Blawgs Affecting Legal World

In thirteen thoughfully written essays published in print and made available online, NeXus, a Journal of Opinion published by Chapman University School of Law, raises an interesting question.

How are Blogs Affecting the Legal World?

• Editor's Note The Times They Are a Changing, by Hugh Hewitt


• The Information Age, Again, by Timothy Sandefur


• Legal Blogs: The Search for Legitimacy, by Lyle Denniston


• Lessons from the Clash Between Campaign Finance Laws and the Blogosphere, by Richard L.Hasen


• Employee Blogs and Trade Secrets: Legal Response to Technological Change, by Vincent Chiappetta


• "Or of the [Blog]," by Paul Horwitz


• Blog You, by Denise M. Howell


• The Impact of Blogging on the Practice of Law: Hit the Snooze Button, by Tom W. Bell


• Legal Blogs and the Supreme Court Confirmation Process, by Tung Yin


• Humanizing the Profession: Lawyers Find Their Public Voices Through Blogging, by Colin Samuels


• The Blogosphere and The New Pamphleteers, by Donald J. Kochan


• Late Night Thoughts on Blogging While Reading Duncan Kennedy’s Legal Education and the Reproduction of Hierarchy in an Arkansas Motel Room, by Franklin G. Snyder


• Blogs and the First Amendment, by David L. Hudson, Jr.

This weekend, while Jeremy Blachman and the Anonymous Lawyer were spending their non-billable hours preparing Blawg Review #68, this editor's time was well-spent reading two of these articles written by previous hosts of Blawg Review, Denise Howell and Colin Samuels, who concludes:

The rise of legal blogging is not a matter of a few attorneys riding a new wave of communications technology, but instead marks the legal profession's welcome return to an ongoing community dialogue.

After reading the best of the past week's posts in Blawg Review #68, this editor is going back to check out the rest of those essays.

And I'm going to have a good look at the NeXus blog, too, which is a new one added to this blawgroll.

BlogHer 2006

Ann Althouse made the road trip to the BlogHer conference this week in her Audi TT, and found San Jose a city polarized by sex.

"We can all agree now, women are the power of Web 2.0," said Lisa Stone, one of the founders of BlogHer, which made big news bringing together over 700 bloggers at a conference this weekend in San Jose.

Among the many law bloggers in the BlogHer community are several friends of Blawg Review, including these hosts: Carolyn Elefant, Monica Bay, Anita Campbell, and Denise Howell.

BlogHer co-founder Lisa Stone, though not a lawyer, was a strong proponent of Blawg Review affiliation with ALM and, being a professional journalist, was an excellent host of Blawg Review #27 when our project joined the Law.com Blog Network. And now, with the success of BlogHer 2006, it looks like Lisa really caught the wave.

Check out what's hot in law blogs on BlogHer.

Please Blog Me

You don't have to beg for the attention your law blog deserves. Just submit your best recent post for the next issue of Blawg Review, or recommend another's blawg post that merits special attention. Help us find the best law blog posts every week. Thanks.

The Anonymous Lawyer Blook

"It's finally here," says Jeremy Blachman. "Hopefully on the shelves of a bookstore near you."

Anonymous Lawyer, the blog is now a book, or blook as they call a book that starts out as a blog. Without a doubt, Anonymous Lawyer will be a strong contender for a Blooker Prize. USA Today calls the book "wickedly amusing," Publishers Weekly calls it "side-achingly funny," the New York Post gives it 4 stars out of 4, "and my grandmother really loves it too," says Blachman, who describes the plot in this synopsis:

In the novel, Anonymous Lawyer sets out on a quest to eliminate his biggest rival, The Jerk, and become chairman of the firm -- while dealing with incompetent associates, his spendthrift wife, and the inner torment deep in his soul. Very deep. It's not a compilation of blog posts.
That would be like double-billing a client. And we never double-bill clients. Okay, we do, but not this time.
New material.

There have been other blooks (like Diary of an Unlikely Call Girl written by Belle de Jour, an anonymous London call girl) but nobody ever whored one as good as Jeremy Blachman.

First, there was his cleverly guarded anonymous identity that made his Anonymous Lawyer blog all the buzz in the blawgosphere, culminating with his very public outing by the New York Times. It was enough to make David Lat green with envy!

Then there was the Anonymous Lawyer page at MySpace.com, which hilariously disclosed more about this character than any self-respecting attorney really wanted to know:

About me:

I'm a hiring partner at a corporate law firm in Los Angeles, CA, and I have a weblog where I write about my job at http://anonymouslawyer.blogspot.com.

Who I'd like to meet:

Hard-working associates who don't complain about their work-life balance, competent secretaries who don't insist on being called "administrative assistants," and a doctor who can prescribe some medication to make my wife more intelligent.

Whoa, hold on, there's more. Have you seen the website for his Anonymous Law Firm? What an absolutely fabulous parody of big law firms. Reviews of the book, by print journalists and bloggers alike, are linked on the website of the Anonymous Law Firm.

