Compelling reasons for large law firms to consider blogs now

I was copied on an email this afternoon that Kevin McKeown, our VP of Client Development, sent to a large law firm looking to get started with blogs. Our contact at the law firm needed some ammunition to use internally to get the green client. Kevin fired off some impressive ‘factoids.’

• 49% growth in larger law firm blogs in the last 6 months.
• 4 to 5 new law blogs launching each day.

Why? Conservatively:

• The busiest business people (potential large law clients) read blogs via RSS.
• 21% of senior executives read business-related blogs at least once a week.
• 96% of Fortune 1000 senior executives are familiar with blogs.
• 30% of executives have a thorough understanding of the term “blog” and its impact.
• Blogs are being cited by mass media daily (see WSJ, Business Week, Forbes, NYT, trade journals, etc.)
• 75% of reporters use blogs/RSS to locate experts (e.g. lawyers) for interviews, insight on stories and ideas. See Insurance Coverage Law Blog and Connecticut Employment Law Blog for two client examples.

Against this backdrop, consider:

• Large law firm competitors are blogging and developing an edge (full disclosure: some are LexBlog clients).
• Blogs take less time and expense than other forms of marketing but return more (LexBlog clients will confirm).
• Similarly situated firms do not have a problem maintaining a blog. (LexBlog clients will confirm).
• Dynamic blogs are better marketing tools than email newsletters/PDF articles buried in static websites.
• Blogs drive traffic to firm websites but websites don’t necessarily drive traffic to blogs.

Large law firm websites talk about “innovation” and “…cutting-edge technologies to serve clients…” Philosophically, given this landscape, how can such a law firm afford not to make the time and commitment to blogging?

Kevin’s addition to LexBlog last fall has been a great fit. He’s got a large law background (including the mandatory judicial clerkship) followed by almost two decades of work in business development with emerging technology businesses. This allows LexBlog to be more empathetic and responsive to the needs and concerns of large law firms.

At the risk of this post becoming a LexBlog ad (which you’ll find dam few of on here), if you’re working in a large law firm and considering blogs, drop Kevin an email.

Good guy that’s not going to try and sell you anything. For him, it’s all about building long term relationships and making sure your law firm and LexBlog are a good fit for each other.

Kevin spends about 90% of his time educating and helping large law firm personnel navigate through the logistical, legal, and political obstacles associated with blogs in the large firm.