TechnoLawyer says its sole job consists of creating and maintaining an environment in which legal professionals and others in the field can share their knowledge and experiences with their peers. TechnoLawyer has achieved this through various publications, including multiple widely read legal newsletters and now the TechnoLawyer Blog.

See our e-mail exchange with Neil (after the jump).

1. Ashley See: How long have you been involved in the tech space?

Neil Squillante: My first brush with technology media occurred in 1996 when I became Host of AOL's Legal Technology Forum and persuaded some legal  vendors to participate. In 1997, I started TechnoLawyer as a hobby. In 1999 it  became a full-time job. PeerViews is the name of our company.

2. Ashley See: What role do you see blogs playing in the legal practice, and broader communication as a whole?

Neil Squillante: Blogs excel at establishing lawyers and/or law firms as experts in a particular area. This "thought leadership" can result in developing valuable relationships with other experts and becoming a source that reporters for mainstream publications seek out. Perhaps most importantly, blogs increase the likelihood of connecting with prospective clients searching Google.

For example, we published an article in our TechnoFeature newsletter last year about The Standards Blog, which attained 250,000 monthly visitors shortly after launching. Andrew Updegrove, the lawyer behind the blog, is often quoted by journalists. As a result, the blog has generated "substantial new business" for his firm.

On the other hand, lawyers who have launched blogs intending to make a go at the media business have largely come up empty or enjoyed only modest success from what I've heard.

One problem is that most media companies own many publications. And the media business is an accretive numbers game now more than ever. As a result, building a media business with just one blog is difficult.

Beyond the legal realm, you see some media businesses built around blogs. Gawker Media is probably the most successful. Not surprisingly, it operates multiple blogs, each of which has millions of monthly visitors. It has an editorial staff, sales staff, production staff, etc.

3. Ashley See: What is TechnoLawyer and where do you see it going?

Neil Squillante: TechnoLawyer consists of a network of free email newsletters and an accompanying blog that cover topics pertaining to law office management and technology. We're especially strong in the litigation technology realm. About half of our subscribers are litigators.

In terms of diversification and expansion, we also operate LandingPage Interactive, an ad agency that specializes in landing pages, email copywriting, and private label blogs and email newsletters. We developed expertise in these areas thanks to TechnoLawyer.

4. Ashley See: How is TechnoLawyer Blog helping you achieve your goals?

Neil Squillante: TechnoLawyer Blog attracts legal professionals from search engines and from blogs that link to us. After sampling the content on TechnoLawyer Blog, some of these people subscribe to one or more of our newsletters.

5. Ashley See: Will there be a Blawgworld 2008? If so, what's the current status? If not, why?

Neil Squillante: Not in 2008. Shortly after publishing BlawgWorld 2007, we decided to make it a biennial publication. Therefore, we'll publish the next edition in 2009. In the meantime, look for a short video on our blog next week celebrating 30,000 downloads of the current edition. As you would expect, it celebrates legal blogs so I think legal bloggers in particular will enjoy watching the video.

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

• Bill Pollak, legal published pro and CEO of ALM [4.25.08]
• Mario Sundar, community evangelist and blog editor for LinkedIn [4.24.08]
• Kevin Livingston & Dennis Pfaff, the editorial team behind Thelen's Climate Law Update [4.17.08]
• Anita Campbell, editor-in-chief of Small Business Trends [4.15.08]
• Steve Matthews of Stem Legal, discussing the state of the Canadian legal blogosphere [4.11.08]

Or, see our full list of legal blog interviews.

Bill, who has been with the company since it's formation and currently serves as their CEO, brings a unique understanding of legal publishing to the table. In our e-mail exchange, he offers his perspectives on the current state of legal publishing, the ALM's use of technology at their website, and how he thinks ALM will fare in a world where traditional publications are continuing to fall by the wayside. See the full text in it's usual location (after the jump).

1. Rob La Gatta: When you started with ALM (at a time the Internet was still quite young), did you ever imagine the web would have had as profound an impact on your business as it has thus far?

William Pollak: All of my 1998 assumptions about the web have turned out to be wrong. Of course we all knew that we were witnessing the start of a new medium, and that certain parts of our predominantly print franchises would be jeopardized by the web. But the idea of user-generated content in all its many forms, and the revolution that that would bring to the dissemination of information, was far from being on my radar 10 years ago.

The idea that we newspaper and magazine publishers would originate our content electronically before or instead of putting it into our print publications was also not foreseen by most of us. And the idea that this new medium would not only eat into our historical revenue base but also open up dramatic new opportunities—things like webinars and new kinds of directories and blog networks—well, we didn’t see those coming 10 years ago either.

That being said, I should say that I’m also amazed at how little the web has impacted other parts of our business. For instance, powerful print brands remain powerful even in the electronic world, and have not really been supplanted by web upstarts. And law firms, by and large, continue to market themselves in much the same way as they have always marketed themselves.

Individual lawyers may have launched blogs and other initiatives to market their own expertise, but few firms have figured out how to use the web to extend their brands, generate leads and build their businesses. And, to give a third example, information may be more available for free via Google and the web than ever before, but West and Lexis remain healthy and vibrant businesses, just as they were 10 years ago. So we need to be careful not to overstate the impact of this admittedly powerful medium.

2. Rob La Gatta: Can you provide some insight on when ALM decided to begin incorporating RSS feeds onto Law.com, and what prompted this addition? Any information about the number of subscribers?

William Pollak: We began to incorporate RSS feeds around 5 years ago, as we learned the value of pushing our content out to other websites and RSS readers. Although we have no good measure of the number of RSS subscribers, or the traffic they generate back to our sites, our sense is that they have become an important source of traffic for us.

3. Rob La Gatta: What must a blogger do to get their blog included in your Blog Network?

William Pollak: Blogs are selected for our Blog Network in much the same way that outside columnists are chosen for our newspapers.

We look, first and foremost, at the quality of what’s being posted, the frequency and seriousness with which the blogger seems to take their blog, and our judgment of the value being potentially provided to our readers. Given our current list of blogs, we look for new offerings which will fill niches and add to our overall coverage. Right now we are particularly focused on finding blogs which cover the international business and practice of law, for example. And, of course, we look at the traffic which a new blog would likely bring to our network and to our advertisers—generally speaking, more traffic is better than less.

4. Rob La Gatta: What do you think is in store for ALM's print publications, in a time so when many newspapers and magazines are fading away? Is ALM is equipped to weather the storm?

William Pollak: Our newspapers are thriving and, I suspect, will continue to do well in the years to come. We are in the process of reinventing what a legal newspaper should be, and increasingly recognize that they are less about “news” and have become much more important for the court and legal information which they provide. We continue to gather and publish, both in print and online, a wide array of decisions, decision summaries, verdicts, court rules, calendars and the like. And many readers tell us that print is still their preferred means of receiving that information even while more and more of it becomes available from us online.

Magazines are somewhat more challenged, since most lack the element of “must have” information that one finds in a legal newspaper. I believe our magazines need to do much more to build their brands online, and turn themselves from monthly providers of feature stories and surveys into daily providers of community news and information. That will not be an easy transition, but I think we are strong enough to see it through.

As you may know, ALM was acquired last summer by Incisive Media in London. Through that acquisition, we have gained access to dramatically improved web technology and a team of experienced business-to-business publishers who are well-ahead of us in their transition to online publishing. As we now upgrade to new content management tools and other capabilities, I think you will see that ALM has the resources needed to succeed in the electronic age.

5. Rob La Gatta: In your eyes, what has been the most valuable impact the Internet has had upon the legal profession so far, and why?

William Pollak: The biggest impact of the web in the publishing industry has been to level the field separating journalists from readers.

In the pre-web era the paradigm was simple—editors figured out what was important, presented it to the reader, and the reader took it in. Now, there is much more back-and-forth, and much more user participation in the process of news gathering and analysis. Journalists may still be subject-matter experts on various topics, and their voice may be one which readers still want to hear. But the journalist now has to listen and react to users in a more direct way, and can no longer assume that their word will be the last heard on a given topic.

That’s an important and, I think, welcome change. It expands dramatically the amount of content available to include in—or link to—a given story. And I think it has the potential to build a much tighter bond between publishers and readers.

