Leading Microsoft blogger: lawyers have a moral oligation to blog

Alex Barnett, International Program Manager for Microsoft Development Network (MSDN) and TechNet as well as much respected blog publsiher by tech and marketing folks, agrees with me that lawyers do have a moral obligation to blog.

Citing a portion of an earlier post of mine:

The American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct and a number of states have ethical rules & guidelines saying a lawyer has a moral obligation to engage in public interest legal service.

Traditionally this has meant pro bono cases, accepting appointments, membership in legal services organizations, law reform activities or involvement in nonprofit and court-annexed limited legal services programs. But why not providing public education on the law as a way for lawyers to meet their moral and social obligations?

Amazing, but maybe it’s not, that we have someone from Microsoft saying lawyers can help people by blogging while blogging lawyers with large lawyer audiences, with a few exceptions, have ignored spreading such word to other lawyers.

It would be nice if at places such as ABA TechShow where they have a program called ‘Meet the bloggers’ they would tell lawyers that by blogging they can make a difference in other’s lives and improve the image of lawyers and get some work at the same time. But they have declined my offer to present (hypocritically saying they do not allow vendors/consultants to present while the vast majority of their speakers are vendors & consultants) and there is no indication any of the people speaking will be mentioning the subject.

Guess this goes to show you that organizations like the ABA speak a good game when it comes to helping people and improving the image of lawyers but when it comes time to perform they drop the ball.