Howell ruled when it came to the Apple decision

California intellectual property and appellate lawyer Denise Howell ruled as far as the California Court of Appeals’ decision preserving journalist status to bloggers.

Denise blogged live blow by blow reports at her Bag and Baggage blog as she read through the 69 page decision issued a week ago Friday. She entered no less than 14 separate updates as she read through the Court’s decision. Denise wrapped it with 4 or 5 more updates from legal authorities blogging the decision at the same time.

That’s light years ahead of reporting from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal (except maybe blogger Pete Lattman) and the National Law Journal. That’s also why Denise gets quoted in publications like these on a fairly regular basis.

Law blogs will rule the land of legal reporting over time. There’s just too much legal expertise in the hands of non traditional journalists and too much to cover.