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

• Mario Sundar, community evangelist and blog editor for LinkedIn [4.24.08]
• Kevin Livingston & Dennis Pfaff, the editorial team behind Thelen's Climate Law Update [4.17.08]
• Anita Campbell, editor-in-chief of Small Business Trends [4.15.08]
• Steve Matthews of Stem Legal, discussing the state of the Canadian legal blogosphere [4.11.08]
• John Sirman, manager of TexasBar.com and technology editor for the Texas Bar Journal [4.10.08]

Or, see our full list of legal blog interviews.

As community evangelist for LinkedIn and editor of the LinkedIn blog, Mario - who also writes Marketing Nirvana, a blog covering marketing and social networking - spoke to us in an official capacity, commenting on how LinkedIn uses their official blog to communicate with users and where some the site's more recent features (groups, etc.) may ultimately become. See the full text after the jump.

1. Rob La Gatta: Why did you start the LinkedIn Blog?

Mario Sundar: The LinkedIn Blog was started with the desire to provide an easy access to LinkedIn users where they could turn to, either with a question, comment or feedback. If I could enumerate the reasons we had on top-of-mind when we started the blog, it was to:

• Be the source of information on all things related to LinkedIn, whether it be new features or tips-and-tricks to get the most out of LinkedIn
• Be a point-of-contact with our users when they had questions related to [the] product or otherwise
• Proactively initiate the conversation on professional networking with the millions of LinkedIn users (currently 21 million and counting...)
• Maintain that conversation via active participation through comments on both our blog as well as other blogs out there
• Educate users on how to best use LinkedIn (Best Practices, Tips-and-Tricks, How other professionals are using LinkedIn, etc...)
• Take user feedback to our internal teams (product, engineering, design, etc...)

2. Rob La Gatta: Do you see any value in someday having members of the LinkedIn management team writing for the blog? Do any of them blog already?

Mario Sundar: Absolutely. The role of the blog is to break down the barrier that sometimes exist between internal teams of an organization and the users of a product/service. As Hugh Macleod of Gaping Void succinctly puts it, it’s about making more porous the membrane that exists between the two.

We’ve had our CEO, Dan Nye, respond to user feedback on earlier blog posts (via NYT blog). We’ve also had our VP of Product Strategy and co-founder Allen Blue, blog in the past. Moving forward, I hope to bring other members of the team to either blog or respond to user comments. Also, I’m really glad that we’ve had almost 40 colleagues of mine (from product, engineering and design) contribute on our blog already. That’s like 18% of the workforce [that] has already blogged on the LinkedIn blog.

3. Rob La Gatta: What type of response has the blog generated from users? Have any changes to the site's UI come directly from feedback posted in comments at the blog?

Mario Sundar: The blog definitely has a very healthy involvement from the users with an average of 9 comments/post. Of course, some product posts receive almost 75 comments, so it widely varies with each post (as is expected). We’ve had everything from kudos to product feedback on the blog, and I make it a point to reroute that feedback to the right individuals.

Changes do happen via user feedback: most recently, we introduced RSS updates for Network Updates, which had been asked by users in the past. And, as I said, I definitely make it a point to take an aggregation of user feedback to product/engineering, teams etc...

4. Rob La Gatta: We started a Legal Blogging group and saw it take off almost overnight. Have you seen similar results with other groups? Ideally, what purpose would LinkedIn Groups serve?

Mario Sundar: LinkedIn Groups is, in my opinion, a dark-horse feature...and one of my personal favorites. Since we made it easier to start and maintain groups on LinkedIn, we’ve seen it take off in a big way. Currently, groups not only help you stay in touch with like minded professionals, but also connect with them directly (which is something you cannot do as a free member).

You also have the opportunity to attach a badge, whereby your professional preferences can virally spread through your network updates. Moving forward, the product team is working on helping you get more out of groups. Stay tuned to the LinkedIn Blog for news on that as and when it happens.

5. Rob La Gatta: How personalized do you ultimately see profiles becoming? Do you see any possibility for a time when bloggers can have a feed for their blog built in, syndicating their latest posts directly to their profile?

Mario Sundar: We currently don’t have plans to offer that functionality.

As a blogger myself, I do link to my 2 blogs on my LinkedIn Profile, and I also try to update my LinkedIn Status with my latest blog post.

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

• Kevin Livingston & Dennis Pfaff, the editorial team behind Thelen's Climate Law Update [4.17.08]
• Anita Campbell, editor-in-chief of Small Business Trends [4.15.08]
• Steve Matthews of Stem Legal, discussing the state of the Canadian legal blogosphere [4.11.08]
• John Sirman, manager of TexasBar.com and technology editor for the Texas Bar Journal [4.10.08]
• Robert Scoble, video blogger for Fast Company.TV and author of the technology blog Scobleizer [4.8.08]

Rather than simply relying on attorney commentary or marketing speech, the blog is nothing short of legitimate reporting: its editorial team is comprised of two San Francisco-based professional journalists (reporter Dennis Pfaff and editor Kevin Livingston, who together bring more than 40 years of journalism experience to the table) researching stories and offering news similar to that published by traditional news sources.

Climate Law Update is an interesting glimpse at the shape legal reporting could ultimately take...and is a great example of how a large firm can use new media to their advantage. "We are both veteran journalists," says Livingston, "so it is unique that we think this is one of the coolest things we have been involved in." See our interview with both Livingston and Pfaff, which covers these issues and more, after the jump.

1. Rob La Gatta: How did the idea to get this blog off the ground come about?

Kevin Livingston: I was already here at Thelen as the national manager of public relations, and Dennis was an environmental reporter for the San Francisco Daily Journal. I used to work there also; we’re both journalists. We were talking – we tend to meet at the bar once in a while – and going over some ideas on what we could do that was different in terms of really producing journalistic content from within [a law firm]. And this just evolved.

Dennis Pfaff: Yeah, I think it grew organically over months of conversation. I was a print journalist for going on 30 years. I've covered energy and environmental issues for the majority of my career, going back all the way to United Press International back in the '80s, to The Detroit News, and into the legal press (which is where I spent the last 17 years).

Given the nature of print journalism, it seemed like it wouldn’t be a bad idea to see what my options might be for the remainder of my career. I had thought about doing something online for some time. Kevin and I just kept talking about this, and it basically grew out of a lot of conversations.

Kevin Livingston: It really clicked when I was in a meeting with our energy team, and they were discussing ways to market our strengths in this area of renewable energy (which we’ve been doing for about 30 years now). They were talking about a lot of the old ways of marketing, like Client Alerts and things like that. I said, "Well, wait a second, let’s do this: I have a guy who we can bring on board. He’s a professional writer, and he’s knowledgeable about the subject matter." They were pretty excited, and that clinched it.

2. Rob La Gatta: Dennis, is writing for the blog your primary job at this point?

Dennis Pfaff: Yes, it is.

2a. Rob La Gatta: I’ve seen that a lot of law blogs repackage information that’s already out there. Are you actually going out and reporting?

Kevin Livingston: That’s what differentiates us from the rest of the pack: we are doing real reporting, breaking news. We get press credentials...we’re a real publication, and we’re treated as journalists. We look at the firm as our publisher, and the site as an objective news site.

Dennis Pfaff: There is some of what you’re talking about; I’m scouring the Internet, looking for bits and pieces of information, and trying to put it together in some sort of comprehensive package. I try to tell something of a story everyday.

There are many disparate sources of information out there: other blogs, newspapers, that sort of thing. But they might be focused on one narrow element of [an issue], and I think one thing I bring to it is a global perspective, showing that what’s going on in Utah is kind of similar to what’s going on in California, maybe making some calls and trying to put together a real story.

Kevin Livingston: Yeah, we do interview people.

3. Rob La Gatta: Then it seems like what you're doing is really filling a role newspapers have occupied up until this point. Do you think these types of blogs could ultimately become how people get their news (instead of traditional publications)?

Kevin Livingston: I think to a degree. I’ve talked to newspaper editors since we launched this who actually have said, "Wow, I think this could be the future." And they’re a little frightened. I don’t know; time will tell. But I hope newspapers will still be around.

Dennis Pfaff: Yeah, so do I. I’ve still got a lot of ink in my bloodstream, and I certainly would hate to think that I’m playing a part in destroying an industry that I grew up in and love.

