For too long, legal research companies have relied on resources such as law reviews, law journals, treatises and legal periodicals as their leading source of information beyond primary law.
While these publications have their place in more of an academic and theory context, they fall short in addressing the practical, real-time needs of legal professionals and corporate counsel—particularly in today’s world of fast moving information.
The introduction of AI has only amplified this disconnect. Even the most advanced AI tools are often tied to these traditional resources, overlooking the wealth of timely, actionable insight being shared by practicing lawyers through legal blogs.
Look at a blog post on Thursday from Jackson Lewis discussing significant changes to U.S. immigration policy following executive orders issued just days ago. Attorneys Otieno Ombok, Amy Peck, and Marissa Prianti provided practical, concise guidance for employers to prepare for imminent changes.
This type of commentary, delivered quickly and in an accessible format, is invaluable to both individuals and corporate counsel navigating legal issues in real time.
Jackson Lewis is known for its deep expertise in employment law and for providing proactive, practical guidance to corporate clients. They have a solid reputation, particularly among employers, for delivering client-focused solutions and thought leadership in labor and employment.
Now compare this to law reviews and journals, which take months (or longer) to publish analyses on the same issues. By the time these articles are available, the legal landscape has shifted, rendering their insights outdated or irrelevant. The authors of their articles often are not practicing lawyers with hands on experience.
Blogs, on the other hand, are immediate, concise, and packed with practical information. They are written by lawyers actively engaged in their fields, who understand the pressing needs of their audience.
It’s almost absurd to cling to journals and periodicals as the sole method of publishing legal scholarship.
In an interview nine years ago (yes, nine), veteran legal journalist, Bob Ambrogi shared that blogging is building a body of scholarship, much the way the law reviews and law journals have.
Ambrogi also noted that he started blogging in 2002 after writing his last book. While his book would quickly be out of date, he saw a blog as a better way to keep his readers up to date.
Longer academic pieces have their place, but to exclude the quick and effective use of legal blogs as a legal resource and legal scholarship, via traditional research methods or via AI, seems misguided.
With the Open Legal Blog Archive, comprised of now 809,000 credible legal blog posts, it will be interesting to see how long it will be until legal research companies recognize legal blogs as part of their core offering.