Sometimes lawyers—and others trying to sell me professional services—seem to believe that I must treasure their 47-page footnoted memo because their craft is so complex that only something that reads like a technical manual or Ph.D. thesis
Are Blogs Dying? Only The Weak Ones
Are blogs dead? Not exactly. They can be fantastic tools–if you do them right.
The biggest problem with most bad blogs is too much marketing drivel. Which would you rather watch: A good ballgame on ESPN or a channel that had nothing but advertisements? A good movie on Netflix or a never-ending string of commercials?
Greg Siskind Is All Over AI
I greatly enjoyed working with Greg Siskind on a few projects when the Internet was very new and alien to lawyers. One of the best things about working with him was always quick not just to understand new technologies, but to see ways in which they could be put to use for practical benefits.
Blogging Isn’t Magic–But It Works
Marketing: Put the Ball In Play
There is a baseball saying: “Put the ball in play and good things will happen.” You might hit the ball hard enough to earn a hit. The left fielder might lose the ball in the sun. You might not hit the ball hard enough for a hit, but watch with delight as the wind carries
The Batch Approach to Blog Writing
I’m not sure I’d ever call myself a Thought Leader, but I guess Jay Harrington has done about as much as any legal consultant for lawyers to earn that title. He has some good ideas on how to write short posts for LinkedIn. Of course his ideas apply just as well to blogging. My favorite:
Handling the Twitter Meltdown
Wendy Leibowitz, Tom Mighell, Dennis Kennedy and others I respect are weighing the pros and cons of moving to Twitter alternatives. A few thoughts on a complex situation:
Big problems with Elon Musk, who seems to be a case study of how people with hypomania can succeed in business (cf. Ted Turner). Musk,
Blogs, Thought Leadership and In-House Counsel
Kevin O’Keefe provides something to ponder:
“When it comes to researching law firms and professional services providers for potential hire, more than two-thirds of respondents (71% of in-house counsel; 69% of C-suite members) cited articles and speeches from thought leaders as a critical factor — second only to recommendations from trusted sources. That’s an
Poor Legal Writing: An Ignoble Pestilence
I’ll never forget the time a senior lawyer complained that my writing was easy to understand. He thought I should “write like a lawyer.”
Why is poor legal writing so prevalent? I’ve long believed that fear is a key reason:
Many lawyers who are capable of writing clearly fear that clients would be less willing
Saying You Are An Expert vs. Showing You Are An Expert
What I really like about this LinkedIn post is that it’s a great demo of how to market expertise: Share it. Gy Tsakalakisi not tell people he is a marketing expert. He proves it. Smart lawyers like Greg Siskind have been doing this for years. Gyi shows the technique is still the best approach. Here’s
I loved the recent LinkedIn shout-out from Carolyn Elefant, which also made some important substantive points about blogging and lawyer use of newer social media.
As best I remember, it was actually a presentation for Maryland CLE when Carolyn first helped me. It doesn’t matter, since whoever it was they loved her ad hoc