And, a lot of what I do is dependent on reporting of newspapers. They will be out there on the ground, doing very in-depth reporting on particular issues, and a lot of times I will piggyback on that. At the moment, I don't think there's any replacement for that source of information. I certainly couldn’t be sitting in my office in San Francisco and knowing what was going on in the minds of legislators or the governor of Kansas without the Kansas City Star helping me out on that.

Kevin Livingston: Although I think time will tell if the medium changes. More newsrooms might just go web-based in the future; 10 years down the road, you might not see actual print newspapers. I think a lot of people predict that.

[But] I think traditional journalism will survive. We’re doing our part: we’re trying to follow the same rules and ethics and everything else that traditional journalists follow. It's the same thing, just on a different platform.

4. Rob La Gatta: You’ve mentioned the response from some newspaper editors...but what about from other attorneys and law firms?

Kevin Livingston: It’s just anecdotal, and I haven’t heard a lot. But a lot of other PR and marketing people in the legal industry are convinced that this is a good idea. A PR guy I use in New York was meeting with a competing law firm, and they were a little upset that we did it first.

I think people might try to copy us a bit. Law firms already are pouring more money into their marketing budgets, and hiring a lot of people from the ranks of journalism to do a lot of different things (mostly PR, which is why I was hired out of the San Francisco Daily Journal). But I think you’re going to see more of this.

5. Rob La Gatta: Ideally, what do you want this to become? What is your ultimate goal with the Climate Law Update?

Kevin Livingston: The ultimate goal for me is to brand this firm as the leader in alternative energy. And I want to drive traffic to our website. I want people to look at our site and understand that we know what we’re doing, that we’re experts in this area. And ultimately, I want it to make money for this law firm.

Dennis Pfaff: Also, as the writer and reporter, I hope that it becomes a legitimate source of information for people who are interested in this subject area, and that it helps advance the dialogue on these issues. I don’t see a contradiction between assisting the law firm in getting it’s name out there and doing a legitimate journalistic job. I think the journalism and the approach that we’re taking actually adds credibility to what the firm is hoping to accomplish.

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

• Anita Campbell, editor-in-chief of Small Business Trends [4.15.08]
• Steve Matthews of Stem Legal, discussing the state of the Canadian legal blogosphere [4.11.08]
• John Sirman, manager of TexasBar.com and technology editor for the Texas Bar Journal [4.10.08]
• Robert Scoble, video blogger for Fast Company.TV and author of the technology blog Scobleizer [4.8.08]
• John Bolch, UK-based family lawyer and author of the blog Family Lore [4.1.08]

Her blog, which launched in 2003 and has been going strong ever since, recently added more authors and has been further expanding its coverage of small business-focused issues. In our interview we chatted about how blogs can be used productively by lawyers (and any entrepreneur looking to expand their reach, regardless of the industry) as a community building tool. The specifics are after the jump.

1. Rob La Gatta: Why do you blog?

Anita Campbell: The reason I started and the reason I do it now are very different.

I started the blog as a way to publish a newsletter, easily and quickly. I was doing some consulting, working with small business clients – doing business plans, helping them with strategy, development and so on – and was doing an e-mail newsletter, just to develop a bit more of a customer base. But it was just taking me forever to actually create the newsletter every month. Someone said, "Go over to Blogger and start a free blog." So I did, and I started putting up little articles up there. Then, when it came time to do the newsletter, it was very simple...at the end of the month I could simply create some links, and maybe a little paragraph introduction about an article…and voila, that was my newsletter.

Of course, things have changed since then. As time went on, I realized that the Small Business Trends site got much higher rankings in the search engines that my regular business website, and so I started putting more and more time into it. And that just grew; the blog tended to get a lot of attention. (It was good timing, too, because it was when business blogs were just starting to take off in late 2003 and 2004). Gradually, it totally changed my business model. I realized I could make money with a business model where the blog was central to it.

2. Rob La Gatta: Do you think that approach is a growing trend among businesses?

Anita Campbell: I definitely think so...though I’ll qualify that by saying I don’t think a blog is for everyone. But I do think that a growing number of professionals (especially small businesses, lawyers & CPAs) really get tremendous benefit from a blog compared with the amount of money that you have to put in it. If you tried to get those same results by other means, you could spend a tiny fortune.

A blog is definitely cost effective, but there are tradeoffs...you have to spend a little more effort of your own. But I find with lawyers – who tend to be good with words – that’s really not as big of an issue as it might be with some people.

3. Rob La Gatta: Do you see a blog as something that can give a company transparency and help consumers feel more at ease?

Anita Campbell: Yes, and I think part of it comes from the conversational nature of blogs. You can talk in a more intimate way...“me to you,” if you will, as opposed to a regular website where you tend to write in marketing speak. And that creates a connection with people. They come to trust you more, and you come to have this emotional bond that you really can’t get from a traditional website. Plus, on a lot of blogs, you can talk back – a visitor can comment, and so it really does become a conversation in that sense.

4. Rob La Gatta: There are few general counsels out there blogging, but those numbers are still low. As a former GC yourself, why do you think that there aren’t many of these professionals blogging?

Anita Campbell: I think it’s difficult for larger companies to blog in the same way that I think a smaller businesses can blog. The bigger you are, the more you have to be concerned about:

• First of all, everybody inside your company or your firm being on board;
  
• second, if you’re a publicly traded company, you have concerns over what gets revealed in a blog and what can you reveal;
  
• and third, with a larger company, you have more constituencies, and so you have to be concerned about all of these different angles.
  

That said, I think it definitely can be done. And like you said, there are some general counsels who are writing, because they find things to write about that don’t violate SEC rules and that don’t hit too close to home on customer issues that might be problematic.

5. Rob La Gatta: What do you personally see as the most rewarding element of writing a blog?

Anita Campbell: I’ve been thinking a lot lately about this idea of community. A blog lets you build a community, and it’s a community of people that could include everyone: 

• current clients or customers,
• those who might be checking you out to see whether they want to hire you,
  
• or just the general public – who knows, someday they may become a client, or come to know you. 

You can develop a reputation as an expert in your field or niche, and blogs are perfect for that: they're cheap, and you don’t have any gatekeepers that are keeping you out of developing that reputation. If you use a blog and you think of it as developing a community, what you’re really doing is you’re extending your network...you’re able to touch more and more people, literally sitting at your desk in front of your computer.

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

• Steve Matthews of Stem Legal, discussing the state of the Canadian legal blogosphere [3.11.08]
• John Sirman, manager of TexasBar.com and technology editor for the Texas Bar Journal [3.10.08]
• Robert Scoble, video blogger for Fast Company.TV and author of the technology blog Scobleizer [3.8.08]
• John Bolch, UK-based family lawyer and author of the blog Family Lore [4.1.08]
• Stuart Buck, attorney with Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel PLLC and author of the blog The Buck Stops Here [3.27.08]

Today, the Vancouver-based SEO specialist is back, talking about Canadian law blogs. Bell Canada's Dominic Jaar offered us a bit of insight on the state of the Canadian legal blogosphere when we spoke to him recently...but for today's interview, that issue was the focal point. Steve's insights on where it is and where he sees it going in the future, after the jump.

1. Rob La Gatta: Is it safe to say that Canadian lawyers are not embracing the legal blogosphere as quickly as their American counterparts? Why or why not?

Steve Matthews: Actually, the Canadian legal blogosphere is right on par. The current number of lawyer blogs in the U.S. is around 2000, and the Canadian legal market is 1/20th in terms of size. My running list of Canadian law blogs on LawBlogs.ca is sitting at 116 as of April 1st, 2008. So there's really not much difference in the adoption rate.

2. Rob La Gatta: Do you have any idea at what rate Canadian legal blogs are popping up (i.e. # per month)? Do you expect the number to have a greater increase in 2008 than it did in 2007?

Steve Matthews: Because we're smaller in number, it's tough to estimate. I almost always add 1 or 2 each month, and sometimes as many as 3 or 4. I hope there will be an increase in 2008, but again it's difficult to say.

3. Rob La Gatta: Dominic Jaar has said Canada is about 3-5 years behind the U.S. when it comes to adopting new technologies. Do you believe this to be the case? If so, do you expect this rule to apply to blogging?

