Blogs As A Public Service
Blogs provide a public service by dipsensing necessary and/or useful information. Jeanne Pi, a Houston small firm lawyer who runs elderlawblawg.com explains that one purpose of her blawg is to provide a public service to other attorneys by providing a constant stream of information on developments in elder law and other relevant legal topics. Small firm US Supreme Court practitioner Tom Goldstein's SCOTUS Blog provides a huge public service with its wealth of information on and actual copies of all filings at the United States Supreme Court - some of which are not even available at the High Court's own site?
But Will They Buy The Cow?
Providing a public and/ or educational service at no cost is all well and good - and it's certainly consistent with and encouraged by various professional ethics codes. But is it good marketing - after all, why buy the cow if you're getting the milk for free? I believe that lawyers who offer blogs as a public service will find rewards - if not so much in the form of direct business by those who truly appreciate the value offered by the blog, then at least indirectly through the exposure and credibility that providing that public service brings.
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