Book reviews have been posted by lawyers on their blogs over the past few weeks leading up to this publication date, creating even more buzz. Among the many good reviews, especially recommended are the thoughtful comments of Evan Schaeffer and Carolyn Elefant, and this (Not A) Book Review by Sherry Fowler.

Ernie the Attorney, who recently escaped Biglaw himself, says the book is "friggin' hysterical" and David Adesnik at OxBlog offers this recommendation:

"If you are a lawyer, buy this book. If you know a lawyer, buy him or her this book. If you're a partner at a law firm, buy all existing copies of this book and burn them before your subordinates have a chance to read it."

May we recommend that everyone read Anonymous Lawyer, and come back for more of Jeremy's creative writing in the upcoming "linkwhore editon" of Blawg Review #68.

Antitrust Review

When Milo (Ryan Phillippe) graduates from college and lands his dream job writing software at a multi-billion dollar computer company, he couldn't be more thrilled. The company's magnetic founder (Tim Robbins) that he worshiped as a child is now his personal mentor. As he settles into his new position, Milo uncovers some dark secrets about the firm and soon learns that he can't trust anyone but himself in the high stakes world of computer technology.

There probably are laws in six or seven states against any actor having as much wink-wink, nudge-nudge fun as Tim Robbins obviously does in "Antitrust." Exceptionally well cast as a computer software mogul whose resemblance to Bill Gates isn't the least bit coincidental, Robbins appears almost indecently amused by his own slyly understated portrayal of a smooth, self-assured sociopath. His performance greatly enhances an otherwise routine paranoid thriller, and could generate just enough critical and audience interest for pic to post better than expected B.O. numbers. Ancillary prospects are even rosier, and cult-fave status -- particularly among propeller-heads, computer geeks and anti-Microsoft fanatics -- is a definite possibility.

Oops! wrong review.

This week's feature presentation, now showing at Antitrust Review, has all the elements of a great film: sex, violence, and coarse language.

Antitrust Review, a group blawg featuring news and commentary on recent developments in antitrust, along with discussions of classic cases and economic theory, is the result of an entirely pro-competitive merger between the antitrust and law & economics posts of (Anti-)Trust Me and the Law & Society Blog.

The editors of Antitrust Review are David Fischer, antitrust litigator in Washington, DC and editor of (Anti-)Trust Me, Hanno Kaiser, antitrust lawyer in NYC, adjunct professor at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and co-editor of the Law & Society Weblog, Manfred Gabriel, antitrust lawyer in NYC and co-editor of the Law & Society Weblog, and Dan Crane, assistant professor of law at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.

This week, David Fischer directs Blawg Review #67.

Riff Raff on MySpace

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens' infamous speech about Net Neutrality, in which the 85-year-old in charge of regulating Internet commerce "betrayed a stunning ignorance of Net fundamentals" has been fodder and inspiration for bloggers as well as comedians like Jon Stewart and David Letterman.

Law blogger Andrew Raff, a legally-minded musician, seems to have had way too much fun for a lawyer -- creating an original musical parody and sharing it on The Ted Stevens Internet Fan Club on MySpace. That's tubular, dude!

But sharing his music on MySpace was not without serious legal issues for Andrew Raff, as noted by Marty Schwimmer. Good thing he knows his way around Internet law.

Raff may be breaking new ground for lawyers, riffing on MySpace, but as bloggers of his generation go he's not atypical. "The ease and appeal of blogging is inspiring a new group of writers and creators to share their voices with the world," according to a new survey by Pew Research, which found that "a whopping 77% of bloggers have shared something online that they created themselves, such as their own artwork, photos, stories, or videos."

LA's Dopest Attorney

Whatever happened to Ellen Feiss, the student whose hilarious switch commercial for Apple Computer in 2002 made her an instant celebrity? Did she get a new G4 and go on to law school? Well, no actually. Ellen went to France to evade the obsessive fans on ellenfeiss.net, and only recently showed up in a starring role in a new movie, Bed and Breakfast.

In a parallel universe, Ellen Feiss might have gone to law school , if this commercial by LA's dopest attorney is a good example of just how far a Mac user can go when encouraged by her father to stay in school.



Allison Margolin went from Columbia to Harvard and graduated in 2002. She's the daughter of Bruce Margolin, the director of the Los Angeles chapter of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, also an attorney. As a criminal defense attorney, Bruce M. Margolin has successfully defended thousands of clients, including such notables as Dr. Timothy Leary, in all types of cases from marijuana to murder.

Bruce Margolin was a candidate for Governor of California in the 2003 recall and was one of the top vote-getters among 135 candidates for the governorship, on a platform of legalizing marijuana as a way to help solve the state’s budget crisis. Allison Margolin ran for city council in Beverly Hills on a platform to "legalize the growing of marijuana locally" -- what was she smokin'?