Steve Matthews: I would say 2-3 years. There's a definite gap, but it always depends on the firm in question and the technology. Many of the big firms, and especially the national firms, are very close to what's going on in the U.S.

Having just come from Clark Wilson in Vancouver, my perspective may also be distorted on the positive side. The firm was always progressive - combing through the ILTA conference each year, implementing new technologies, and investing on a regular basis. As an example, we were blogging internally - everyone from the mail room to the Managing Partner - several years before the concept was even mentioned in U.S. publications. Not that U.S. firms weren't doing the same, but we're Canadians... sometimes we're just (too) quiet about our innovation.

On the blogging front, I would say the lag is with our larger firms. Blogging gets some support, but it's often done under the radar, and there are few firm sponsored initiatives. I would also describe this as the demographic that is about to break through. I suspect it will only take a couple of early adopters, and the land grab will be on.

4. Rob La Gatta: As you alluded to earlier, LawBlogs.ca is living list of Canadian law blogs on the web. Does that page get a lot of traffic? When reviewing this data, is there anything that is particularly surprising to you?

Steve Matthews: The site gets several thousand visitors per month, mostly from law firms. The numbers aren't huge, but the fact that firms are checking out the competition makes me suspect at least a few of them are kicking the tires.

I'd also say that creating this list, and then moving it to its own website, was probably one of the smartest things I've done. Not only does it force me to watch for new Canadian blogs, but it also gives me a chance to get to know a lot of Canadian law bloggers. I'm a big believer in community, but communities need infrastructure. This is just my contribution.

5. Rob La Gatta: What are some of the most noticeable differences between how Canadian and American lawyers who are blogging approach it? Do you see any noteworthy patterns?

Steve Matthews: One aspect Canadian law bloggers do very well is the social side of blogging. We actively read and link to each other's blogs. There are many  great conversations, debates, and generally a strong web-community being developed.

It could be the fact that we're smaller, but I also give a lot of credit to Slaw.ca, our Canadian legal blogging co-op. Simon Fodden has done a great job of expanding both the range of participants and the topics we're discussing. There's also a core group of us that work hard at welcoming & acknowledging new Canadian legal blogs. I think that's important.

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

• John Sirman, manager of TexasBar.com and technology editor for the Texas Bar Journal [3.10.08]
• Robert Scoble, video blogger for Fast Company.TV and author of the technology blog Scobleizer [3.8.08]
• John Bolch, UK-based family lawyer and author of the blog Family Lore [4.1.08]
• Stuart Buck, attorney with Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel PLLC and author of the blog The Buck Stops Here [3.27.08]
• Monica Bay, editor-in-chief of Law Technology News and author of the blog The Common Scold [3.26.08]

How fortunate it is, then, that John just happens to be our guest for today's edition of the LexBlog Q & A interview series. Though we'll leave a detailed explanation of the Circle for our interview (available after the jump), suffice to say that the site is living proof of how the right kind of social networking can bring lawyers together in a useful web-based environment...one that we can expect to see more of in the near future.

1. Rob La Gatta: Tell me a little bit about Texas Bar Circle. How did the idea for it first come about?

John Sirman: Texas Bar Circle is a social and professional network for Texas lawyers. It works very much like MySpace or Facebook, but our network is "closed" and only accessible by our members.

Before we launched Texas Bar Circle about a year ago, we had toyed with the idea for some time. We saw it as a natural offering to bar members, especially considering the social nature of the legal profession. So we approached Affinity Circles, which had previously provided networks only for alumni associations. They shared our vision and quickly built and launched Texas Bar Circle.

2. Rob La Gatta: In a January article authored by Tom Mighell for Law Practice Magazine, he notes that between June and January, approximately 2,200 attorneys had signed up for Texas Bar Circle. Since January, has that number grown any more?

John Sirman: Today we've got more than 4,600 registered users (and counting).

3. Rob La Gatta: Do you find that many of the users have simply created the account and lost interest, or is there widespread active participation?

John Sirman: My sense is there are a lot who registered and haven't been active. Our job now is to figure out how to keep people engaged and coming back to the community.

A tool like this is really what the user makes of it; the more people contribute to the community, the more they'll benefit. We've also seen lots of examples of people who are actively participating and making new connections through Texas Bar Circle.

4. Rob La Gatta: What about security? How are you guaranteeing that the information isn't accessed by anyone outside of the legal community?

John Sirman: When users register for Texas Bar Circle there are authentication steps in place that assure us they're actually Texas lawyers. So far, security hasn't been an issue.

5. Rob La Gatta: Do you expect in the future to see more online networks like this, aiming to draw together attorneys from a specific region or practice area?

John Sirman: I think online social networks of attorneys are here to stay, and that we'll see more and more of them. There are also likely to be "meta networks," which connect various social networks and allow their members to connect and collaborate outside their own groups.

I also expect us to see things we can't even imagine today. We're really at a turning point for social media, and the fun is only just beginning.

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

• Robert Scoble, video blogger for Fast Company.TV and author of the technology blog Scobleizer [3.8.08]
• John Bolch, UK-based family lawyer and author of the blog Family Lore [4.1.08]
• Stuart Buck, attorney with Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel PLLC and author of the blog The Buck Stops Here [3.27.08]
• Monica Bay, editor-in-chief of Law Technology News and author of the blog The Common Scold [3.26.08]
• Mary Flood, reporter for the Houston Chronicle and author of the blog Legal Trade [3.24.08]

Our guest? Robert Scoble, well-known technology guru and co-author (with Shel Israel, who we interviewed back in January) of the book Naked Conversations: How Blogs are Changing the way Businesses Talk with Customers. Robert, who writes the blog Scobleizer, currently works his "real job" with the tech magazine Fast Company, serving as managing director for their companion site Fast Company.TV.

Though a busy man, Robert recently took the time to answer an e-mail interview on blogs, lawyers and how he sees the two interacting. Check it out after the jump.

1. Rob La Gatta: In today's market, do you think there is any potential for vertical communities built around lawyer blogs and the content they're producing? Why or why not?

Robert Scoble: Absolutely, and not just for lawyers either. Why? Well, let's say I am looking for a lawyer. How would I find one?

1. Play "Yellow Pages roulette" and pick one of the ads in the Yellow Pages.
2. Ask my friends.
3. Go to Google and search for one.

Most of your smartest, richest, most educated people will use Google. So, how do you get found in Google? Well, if you understand how Google works, it rewards companies and people who:

1. Pour a lot of content into the site.
2. Get a lot of links from other places, especially ones with influential inbound links themselves.

What's the best way to get both of these done? A blog, of course. So, if you're a lawyer and you want to be found on Google, it makes total sense to regularly update a blog and teach people about your field.

2. Rob La Gatta: If a company was interested in using video as a marketing tool, how would you suggest they go about doing so in a way that had some value? Any major do's or don'ts?

Robert Scoble: One show I'd watch for some insight into how to use video to build an offline business is Wine Library TV. That's done by Gary Vaynerchuk, who owns a wine store in New Jersey that sells $50 million of wine every year. He is already seeing a big impact on his business from his video blog, which now is getting 60,000 viewers per episode. He told me a story of how people now drive thousands of miles to see his store and take pictures with him.

3. Rob La Gatta: Why do you think many companies outside of the tech world haven't started blogs to engage in conversation with the general public?

Robert Scoble: Many businesspeople don't hang out online everyday and don't see the waves of people who are now using Google instead of traditional media to find businesses.

3a. Rob La Gatta: Do you expect that this will ultimately be a necessity for companies looking to succeed?

Robert Scoble: Absolutely. It already is incredibly stupid if you are in business and you haven't spent a lot of time figuring out how to get found in search engines.

4. Rob La Gatta: What about for the law: does the premise of Naked Conversations also apply to lawyers? Why or why not?

Robert Scoble: Absolutely. It applies to all businesses...at least businesses that need to grow by having new customers find them.

If you don't care about finding new customers, or if you think that ads in newspapers, on TV, or in the Yellow Pages are going to serve you well, then maybe. I think that's an incredibly stupid way to look at business, though. Most of the smartest, richest, most educated people are online and will only look for you online. They'll go to your competition if you don't have a way to be found (which, to me, is a blog).

