Michael Rigney of In Their Opinion: LexBlog Q&A
The focus of Chicago civil litigator Michael Rigney's blog emerged at the intersection of several of his interests and goals. He wanted to raise his profile in the local community, he had started following other bloggers, and he had begun to track the decisions of his local federal court of appeals.
The result was his blog, In Their Opinion, where he reports on civil appeals decided by the Seventh Circuit. Michael, an attorney with Kelley Drye & Warren, has become empowered to communicate with anyone and everyone who wants to learn and discuss what's going on in the local courts.
"It has contributed to my discipline to follow the decisions — and I frequently refer to the briefs or the oral argument in a case when I have some question about the way the case was decided," Michael says. "In fact, I download the Court's oral arguments onto my iPod and listen to many of them. It has given me even greater insight into the workings of the Court and the judges than I had before."
We caught up with Michael to discuss more about his style of blogging and what he's learned about "bloglationships".
See our email exchange with Michael, after the jump.
Lisa Kennelly: Why did you decide to start a blog?
Michael Rigney: I returned to private practice at Kelley Drye from an in-house position where I had practiced for years. I was looking for a way to raise my profile in my local community. At the same time, I started to follow a number of other bloggers in areas of interest to me. I was fascinated with the blog as a communication vehicle and opinion platform. Finally, I started to follow the decisions of the local federal court of appeals. Writing about some of those decisions seemed to put me at an intersection of several of my interests and goals.
Lisa Kennelly: What have you learned about blogging that you didn't expect?
Michael Rigney: That's a tough question because I did not know what to expect. I adopted a style and voice and form that I decided to keep consistent — so that was a challenge. I also learned (even more than before) that there is a lot of information out there in the blogosphere — it runs from one end of the spectrum to the other and is hard to filter out the chaff. Finally, I learned and am still learning about bloglationships (is that a word?) between bloggers. The referrals and shout-outs abound and are great ways to follow a train of thought through a number of posts. It is possible to sit in on a conversation or participate and is a great learning tool.
Lisa Kennelly: What has been most rewarding about blogging? What has been most challenging?
Michael Rigney: The best part has been the ability to communicate with anyone who wants to listen about what's happening in our local courts. It has contributed to my discipline to follow the decisions — and I frequently refer to the briefs or the oral argument in a case when I have some question about the way the case was decided. In fact, I download the Court's oral arguments onto my iPod and listen to many of them. It has given me even greater insight into the workings of the Court and the judges than I had before.
Some of the challenges of blogging are related to the rewards. First, it is a significant time commitment. Second, there is some internal pressure to make sure I do not get too far behind the opinion's release in my postings. And lastly, one of the biggest challenges has been to make sure I understand the rationale of a decision, particularly in an area of law I am not familiar with.
Lisa Kennelly: What has the response been to your blog from your firm, clients, lawyers, bloggers, or anyone else?
Michael Rigney: I have received very positive feedback from people who have read my posts. I am of course still building a following outside my immediate circle of colleagues and clients. The most intriguing response was from the very litigant whose case I posted about — he lost and was not happy with the decision.
Lisa Kennelly: Your blog has a very distinctive format, with regular posts on decisions. Does this make it easier to blog, always having something to write about, or do you ever get tired of it and want to write a different kind of post?
Michael Rigney: It is easy in the sense that I have predetermined the subject of the posts, but it also does not allow for much flexibility or respite. I also find that I do not have a lot of time for discretionary posts that I might want to include, with some of my own perspectives. I am still fine-tuning the voice of the blog and hope to be able to conquer that problem. I may also decide to change the filter I currently use. Right now, I post on most decisions the Court refers to as a "civil decision" — as opposed to criminal, agency, and prisoner appeals.I also exclude some cases like Social Security benefit appeals. That is still a lot of cases — and some of them are not particularly important or enlightening — and I may decide to limit my posts only to the most interesting and newsworthy. Then, I might be able to add my own comments more often.
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