Allison Margolin is a criminal defense attorney. Advertisments for her law practice are published in CityBeat and other alternative weeklies and city directories like this:

Law Office of Allison Margolin Criminal Defense Attorneys Attorneys & Legal Services in Beverly Hills, CA

All Ivy League Attorney
Harvard Law Graduate, Columbia Undergraduate

Expert in Drug Law
Assistance in Warrant Recall
Harvard law and affordable

LA's "Dopest Attorney"!

Statistics state that over 100,000.00 are in jail for drugs and or drugs use.

Renown as "The Expert" in drug law

Allison is an all Ivy League attorney graduating from Harvard. Accepted in 9th circuit court of appeals. With the expertise in all criminal defenses from marijuana to murder. Clients confirm that Allison has heart and cares about her client to go over and beyond to help in their defense.

My passion focuses on the defense of those facing charges of drug use or possession, murder or prostitution as well as other crimes.

The 28-year-old Harvard Law grad was described in a recent article in the Daily Journal, as follows:

Petite, spunky and - unless she's in court - dressed in hip Los Angeles casual clothes, Margolin's physical appearance is a stark contrast to the defendants she represents in prostitution and drug cases. Although she's dressed conservatively in the photo appearing in her ad, the shot conveys a subtle sultriness that sometimes attracts exactly the wrong type of client. "I don't know if they think I'm, like, a masseuse on the side," she says. "I get some weird calls." But something must be working. So far, she's handled five jury trials - winning four and resolving one out of court. At any given moment, Allison is juggling about 30 cases.

Her new blog, Allison's Wonderland, has only a few posts so far. But, if her video offers any clues as to what to expect from this law blogger, she's definitely one to watch.

This blawg review was written as objectively as possible, and without any intention whatsoever to harsh anyone's mellow.

Update: Allison Margolin is described as star-struck, young and unorthodox, but also Ivy League, savvy and successful in an article titled "A Law Unto Herself" in in the LA Times on 08/22/06

Blawg Review Down Under

Blawg Review #66 is hosted this week by an Australian law blogger, David Jacobson, at one of his excellent blogs.

"So where the bloody hell are you?"

The World Cup Blawg Review

Why the FIFA World Cup Is and Should Be a Big Deal presents an interesting take on the world's football championship, in an article on the Harvard International Review blog, "the Big Picture, taking a worldview of world affairs" that begins:

In an increasingly integrated world with few platforms for international engagement other than war, trade, tourism and sterile political unions, it is understandable that the quadrennial FIFA World Cup has become a major avenue for countries to display their national pride, project their “national character” if there is such a thing, and to unify their diverse populations around a cause.

This is just one of many interesting weblogs introduced by the lawyers at Hull McGuire in their Blawg Review #65, which hits Internet newsreaders worldwide today.

What About Clients?, one of The Strongest Links featured in a recent issue of Law Practice Today by the ABA, takes a worldview of the practice of law because they are a client-centric law firm and, increasingly, their clients are thinking globally. And many of their clients, no doubt, think the FIFA World Cup is a big deal.

Jeffersonian Blawg Review

Dear Blawg readers & patrons,

I have recently received the favors of the gentlemen of Blawg Review, requests fitting for my scholarship for my appraisal in the attention to legal matters discussed on this thing called the "blogosphere", on this national Independence Day.

So began Thomas Jefferson's Blawg Review #13.

On Independence Day, which also marks the anniversary of the death of Thomas Jefferson on July 4, 1826, we remember this old friend of Blawg Review.

In his absence this year, we refer you to this article by James Joyner, "Declaration of Independence: A Fisking" on Outside the Beltway.

Bashman's Blawg Review

Pennsylvania Super Lawyer Howard J. Bashman is the host of Blawg Review #64 at his extremely busy blog, How Appealing.

And, even though Howard Bashman remarks that this issue of Blawg Review is the first to follow the announcement of the U.S. Supreme Court's end-of-Term rulings in argued cases, he doesn't go nearly as far as Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report, who announced on television that, with Hamdan, this marks the end of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Here’s Stephen Colbert’s take on yesterday’s Supreme Court decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, striking down the military tribunals for Guantanamo Bay detainees as violative of U.S. and international law.

Colbert has a great quip about how “gutless” it was of the SCOTUS to hand down this landmark decision and then ditch town. And the legal geeks among you are sure to appreciate the moving video tribute at the end of the clip.

Mr. Bashman is a real appellate lawyer in his day job, with serious business before the highest courts of the land, so don't expect his Blawg Review to include this picture of Associate Justice Stephen Breyer explaining his dissent in the case of Eldred v. Ashcroft even though it would have been fitting for the theme of Blawg Review #64. Stephen Breyer graduated Harvard Law School in 1964 -- the same year Howard Bashman was born.

Stephen Breyer was the articles editor of the Harvard Law Review and, most certainly, would be an excellent host of Blawg Review, too.