5. Rob La Gatta: What do you see as the single most personally rewarding aspect of blogging?

Building relationships with great people in the world. Without blogs I'd never have met Kevin or Rob, for instance, who put together this blog.

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

• John Bolch, UK-based family lawyer and author of the blog Family Lore [4.1.08]
• Stuart Buck, attorney with Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel PLLC and author of the blog The Buck Stops Here [3.27.08]
• Monica Bay, editor-in-chief of Law Technology News and author of the blog The Common Scold [3.26.08]
• Mary Flood, reporter for the Houston Chronicle and author of the blog Legal Trade [3.24.08]
• Hugh Hewitt, executive editor of TownHall.com and author of the blog at HughHewitt.com [3.18.08]

After our first English guest Nick Holmes called John the "leading UK family law blogger," we decided to track him down for an interview. The end result - in which John offers insights on the state of the English blogosphere, how it differs from its American counterpart, and where he sees the whole thing going - is available after the jump.

1. Rob La Gatta: Do you think it's safe to say that attorneys in the UK are taking longer to enter the blogosphere than Americans? Why or why not?

John Bolch: This is probably true, although obviously there are far fewer attorneys in the UK - I don't know what the proportion of law blogs to attorneys is in each country.

What is the reason for this? Well, it does seem that lawyers over here are generally less computer-literate than their American counterparts. They also seem to be far more resistant to change, and perhaps even suspicious of new technologies...especially an interactive technology such as blogging, over which they may fear they do not have complete control.

2. Rob La Gatta: Your blog features posts dating back to early 2006. What made you start blogging at a time when many UK lawyers were not?

John Bolch: I have long been interested in computing - I purchased my first computer way back in 1983, long before most law firms over here possessed one. I was therefore aware of blogging almost from the start, and had been contemplating writing my own blog for some while. I was held back by concerns that I would not have anything interesting to say.

Then, in January 2006, I read an article about law blogs in the Law Society's Gazette and thought: why not? After all, I had more than 20 years' experience to call upon. Family Lore was up and running within a couple of days.

3. Rob La Gatta: Do you think the UK attorneys that have started blogging are seeing any business benefits from it? Are you?

John Bolch: I think this depends upon the type of blog. A number of UK law blogs are written anonymously (something I can't recall coming across in the US), and obviously they will see little or no direct benefit. Other blogs are clearly written as an advertisement for the skills and expertise of the blogger (some are an integral part of their firm's website) and I suspect that they are directly attracting some clients. Attracting business is not the primary purpose of my blog (if it were, I would be rather more circumspect with what I post!) and the number of clients it has brought me is small, although this does seem to be increasing.

4. Rob La Gatta: In America, different state bar associations have different regulations on blogging, some of which are far more restrictive than others. Are there any such laws in the UK governing what an attorney can or cannot say when blogging?

John Bolch: So far as I am aware, none of the UK professional bodies yet have any regulations specific to blogging, although I believe some larger firms have their own in-house rules.

5. Rob La Gatta: When and if the English legal blogosphere takes off, who do you think will drive it: large firms? Small firms? GCs? Solo practitioners?

John Bolch: If the English legal blogosphere does take off, my feeling is that it will be mostly driven by small to medium-sized firms, possibly as their only web presence, as the format is a cost-effective way to raise their profile - provided they are prepared to put the effort in to maintain the blog.

The other thing to say here is that we do of course have a split profession over here, and it may be that the personal nature of blogging is more attractive to barristers than solicitors - I think it’s already true that a higher proportion of barristers have embraced blogging.

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

• Stuart Buck, attorney with Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel PLLC and author of the blog The Buck Stops Here [3.27.08]
• Monica Bay, editor-in-chief of Law Technology News and author of the blog The Common Scold [3.26.08]
• Mary Flood, reporter for the Houston Chronicle and author of the blog Legal Trade [3.24.08]
• Hugh Hewitt, executive editor of TownHall.com and author of the blog at HughHewitt.com [3.18.08]
• TechShow Q & A: Brett Burney, principal at Burney Consultants and author of the blog ediscoveryinfo [3.12.08]

Stuart is a Washington, D.C. based lawyer and blogger who graduated from Harvard Law School in 2000 and currently an attorney with Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel PLLC. He started his blog The Buck Stops Here in 2001 and - aside from a brief break, which he discusses below - has been writing for it ever since, offering frequent updates on a wide range of issues. You can see what this long-time blogger has to say about his experience over the past seven years, after the jump.

1. Rob La Gatta: When did you first hear about blogging, and how long after that did you start The Buck Stops Here?

Stuart Buck: I first heard about blogging when I came across Andrew Sullivan and Glenn Reynolds around August or September of 2001. I thought to myself, "I could do that," and I started up my blog in October of 2001.

I had to stop several weeks later for the duration of my judicial clerkship, because someone (not my judge) thought that it was somehow improper for a law clerk to have a blog. Now, of course, blogging is more familiar: Judge Richard Posner has a blog; Judge Nancy Gertner contributes to Slate's legal blog Convictions; and I've seen other federal judges commenting on the Volokh Conspiracy.

2. Rob La Gatta: How has blogging changed the way lawyers network with one another? Have you seen the results of this firsthand?

Stuart Buck: Lawyers who blog do find more opportunities to come into contact with other lawyers – whether readers or other bloggers – who are interested in similar subjects. I can't say whether this ever translates into any tangible benefits (i.e., new clients).

3. Rob La Gatta: I've seen you write blog posts focusing on non-law related subjects, music among them. What compels you to cover non-legal issues in a law blog, and what kind of response has it generated from your readers?

Stuart Buck: Maybe I should resist the characterization as a "law blog"!  :)

I do blog about the law from time to time, but that's never been my exclusive focus (as is the case with many other worthy blogs). Instead, I post about whatever strikes my fancy, which can be rather eclectic – education, exercise studies, music, sociology, history, etc. I do try to avoid current events or politics, because I don't like to get sucked into spending massive amounts of time reading and thinking about things that are often trivial, tedious and gossipy.

4. Rob La Gatta: You link to an exhaustive list of your law review articles. Do you ever find yourself turning blog posts into law review articles, or vice versa?

Stuart Buck: Not so far. If I have an idea for a law review article, I'd rather write it up in that fashion rather than giving the idea away on my blog. Conversely, if I've written a law review article, it would take a lot of work to distill that into a series of blog posts. I do occasionally have reason to paste into a blog post some isolated point that I might have written about previously.

5. Rob La Gatta: If you were to start the blog over knowing everything you've learned in the years you've been blogging, what would you do differently?

Stuart Buck: I probably would have avoided ever trying to comment about current events, which I did more often several years ago.

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

• Monica Bay, editor-in-chief of Law Technology News and author of the blog The Common Scold [3.26.08]
• Mary Flood, reporter for the Houston Chronicle and author of the blog Legal Trade [3.24.08]
• Hugh Hewitt, executive editor of TownHall.com and author of the blog at HughHewitt.com [3.18.08]
• TechShow Q & A: Brett Burney, principal at Burney Consultants and author of the blog ediscoveryinfo [3.12.08]
• TechShow Q & A: Dominic Jaar, counsel at Bell Canada and author of the blog Wines and Information Management [3.11.08]

Her position at the intersection of law, technology and journalism makes Monica a prime subject for this interview series (which since its inception has focused heavily on each of those three issues). Her insights did not disappoint, and are available after the jump.

1. Rob La Gatta: In September, you cited the AmLaw Tech survey, which said that 33% of AmLaw 200 firms are using blogs. Do you expect this continue to rise? Any predictions as to how or when?

Monica Bay: Blogs will continue to rise in popularity, with creative uses. For example:

• Tom Baldwin, previously of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton [and] now with Reed Smith, helped establish blogs at SMRH as a vehicle to promote 12 practice areas, ranging from Antitrust to Fashion & Apparel. Many were originally e-mail newsletters, he has said, that were changed to blogs. One direct benefit is that the firm doesn't have to worry about spam filters, which often interfered with subscriber receipt of the newsletters.
• K & L Gates was one of the first firms to establish an eDiscovery Law blog,
  
• and in the wake of Katrina, New Orleans' McGlinchey Stafford set up a Hurricane blog (and also has a class action blog).

