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.

Psst! Wanna Work For My Firm?

I got an email this morning about an opening for a Life Sciences associate in Reed Smith's Century City office that looks like a nice opportunity. There are several other attorney openings in our offices on the East and West coasts, in addition to a number of support (including a D.C. sysadmin) and paralegal positions that might just have your name on them. If it turns out you're interested in one of these spots, do let them know where you heard about it. The firm provides a nice little referral incentive for those who help bring in new fodder talent.

Good News For The Blogosphere

In two forms: Justice Bedsworth's 20 Questions are up at How Appealing—complete, of course, with endnotes, a link to his latest book, and a promise to do a lot more blogging when and if he should ever retire.

More good reading: Michelle Conlin and Andrew Park at Business Week, on Blogging With The Boss's Blessing. [Pass-through link via Dave Winer] I spoke with Michelle about this piece as she was putting it together, and am glad she decided to pursue the angle she did.

[Update, for EJN:] Lose Yourself video? I was in the back...

Bring Lawyers, Links, And Traffic

Too bad law school exam season is over. (Ha! First time in my life I've ever experienced that sentiment.) Try this one on for size. An online publisher has a site with some freely accessible articles, and others available by subscription only. The publisher comes up with a good marketing idea—it puts together a list of certain weblog authors (perhaps harvested from the Blogosphere Ecosystem, or by using Technorati stats), and begins emailing them daily with headlines and "pass-through links." These links work to access the subscription content on the site. The idea is that blog authors will send readers to the site with the pass-through links, and hopefully increase subscriptions. The bloggers also are encouraged to forward the emails to others who might be interested in the articles. So what happens when someone starts posting all the pass-through links, not with commentary, but as a public service to help everyone indiscriminately access the subscription content? Does the publisher have a legal basis for asking the link poster to stop? Would it make any difference if the links were to articles you'd otherwise have to register for (think Los Angeles Times), rather than to subscription material? Would it make any difference if instead of posting the links from the emails, someone figured out the link algorithm and built a link generating tool? Ready, begin! (Hint: see Ernie on copyright and deep linking, and remember these links are being voluntarily distributed by the publisher.)

Five By Six

Matt Homann has published his Monday Five By Five, with a bonus. The topic was what we'd change about the practice of law—apparently not a subject falling within the "if it ain't broke" category. Here are the direct links to our answers:

• Carolyn Elefant


• Sheherazade Fowler


• yours truly


• Evan Schaffer


• Ernie Svenson


• David Giacalone