All About Law Crossings First Approach About Starting A New Weekly Column About Law Blogs, Legal Blogs, Legal Blogosphere, Law Blogosphere, Journal Blog, News Blog, Legal Information Blog, Legal News Blog Or Blawgs.

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Inside Legal Blogs
[By Jeff]
When LawCrossing first approached me about starting a new weekly column about law blogs, or blawgs, I made only
one request: Let me post a glamour photo next to my article. After days of agonizing negotiations, we agreed to a tasteful
non-nude pic. Our next step was to come up with an intriguing title for my column. It should be bold and inspire curiosity.
Bloggin’ It Out and Law Blog Rodeo were immediately offered up. I had a great picture with a cowboy hat that would
have done well with Law Blog Rodeo. In the end, the debate took up most of the rest of the week, and we settled on the
demure Inside Legal Blogs.
After we had agreed on the photo and the title, I Other stories that had bloggers buzzing were faked his memoirs. James Frey’s nonfiction
had only one day left to actually do my research the Samuel Alito confirmation hearings, the account of his own struggle with drug addiction
and write my article. With my deadline most recent Supreme Court rulings, and, of was found out to be full of factual inaccuracies,
looming, I decided to start at the beginning. I course, the premiere of American Idol. I could as revealed by The Smoking Gun. Overlawyered
wanted to open with this sentence: “The Oxford give a review of other bloggers’ reviews of the offered a startling assessment of what might
English Dictionary defines blawg as?” but there new season of American Idol, but it would be happen if the publishers of Frey’s book are
was no listing in the Oxford English Dictionary like looking into a mirror that’s facing another faced with a frivolous class action lawsuit. Will
for blawg. So I need a new introduction to this mirror, gazing at yourself looking at yourself every reader nationwide be entitled to a full
article. I’ll be sure to post an update when I into infinity. Didn’t I just blow your mind? refund plus punitive damages? Overlawyered
come up with a good one. takes a really stark look at America’s litigious
While the Alito hearings have been boring even culture, which is usually pretty fascinating.
This week in blogdom, the writer behind
by C-SPAN standards, the official, yet fictional,
Opinionistas, one of the most celebrated law
blog of Samuel Alito takes a satirical look at An interesting debate traversing several legal
blogs, outed herself, revealing her true identity
the jurist. If only the real Alito were as amusing blogs this week was started on LawCulture.
to readers. Much to the consternation of many
as the fake Alito on The Right Honorable Someone started their tirade with a quote from
of her regular readers who insisted she was
Samuel A. Alito, Jr. blog (which reminds 1936 that said, “There are two things wrong
actually a 50-year-old man, she is actually
us that the A stands for Awesome). Almost with almost all legal writing. One is its style.
Melissa Lafsky, a 27-year-old former associate
just as funny is the straight-laced, blow-by- The other is its content.” The blogger went
at Littler Mendelson. Lafsky’s irreverent blog
blow commentary of the hearings offered at on to claim that law review was pretentious
takes a humorous look at her climb from
SCOTUSblog. and boring (guilty, Your Honor), that books
paralegal to junior associate. Following in the
and magazines were more valid forms of
footsteps of Jeremy Blachman and David Lat,
Of course, the gold standard in hardhitting scholarship, and that even blogs have greater
the bloggers behind Jeremy’s Weblog and
bloggery is, and probably shall remain, The scholastic merit than Articles (with a capital
Underneath Their Robes, respectively, Lafsky Volokh Conspiracy, founded by UCLA law A). The offending blog was shrugged off at
attained anonymous notoriety as a disgruntled
professor Eugene Volokh. Volokh’s staff has Prawfsblawg, a blog written by a group of
attorney and is now ditching the legal
been generally dead-on in their appraisal of law professors, but Professor James Edward
profession to pursue a writing career. She has
new Supreme Court developments this week. Maule, on his blog MauledAgain, used the law
announced plans to pen a novel based on the
Like the majority of attorneys in the legal review debate to scrutinize the self-serving
characters that populate her blog.
blogosphere, Volokh and his crew lean to the process by which law review benefits a law
right politically, but usually manage to bring school’s reputation. He argues that blogs can
The thrill of an anonymous blogger revealing
a common-sense approach to their editorials. bring an organization publicity but not prestige.
his/her identity is usually a bit of a letdown. All
Volokh is also rather fair and balanced. Check
the elements of high drama are at play when a
out his entry from January 18 for a really Three or four years ago, the majority of
blogger is publicly unmasked, but it’s generally
insightful discussion about the UCLAProfs bloggers may have been 40-year-old virgins
anticlimactic. Based on the strength of her
website, which delves into an examination of quoting Monty Python skits in their parents’
daily on-target observations about big-firm
conservative rhetoric. basements. Today, the blogoscape is a diverse
life, I have no doubt that Lefsky will encounter
tapestry of students, professors, executives,
success as a writer. Her revelation was a
Another big deal from the past couple of days stoners, and grandparents. MySpace Moms
something of a disappointment, but she did
is the subject of that Oprah Book Club guy who are the new Soccer Moms. Corporate America
look cute in her picture.
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has begun to embrace blogging as a powerful compliance with strict Chinese federal law. Those are all the curse words I can think of. I
communication tool. This week, Wired GC Wired GC provides a pretty cool analysis of the hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I
examined a situation in which a major company issue from a corporate legal standpoint and did typing them. Until next week…
was forced to rethink its corporate blogging then points readers to other blogs with a more
policy when a blogger disagreed with the political perspective on the matter. Jeff is a writer from Los Angeles, CA.
company. When Chinese blogger An Ti decried Currently, he is the moderator of the message
the firing of the editor of the Beijing News, 100 The whole Chinese blog debate got me boards at Judged.com, the largest insider
journalists went on strike to show solidarity. wondering if LawCrossing can censor my source of law firm information.
Microsoft, owner of MSN networks, where An weekly column. Just as a test, I’m going to list
Ti’s blog was hosted, removed his page, in a few of my favorite profanities below.
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