As law firms become increasingly comfortable with the technology, they will use blogs for everything from recruiting to administration to promoting practice groups to marketing their expertise. Blogs, when properly executed, provide an opportunity for both individuals and groups to showcase their "wares." Blogs provide a fast vehicle for firms to exploit (in a good way) significant events (such as Katrina) to show leadership and business development finesse.

2. Rob La Gatta: Can you offer any ideas as to why, by and large, bigger firms tend to be more resistant to attorney blogging than smaller ones?

Monica Bay: I'm not sure that's true anymore. The one thing that does hamper large firms is that they tend to be paralyzed by "Firm-speak"; I often see that when large firms submit articles to Law Technology News. Blogs will fail if the authors must be vetted by committees or marketing execs, who want everything to be bland "happy talk" with the word Firm capitalized even in the middle of sentences.

Blogs, by their nature, need spontaneity and spirit...and you rarely get that if you must go through a food chain to post. As firms begin to better understand the potential to build and develop new (and existing) markets with blogs, I think you will see them become less paranoid about letting authors speak freely.

3. Rob La Gatta: What is Law Technology News' (and the ALM's) position on blogs? Will we ever see blogs featured more prominently on the LTN homepage?

Monica Bay: While I am not the spokesperson for ALM policies (that's the terrain of our CEO Bill Pollak), there's no question that ALM and LTN have both been enthusiastic pioneers in the blawgosphere.

We immediately recognized the potential of legal blogs, and launched the Law.com Legal Blog Network, which promotes and monitors legal blogs. I was the first ALM editor to debut a solo blog, and we now have several, including group and solo efforts, such as:

• EDD Update,
  
• BLT (the Blog of Legal Times),
• and Legal Pad (The Recorder/Cal Law),
  

with more to come. My two blogs are prominently listed on the LTN website homepage, and the Legal Blog Network is prominently featured on Law.com's home page.

4. Rob La Gatta: As a journalist operating in the legal realm, do you see the line between lawyering and reporting getting thinner? Is it feasible that one day, blogging lawyers will be considered the most reliable reporters in a given niche?

Monica Bay: I think it all boils down to "res ipsa loquitur": the thing speaks for itself. The entire concept of media is changing, and ultimately, readers will assess the value of content based on its quality and credibility. Lawyers don't need to call themselves "reporters" – they can simply stand on their own credentials.

With Internet-based content from a variety of sources available to all, uber search tools will be increasingly important. Credentialed journalists are not the only folks offering content...but their role as gatekeepers, as filters, as trusted advisors will become increasingly important as the glut of information increases.

For example, there have been some debates about the role of bloggers influencing U.S. Supreme Court decisions (which I personally think is a good thing). If we believe that the best decisions are made when you have the best, most thoughtful, most authoritative information, then there's room for everybody at this party.

5. Rob La Gatta: You update The Common Scold quite frequently. Do you think being a blogger gives you a better understanding of their application and value?

Monica Bay: Absolutely. I manage two blogs, one that is multi-author and fast paced, with short brisk items (EED Update, co-produced with Sean Doherty of Law.com); the second that is more personal, opinionated and eclectic (The Common Scold) .

Each of the two has a different goal and purpose. For example, I pontificate more on my own blog, where EDD Update covers everything from our experts' commentaries to vendor press releases. Each is a valuable vehicle. Blogs really are blank canvas, with room for Picasso and Jasper Johns. Everyone can have different mission.

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

• Mary Flood, reporter for the Houston Chronicle and author of the blog Legal Trade [3.24.08]
• Hugh Hewitt, executive editor of TownHall.com and author of the blog at HughHewitt.com [3.18.08]
• TechShow Q & A: Brett Burney, principal at Burney Consultants and author of the blog ediscoveryinfo [3.12.08]
• TechShow Q & A: Dominic Jaar, counsel at Bell Canada and author of the blog Wines and Information Management [3.11.08]
• TechShow Q & A: Adriana Linares, president of LawTech Partners and author of the blog I Heart Tech [3.7.08]

But now, it's back to business. And there's no better way to start things off than with a high profile guest. That guest is Hugh Hewitt: Executive Editor of Townhall.com, professor at Chapman University Law School, host of a nationally syndicated talk radio show, and - of course - blogger (his blog can be found at HughHewitt.com).

Hugh, who has long been involved with politics and media, is a leading voice in the new media movement. His impressions of where it's all going and how blogs can play into that are available in the full text of our chat, after the jump.

1. Rob La Gatta: As a law professor, do you see that younger law students are actively using blogs or other forms of new media in their day-to-day academics and professional work?

Hugh Hewitt: I’m not sure about their professional work. [For] law students, the younger professors are urging the use of blogs, I’ve integrated blogging into the Nexus Journal (which I’m the advisor to, at Chapman) with the idea that if you can learn how that interrelates with the profession, it’s going to help you in the practice.

2. Rob La Gatta: What about between law professors? Do you think there is good networking potential for creating long distance relationships using blogs?

Hugh Hewitt: Absolutely. In fact, we devoted a whole symposium to this two years ago at Nexus, where the impact on legal scholarship and blogging was the subject.

It’s already done some extraordinarily unusual leveling of hierarchies. A couple of the participants in that panel talked about how they’re at not such top tier law schools, but because of the leveling impact of blogs, they are now involved in collaborative efforts with people who are.

3. Rob La Gatta: I’ve seen you've said said that newspapers are essentially dying at the hands of the web. Why do you think newspaper staffs, many of whom are still resistant to the impending change, haven’t accepted it and started to move in the direction where they could be utilizing new media effectively?

Hugh Hewitt: The best ones have. If you look at washingtonpost.com, which is edited by Jim Brady...he completely understands [that] the revolution is underway. And The Post has embraced it; a day doesn’t come by without an innovation at washingtonpost.com that complements – and doesn’t compete with itself, but complements – the old media paper.

I also think you see at The New York Times an extraordinary change of course, [after they] tried to limit the availability of their text through TimesSelect. That failed, and they realized it failed, and they’ve changed completely. Out at The Los Angeles Times, the new editor – appointed by Sam Zell – is their Internet guy.

I think after 5 years of digging in their heels and attempting to deny reality, the sort of old media resistance to new media pacing and distributive expertise has collapsed.

4. Rob La Gatta: What about the diversity of voices? Do you see new media as a way to essentially improve on democracy by allowing more voices into the discussion?

Hugh Hewitt: Inevitably. I also like the fact that it allows for the instant application of expertise.

If we use a legal issue, for example: the Tony Rezko trial, underway in Chicago...the corruption trial that touches on Governor Blagojevich and Senator Obama. If that [case] had happened even 10 years ago, we’d have to wait for The Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times to write a story, and we’d have to wait for the paper to get to our house (if we even subscribed to it) or for a wire service to pick up on some aspect of it. Then we’d have to go get a professor to comment on it, etc.

Nowadays, law professors are following it all over the country. They’re posting their opinions on it, instantly; there are news feeds developed, [such as] at Rezkorama.com. Rezkorama is a blog and news media aggregator. If you type in “Tony Rezko” anywhere in the world that’s a blog or a new media source, it’ll show up aggregated at this site.

Suddenly, if a law professor has an opinion on whether he’s guilty or not guilty or the fact that the jury is anonymous in a fraud case, which is very unusual, they can post it instantly. That makes for a much faster and more informed appreciation of a story.

5. Rob La Gatta: Personally, what do you find the most rewarding and the most challenging parts of maintaining a blog?

Hugh Hewitt: The most rewarding is that getting inside of the news cycle is very easy for people who’ve built up audience. People stop by, sometimes 50,000 people a day, at HughHewitt.com to see what I’m talking about or what I’m saying or where I’m pointing. And that’s a wonderful thing. It allows for me to publicize that which I think ought to get publicity. And that’s a value; most people who write do so for that purpose of influencing, large or small, the opinions of others. So I like that part of it.

I don’t like the fact that a lot of the asserted expertise on the web isn’t expert at all, and as a result we’re going through a transition where the consumer of information has to re-learn that they cannot trust what they read. The old media's great advantage is, even though it was biased in an extraordinary sort of way, you could trust it to a certain degree as to key facts. Maybe not the spin they put on it. Maybe they were biased in what they excluded or concluded, as Dan Rather was in the famous Texas National Guard case on 60 Minutes: very biased, very bad reporting. But that was the exception, not the rule.

