will affect the laws that may affect their business.”

She also said Cole Schotz plans to develop more blogs in the future, as the first four came out of groups already producing regular newsletters.

Melissa said she’s had “wonderful experiences” with getting dubious attorneys to buy in to blogging.

“In every case, I have made the point to explain that the technology behind the blog allows us to really get good information about who is reading what and when,” she says. “And, I do think lawyers, even those who have been reluctant to use technology, have heard about blogging, and are curious to learn more.” 

Here's the response from legal professionals around the globe on why a law blog is still needed.

• Delaware business litigation lawyer Francis Pileggi (@fpileggi): easy to search one's body of work.
• Emma Lee, marketing assistant at London's Lawson West LLP (@Emma_Lee1) Twitter's here today and over by tomorrow. A blog builds authority and brand.
• Connecticut employment lawyer Dan Schwartz (@ctemplawyer): Because most people don't have a clue about Twitter; it's tough enough for them to understand a blog.
• Kitsap County, WA lawyer Sara Lingafelter (@theclimbergirl) Still need a quality, keyword rich blog to draw search engine traffic. + the masses are coming to twitter but aren't here yet.
• Ontario, Canada business lawyer David Canton (@davidcanton): Because a blog has more substance, is more personal, less fleeting, a better long term resource, & you can't say much in 140 c.
• Richard Wood, accounting manager at Seattle's Summit Law Group (@woodi68): Keeping a blog is still critical. Twitter is fine for merely sharing other content, but difficult to create original content.
• International law marketer Lance Godard (@lancegodard): Tweets create desire, blogs satisfy it. Ex: u can read @guykawasaki ppt on innovation, but watching him give it completely diff.
• UK law librarian/information officer James Mullan (@jimmy1712): solicitors still blog because the medium suits them e.g. sitting down and carefully drafting something.
• Mike McBride, Ohio blogger and litigation support specialist, (@mikemac29): If Twitter ever goes under, what are you w/o your own blog? AND Twitter is not "you", it can be part of your online presence but it's not a home, and blog for more than 140 chars...
• Dallas business and employment dispute lawyer Rob Radcliff (@robradcliff): 140 characters is not sufficient to address legal developments important to clients or serve as a client resource.
• Milwaukee trial lawyer and jury consultant Anne Reed (@annereed): (1) Twitter conversation itself churns up thoughts that seem to need more than 140 characters. So, as in yesterday's post, I sometimes blog *because* of Twitter.
• New York Intellectual property attorney Kelly Talcott (@kdtalcott): Tweets are the icing. The blog's the cake. You need both to offer something your readers will digest.
• Chicago intellectual property lawyer Evan Brown: (@internetcases) Writing 140 characters at a time has its virtues but sometimes issues need thorough treatment. That's where blogs still fit in.
• Seattle construction attorney Doug Reiser (@DouglasReiser): twitter is a persistent conversation between a community - a dialogue. blogging is a presentation of select ideas for others.
• Jason Milch, vice president of public relations for Chicago firm Jaffe Associates, (@jasonmilch): simply, because not every subject can be explored in appropriate detail in only 140 chars. Too obvious?
• Landon Harlan, Obu Internet Marketing, (@landonharlan): People hire lawyers for their opinions, legal or otherwise, and a blog allows the lawyer to communicate more personally.
• Iowa business lawyer Rush Nigut (@RushNigut): Because expertise is not demonstrated in 140 characters.
• Lee Stranahan, writer, artist and filmaker, (@Stranahan): I think blogs still have a place...and how well can lawyers really navigate in 140 characters?
• Matt Fankhauser, Salt Lake City law firm marketing director (@MattFankhauser): To create enough content to be found by clients that is easy to get to via search or typing in a web address, without a login.
• Texas appellate lawyer Todd Smith (@dtoddsmith): Twitter conversations occur on level that's not possible with blogs. You trade the character limit for instant interaction.
• @averageatty, who blogs at 'a blawg for the rest of us': not everything can be expressed in 140 characters or less.

Today we start Legal Briefs, a new blog that will be available via a standing link on the right side of Legal Trade, just under Reader Comments and above Categories.

It's a place where members of the Houston legal community may post full press releases and announcements directly to a Chronicle blog.

Some of these announcements also will be covered in this blog or in the newspaper but most won't.

Ideally, this will be used by Houston law firms, lawyers, law schools and law-related groups to announce events, awards, new partners etc.

Today's posts include:

• Young Lawyers Teach HISD Students About Careers in Law
• Epstein Becker Green Wickliff & Hall, P.C to Consolidate Texas Off
• Bracewell & Giuliani offer Tips for U.S. Business Success in United Arab Emirates
• Jackson Walker Welcomes Two New Houston Attorneys
• New Nanotechnology Deskbook from Tracy Hester of Bracewell & Giulianii

If your law firm or legal organization in Houston wishes to participate, e-mail Mary Flood and she'll send you instructions.

The Houston Chronicle has been way ahead of the curve nationally on the effective use of blogs. But this is a first for newspapers as far as I know.