Legal Blogging With Conviction

Legal bloggers don’t often blog with a sense of conviction, unless you include the blogging style of legal reporting and commentary.

A story by The New York Times’ Dan Smith yesterday about a newsroom with urgency, one about racism at its core, got me thinking about blogging with conviction.

Inspired by Boston’s 19th-century abolitionist newspapers, author Ibram Kendim, who redefined, ‘Racist’ and The Boston Globe are teaming up to build a newsroom to cover racism.

“They started talking about their shared obsession with a different Boston history, 19th-century abolitionist newspapers. Then they wondered what it would mean to found, in 2021, a newspaper in the spirit of William Lloyd Garrison’s legendary The Liberator.

In particular, they wondered, what would it mean to bring to American racism the sense of urgency with which Garrison, in 1831, started the newspaper, abandoning a more gradualist approach to slavery.”

Other than some criminal defense, appellate, immigration and plaintiff’s trial lawyers, I don’t see many lawyers blogging with conviction. The numbers are lower in larger firms.

You guys can tell me where I’m wrong and share where lawyers are taking a stance, looking to call out wrongs and advocating for changes in the law.

If you feel comfortable getting out their, the opportunity is certainly there to provide thought provoking opinions and advocate change. You’ll make a name for yourself in the process..

Look around at civil rights, pro bono and immigration lawyers advocating for change.

They’re not only making a difference in the law by advocating for change, but they’re making a name for themselves. Though the latter may be a byproduct, with the former being the goal.

Yes, it’s likely you’ll alienate some people, but expecting everyone to love you forever is foolhardy.

Advocating change, stating an opinion and calling out others can be done in a tasteful fashion.

Doing so you’ll build a strong following of clients, potential clients, referral sources and influencers – bloggers, association leaders, conference coordinators, reporters and the like.

After all, this is exactly what you’re looking to accomplish by blogging.

You need not be William Loyd Garrison, but blogging with conviction can be very rewarding.

It’s what lawyers should be doing anyway – advancing the interest of people in society.