Nowadays, it’s the wild wild west, and people put out stuff that just isn’t true. And that’s a set of skills that the modern reader is going to have to develop for themselves: whom do you trust.

5a. Rob La Gatta: Have you developed it?

Hugh Hewitt: Oh, yeah. But I’ve been doing this for six years, and bring a law professor/lawyer skepticism to everything. That’s a useful skepticism to have.

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

• TechShow Q & A: Brett Burney, principal at Burney Consultants and author of the blog ediscoveryinfo [3.12.08]
• TechShow Q & A: Dominic Jaar, counsel at Bell Canada and author of the blog Wines and Information Management [3.11.08]
• TechShow Q & A: Adriana Linares, president of LawTech Partners and author of the blog I Heart Tech [3.7.08]
• TechShow Q & A: Reid Trautz, legal consultant and author of Reid My Blog [3.6.08]
• TechShow Q & A: David Bilinsky of Thoughtful Legal Management [3.5.08]

Jim is more than your average TechShow attendee: he's been attending the conference for nearly a decade, and in 2005, served as its co-chair. With that experience, his interview - available after the jump - provides a nice-wrap up to the technology discussion we've been having at this blog for the past week.

1. Rob La Gatta: As a former chairman of TechShow, how do you think it’s going this year?

Jim Calloway: Well, I’m pretty excited with a number of changes about TechShow.

I think I first came to TechShow in ’99, and have been to every TechShow from ’99 forward. This year they’ve tried to do several things to make it a more interesting experience for the attendees: having one sit-down, plated luncheon where they gave out the first Jim Keane award for e-lawyering was a nice touch. And then, of course, we’re just in a new venue...and the Hilton is certainly – in my view – more upscale than the Sheraton Towers was.

2. Rob La Gatta: I also saw they’re starting to incorporate things like a Twitter feed, a del.icio.us tag, etc. How are those working out so far?

Jim Calloway: I was talking to Tom very late last night, and [he said] there were only a dozen or so on the Twitter. I think the blog feed has been fairly well-utilized, and the nice thing about that is that it's going to be an archive for people’s contemporaneous comments, which others can go back weeks or months later to read.

The major difference between ABA TechShow and pretty much every other legal technology conference I’ve ever attended is that this is really more of an educational conference, where the vendors are invited to participate. And in other types of conferences – I don’t necessarily want to name any – you feel like the vendors are often driving the show, and there’s talk about, “Does a big enough sponsorship get you a place at the podium?” [But] this event is really put on by the American Bar Associations’ law practice management session as an educational enterprise.

3. Rob La Gatta: For your blog, what keeps you going and makes you want to come back each day to write?

Jim Calloway: A little tongue in cheek: I’d say if you’re the kind of person whose friends always complain about how frequent and long your e-mails are, then you may be a good candidate for blogging.

I think I’ve carved out a space that I’m comfortable with, that complements my job. I’m able to use my blog to share bite-sized bits of information with my members (because I’m employed by the Oklahoma Bar Association), but I’m also able to let the rest of the net-using lawyer public in on it at no additional cost or effort. So it’s a great adjunct to my job, and a great service for the public as well.

4. Rob La Gatta: Overall, do you see blogs as a viable marketing tool for practicing lawyers?

Jim Calloway: I definitely think that they are a marketing tool, and I know LexBlog has long been a proponent of lawyers using blogs as a marketing tool. But I think it requires a certain dedication, personality and mind-set, and so it’s not necessarily for everyone. The overcrowded, overworked lawyer who is having trouble maintaining all their personal and business items may have to take a look at themselves as to whether they really have time to support a blog.

Having made that slight disclaimer, I would say that blogs are an incredible tool, because of the relative inexpense and the ease of use...particularly if you can limit the blogs somewhat in your subject matter. You should either you take a very narrow subject of the law and you go national with it, to try to become the national authority in this very narrow area. I’ve also seen a lot of people that have set up things like the Kansas Family Law Blog or something like that, where they limit it both geographically and by topic.

The fact that the search engines still seem to love the blog content, the fact that somebody can easily update their blog in about the same amount of time it would take to draft an e-mail…these things make blogs a potential great marketing tool (for the right people).

5. Rob La Gatta: With technology and the law continuing to become intertwined, where do you see this all going in the future?

Jim Calloway: That’s a great question, because there are several aspects to it.

Number one, in terms of the practicing lawyer: what we do as lawyers is in a large part based on receiving, processing and communicating information. Many lawyers who thought technology just meant that you had a computer as a glorified word processor in the office are now understanding that there are lots of different aspects to the way it is changing legal practice.

I think we’re going to continue to see lawyers change the way they do business. I just attended a session at TechShow on online collaboration and collaboration tools, and I think we’re going to see more of that kind of architecture: clients and lawyers having internet shared presences, so that they are working together more cooperatively and  looking at things in a process, instead of the lawyer just presenting the client with an end product.

So I see that change, but I also see the way technology is changing our world: you go out on the street now and you see kids text messaging, you see how many gifts under the tree last Christmas were based on technology advances...as technology changes society, we’re going to see a whole lot more of interesting issues in everything from intellectual property to privacy rights. For those lawyers who want to be on the cutting edge in that area, we’re going to see a lot of interesting decisions where the old rules that made a lot of sense don’t quite make as much sense anymore.

Founder and co-managing director of the legal resource website JD Supra (and a moderator of JD Scoop, it's accompanying blog), Aviva is a former attorney with 11 years under her belt in business litigation and related fields.

We got a chance to catch up with Aviva earlier today for a few minutes between events, where she spoke briefly on her experience at TechShow, why she founded JD Supra and what technology can do for the legal industry in the future. All this and more, after the jump.

1. Rob La Gatta: Why are you at TechShow?

Aviva Cuyler: I’m at TechShow to let people know about JD Supra and what we’re doing, and also to connect with people I know who are in the ABA and who come to these events from other parts of the country.

2. Rob La Gatta: Can you provide a little information as to how JD Supra got off the ground, and what prompted the idea for it in the first place?

Aviva Cuyler: I had spent about 12 years working in business litigation, primarily doing writing. I was working on pre-trial motions for a case that was keeping me up late many nights in a row, and I realized that other lawyers had briefed [on these] issues already, and there was no need for me to be starting at square one with every brief…if I only could have access to my colleagues’ work. So I got the idea to create a resource where lawyers could share their work with each other, and have it open for everybody.

4. Rob La Gatta: You have a blog that goes along with the JD Supra website. Do you see blogs as being an important marketing tool? Would you have gone ahead without a blog, or do you think it’s necessary?

Aviva Cuyler: In this day and age, I think it was necessary. It’s really essential to have a place to further the mission of the website, to promote good work in the law – “great work in the law and the people behind it”, that's the tagline for the blog. We also wanted it to respond to questions and things that people are saying about the website.

5. Rob La Gatta: Where do you see this all going, with free legal information online? Do you think that eventually everything is going to be much more transparent for the general public, allowing them to feel more at ease with the law?

Aviva Cuyler: I do. And I think they will not only feel more at ease with the law, but have a much greater understanding about the daily work that lawyers do. Which I think in turn can help cut out some of the negative perceptions about lawyers.

Ed, a LexBlog client who we previously featured in our LexBlog Q & A, is the principal of LawBiz Management Company and author of the LawBizBlog.

Last time we chatted with Ed, the conversation covered his history in the blogosphere and opinions on how blogging has impacted him. Today the discussion was on TechShow and the value technology can hold for practicing lawyers. Check it out after the jump.

1. Rob La Gatta: Why are you at TechShow?

Ed Poll: I am at TechShow because it is one of the leading technology shows in the country, if not the leading show. It’s a place where vendors put on exhibits of their wares, and I’m able as a result to stay abreast of what is new in the legal profession and the legal industry. In addition, I get to meet great people like Kevin, and renew my friendships.

2. Rob La Gatta: Is there anybody who you haven’t met before who you’re looking forward to meeting, or who you were looking forward to before you came and got a chance to talk to?

Ed Poll: I think the answer to that question probably is yes and yes.

