Full Service Blawging

Michael Hiltzek's Golden State column in today's Los Angeles Times (awkwardly titled though it is—"PeopleSoft Lawyer's Weblog Is Fresh Twist in Spin Wars;" best argument for "blawg" I've seen yet) ushers in a new era of client service for lawyers. Not only is it critical to know who will try your case, it's important to consider who will blog it. The article features PeopelSoft Lawyer Gary Reback, whose View from the Court reports on the DOJ v. Oracle trial are featured prominently on the PeopleSoft site. Mr. Hiltzek is mistaken that this is the first weblog to cover a single high profile case (see for example So Cal Lawyer on Scott Peterson, and Kerry Sipe on John Allen Muhammad, though I can't tell if anything ever came of Craig Silverman on Kobe Bryant), but it may be the first to put a company's particular gloss on the proceedings. The most interesting bit's at the end, where Hiltzek and Reback wonder what effect blogging might have had on the Microsoft antitrust case: "[T]he opportunity to shape the public's understanding of a complex business trial may be hard to pass up in the future."

For more on this see Ernie Svenson and Dan Gillmor.