I’ve met some people I didn’t meet before, and they were able to teach me something that I didn’t know. I’ve also made connections that I would not have made but for being here. And I’ve been able to renew relationships with folks that I knew but don’t see in between the sessions.

Also, I was able to meet with a couple editors of mine and moved my new book on law firm fees and compensation closer to completion. I am expecting to go to press in about 3 weeks. So that was pretty good.

3. Rob La Gatta: Beyond the benefit of picking up tips from the panels, do you see a strong networking potential as well at TechShow?

Ed Poll: Oh, there is networking. When you meet people – both people you know as well as new people you haven’t met before – there’s a tremendous opportunity to network and continue that after the show.

4. Rob La Gatta: And have you seen any panels so far at TechShow that you have enjoyed?

Ed Poll: Yeah, there were a couple of panels I’ve enjoyed; one of them was on technology in the new law practice, by Carolyn Elefant and David Masters. But I do most of my learning on the exhibit floor, rather than in the sessions.

5. Rob La Gatta: In terms of what you’re doing with LawBiz: how much is technology playing into it? Does it shape the way you run your business, and do you expect it to in the future?

Ed Poll: I can’t tell you quite what’s going to be going on in the future...I’m not that omniscient. But it clearly has impacted my business, in several ways. By staying alert to the technology, I’m able to help my clients become more efficient in what they do as well.

When I started in 1990, because of the computer I was able to do work on my own without a secretary; literally, I was able to be solo. Within a matter of months, I was able to grow enough to be able to bring somebody in. I thought part time...but between the time she accepted my offer and the time she began work, I found all kinds of new projects for her to do, so she came on full-time. 

I think that technology has enabled me to stay with an assistant without putting on a lot of extra people, and in effect to be a virtual consultant: when there was a need for me to expand into a team, I was able to do that. And then when the assignment was over, I was able to walk away while the other folks went their separate ways as well.

He'll be bringing his expertise to TechShow with the following panels:

• "Small Volume E-Discovery: One Hard Disk Could Make, or Break, Your Case", with Todd Flaming (3/14, 2:15-3:15 p.m.)
• "60 Tips in 60 Minutes," with Barron Henley and Sharon Nelson (3/14, 4:15-5:15 p.m.)
  
• "The Mobile Office: Take Your Desktop in Your Pocket", with Dominic Jaar (3/15, 8:30-9:30 a.m.)

1. Rob La Gatta: When it comes to proving yourself knowledgeable on e-discovery issues, do you see the blog as being important for your consulting business?

Brett Burney: Yes, definitely.

Number one, it helps to convince clients that I am staying abreast of the current topics and the important events in the marketplace. I think that always helps clients to have a little more a comfort level with who they’re talking to. Because a lot of times I’m talking to attorneys, and as much as you want to have them believe that you know what you’re talking about, they like to see proof. To me, the blog helps that.

Number two, it forces me to keep on top of the important issues. I don’t get a chance to blog as often as I wanted to when I first started, but when I see something big or an important trend going on, it forces me to focus my thoughts about that trend and put it into a blog post that I can [use to] get my word out. It’s more like a soapbox, which is what I think a blog should be.

The important thing, though, is that I’m finding I have to walk a fine line between what I can post as an independent consultant, and making sure that I don’t cross the line. For example, I would never blog on a current matter that I’m working on. But even some of the general topics that I might be talking about could potentially weave their way back to the client. So I just have to be cognizant about that. It doesn’t necessarily color what I do, because I’m an independent consultant, but it’s something that you have to keep in mind.

2. Rob La Gatta: From your experience working with lawyers at a large firm, do you think that they are - as an industry - utilizing new technology as much as they should be?

Brett Burney: Short answer? No. I feel like attorneys can certainly be trained on “click here to do this, click there to do that.” And they can certainly grow into a comfort level with using something like Word or Outlook. But what I like to try to do, even in my own consulting practice, is help lawyers try to better understand how to use technology to become even more productive or more efficient.

In other words, how does it fit in their workflow? Technology is just a tool; I’m not the first one to say that (a lot of my peers and people that I look up to in the legal technology industry say the same thing). If an attorney is already bad at time management, just simply going out and buying Abacus isn’t going to immediately make them better at time management or interacting with their clients. They have to understand where the real problem comes from, and fix it at its root level...then the technology can help them devise a better and new workflow.

It’s not just always about buying the latest and greatest technology, or the shiniest new gadget...it’s about helping the attorney understand where that gadget can help make them more productive. Because otherwise you’re just wasting money.

3. Rob La Gatta: Your panel, "60 Tips in 60 Minutes": what is it? Why do you think it is one of TechShow’s best attended and highest rated panels each year?

Brett Burney: Well, there’s "60 Tips," which is at the end on Friday. And then the show to end the show is  "60 Sites in 60 Minutes," which is the last thing to happen on Saturday. Both of them are not to be missed.

I am very honored to be participating in "60 Tips." I think the greatest thing about [these panels] is that you hit upon products, services and websites that most people just don’t come across in their normal mode of business.

The other thing I like about [these panels] is what I see from attendees that like to be there: they don’t have to sit through a long, boring presentation. We get to the point immediately...we literally have a tip a minute. You can really walk away with several good nuggets of information, whereas at a regular presentation you might have written down two or three little pieces of information that you caught in between your daydreaming.

4. Rob La Gatta: Are there any panels or panelists that you are particularly looking forward to seeing, or that you would recommend to other attendees?

Brett Burney: Personally, I am very excited about the Mac Track. I’ve written a couple of articles for an ABA magazine and for Law.com on using Macs in the practice of law. Through that I’ve gotten involved in the Mac-using legal area, and there are several great attorneys out there. Ben Stevens, who writes The Mac Lawyer, is a great speaker and shares a lot of good information about how he uses the Mac in all aspects of his family law practice in South Carolina.

Last year, I did the Taste of TechShow dinners, which is something that was started by Adriana and the planning board. I headed up the dinner that was for Mac using attorneys, and it was an awesome experience. I’m thrilled to see that TechShow is recognizing that, "Okay, not everyone uses Windows." There’s a very small percentage of Mac users, but they are out there.

After the Mac Track, I’m more biased towards e-discovery stuff:

• I never miss a presentation by Craig Ball;
  
• Judge Herbert Dixon is on the planning board, and he is an excellent presenter…I was thrilled with him last year;
  
• Browning Marean, who’s from DLA Piper;
  
• and Judge John Facciola.

Then, [there are] two more panels I’m very excited about:

• David Ries and John Simek, doing law firm data breach. I’ve been talking to David for a while as he’s been getting ready for that panel;
  
• and Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighell just wrote a new book on attorney collaboration. They’re launching [it] at TechShow and giving a presentation either late Friday or Saturday.

5. Rob La Gatta: Ultimately, what do you hope to come away from TechShow with?

Brett Burney: The best part for me is two-fold.

Number one, catching up with old friends in the industry (an industry that has been fantastic to me). And number two, interacting with attendees in a way that most other shows don’t allow you to do.

Obviously, where I’m coming from, I’m not going to hesitate to give my business card to somebody. But what I like about TechShow is that there’s always this kind of camaraderie, this sense of intermingling between the so-called experts and the attendees, who relish the opportunity to get more information or to learn more about the technology that they’re using. I just don’t get that any other conference that I go to.

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

• TechShow Q & A: Dominic Jaar, counsel at Bell Canada and author of the blog Wines and Information Management [3.11.08]
• TechShow Q & A: Toby Brown, e-discovery marketing manager at Fulbright & Jaworski [3.10.08]
• TechShow Q & A: Adriana Linares, president of LawTech Partners and author of the blog I Heart Tech [3.7.08]
• TechShow Q & A: Reid Trautz, legal consultant and author of Reid My Blog [3.6.08]
• TechShow Q & A: David Bilinsky of Thoughtful Legal Management [3.5.08]

His schedule in Chicago includes the following panels:

• "All in The Family: Collaborating Within Your Own Firm", with Guy Wiggins (3/14, 8:30-9:30 a.m.)
• "The Mobile Office: Take Your Desktop in Your Pocket", with Brett Burney (3/15, 8:30-9:30 a.m.)

1. Rob La Gatta: