Thinking About Starting a Blog?

I had a nice chat today with a colleague who is thinking about starting a blawg.  Here's a bit of advice on that topic, first posted on May 17 last year.  Be sure to check out Kevin's original post, it is full of useful info.

Have you ever wondered what it is really like to write a blog/blawg?  The best description I've read of what it's like just came across my desk in A Blogger's Reflection by Kevin LaCroix, who writes the D & O Diary, A Periodic Journal Containing Items of Interest from the World of Directors and Officers Liability, with Occasional Commentary.  Congratulations, Kevin, on reaching the five year milestone!

He observes, however, that

The actual blog content is only a small part of the operation. The fact is that I am for all practical purposes in the publishing business. I am not only responsible for content, but I am the copy editor, the fact checker, the proofreader, the typesetter and the art editor. I am the research department, the customer service department, and the subscription department. I am the managing editor, the business manager, and the chief operating officer. With all of these duties, the process of maintaining the blog takes an insane amount of time.

and then he notes

Another problem is that the blog has required me to dwell among the demons of technology. No one would ever believe (except perhaps another blogger) how many weird technological challenges I have had to confront. To cite just one example, one day out of the blue, for no apparent reason and without any warning, our firm’s IT manager changed the IP address of the server on which I housed all of the self-hosted documents to which I had linked on my site. That meant that every single one of the hundreds and hundreds of links on my site to self-hosted documents (pleadings, case decisions, etc.) was broken. I was on suicide watch for several weeks. I eventually repaired the links in the most recent posts but the links in many older posts simply don’t work, and at this point, alas, probably never will again.

You really should read his entire post on the topic if you are at all interested in blogging.  All of Kevin's comments are right on target.  His blog is an excellent resource, and the scope of his reach is testament to how well he works his craft.  But even without having that sort of readership, writing a blog can be incredibly fulfilling.  I'm only approaching my third anniversary this fall, and I have a way to go before I reach my millionth reader, but I enjoy it just the same.  Just like Kevin, I get more out of it than I ever imagined I would when I began.

So if you like writing and think you might enjoy blogging, give it a try.  But just don't keep any part of it on your firm's server.

Women in the Boardroom

I spent a couple of hours today at a great Women in the Boardroom program here in San Francisco.  The panel facilitator Wendy Beecham moderated three wonderful speakers, Nilofer Merchant, Linda Amuso and Barb Stinnett.  Each of them had terrific advice for business women interested in Board service, or simply interested in how public company boards recruit members.  If you get a chance to attend one of the events the group has planned this year, jump on it!

ABA Business Section, Business Law Fellows, Ambassadors and Diplomat Programs

Greetings, Diversity Committee Members.  Please see the following and pass along to any of your peers who might be interested.

The Section is Now Accepting Applications for the Business Law Fellows, Ambassadors and Diplomat Programs.

The Fellows, Ambassadors, and Diplomat Programs are designed to involve young lawyers, lawyers of color and lawyers with disabilities in the substantive work of the Section. The Section funds the two-year term of five Fellows, five Ambassadors and one diplomat, including their particpation in three Section meetings each each year (Spring Meeting, Annual Meeting and a stand-alone committee meeting). Applications are due April 27, 2012.  Please encourage any of your qualified committee members to submit an application to one of the programs.  For more information about the programs, please click here.  http://apps.americanbar.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=CL715000

The Power of Cookies

So today marks 18 years at my current law firm, that seems such a long time...

Although I had been at another firm for the first 5 years of my legal career, the day I started at this firm was the day I really started thinking about client development.  I didn't know much back in those days, but I did know three things:  One, I wanted to do work for charities and their donors.  Two, I wanted to make a living at it.  Three, to do that I was going to need to develop a client base.  Since my new firm didn't have an established practice in the area, I was going to have to figure out how to leverage the existing relationships in that firm and convince the partners that my little practice area would be viable.  In the early days my marketing focus was on public speaking, for local bar associations at first, then for the state bar.  I also was very fortunate to team up with some other professional firms working in the nonprofit sector, and we jointly started offering informal, educational, client-focused "roundtable" seminars for nonprofits.

Coincidentally, today also marked the launch of my 16th year doing those seminars.  I've hosted 4-6 of these seminars each year, generally in the late afternoon on a few Thursdays March through May and September through November.  In the early years it was a lot of work to come up with the speakers, print the invitations, assemble the mailing lists, and copy the written handouts (remember, everything was hardcopy back then).  Today, the operation is pretty seamless, invites go by email, twitter and linked in to a much, much larger distribution instantaneously at no cost.  I've heard many times from my client base that my little corner of the market looks forward to receiving the invitation each spring and fall. My staff has been wonderfully supportive, either because they believed in my mission, or perhaps they were just looking forward to their share of the delicious cookies I always served.

I suppose the current version of a seminar series is the legal blawg, focused on a particular practice area, and were I to be starting a practice today I suppose I might just go the electronic route.  Perhaps that is more effective than an old fashioned meeting with a walking, talking, breathing speaker or two.  But I don't plan to discontinue my roundtables any time soon.  Yes, I am a believer in the new information technologies.  But there is also a place in the client development tool chest for good old fashioned, face-to-face, educational seminars where clients and friends can network and learn something new from eachother.

And share some good cookies.

Modest Resolutions, and (Older) Age

Longtime readers remember my resolutions over the years.  Last year I focused on getting the billable hours on my time sheets.  The year before I promised to focus my marketing efforts.  And in 2008 I had the most ambitious list ever.  This year?  Honestly, I have only one resolution, and so far (10 days in!) I have kept at it.  I am going to take my joint supplements every day.  That's pathetic, I know, but I have this theory that if I can move my joints without pain, I might sleep better.  If I sleep better I should be more pleasant in the morning.  If I am more pleasant in the morning, I can achieve all those lofty resolutions from prior years.  So you see a little chondroitin and glucosamine just might be the trick for getting my practice to the next level.

Well, it's a theory anyway.  I'll let you know how it works out.

More Inspiring Bits from Notable Women

I was out on vacation for much of the second half of 2011 so didn't collect quite as many quotes as usual.  I did find a few useful gems:

"Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why we call it 'The Present'."
— Eleanor Roosevelt

"It's always been my feeling that God lends you your children until they're about eighteen years old. If you haven't made your points with them by then, it's too late."  Betty Ford

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."  Maya Angelou 

"I have no regrets in my life. I think that everything happens to you for a reason. The hard times that you go through build character, making you a much stronger person."  Rita Moreno

"I would just like people to think of me as a judge who did the best she could with whatever limited talent I have to keep our country true to what makes it a great nation."  Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

"Macho does not prove mucho."  Zsa Zsa Gabor

"It doesn't matter what you do in the bedroom as long as you don't do it in the street and frighten the horses."  Mrs. Patrick Campbell

"Impartiality suggests that we shouldn't begin from our own point of view, that we should have principles that apply absolutely to everyone.  But the trouble is that human life is based on the personal point of view."  Martha Nussbaum

Happy Holidays

Faithful readers, I am about to leave for a long vacation, I'll be away from my desk until January 3.  I suspect I'll not be blogging once I disconnect from the legal profession later today.  I plan to spend a good portion of that time at parties and holiday events, which reminded me that December is usually a good time to be comment on the hazards of drinking and lawyering.  A recent post at Above The Law  described an innovative on-line support for lawyers with substance abuse problems, and noted that 

Actually, attorneys overindulge a lot. A Guardian story from Saturday said, “Research suggests 15-24% of lawyers will suffer from alcoholism during their careers.” That’s almost a quarter of the profession, and a lot higher than the general population.

Why are lawyers so hammered all the time? Our own Elie Mystal has one theory: “If doctors or pilots drink, they kill people. If CEOs or accountants drink, they lose tons of money. If lawyers drink, they… have to proofread their work in the morning? Lawyers drink because they can, if you could drink more, you probably would.” Roger Sterling from Mad Men would most certainly agree.  

I think that's a little flippant.  Addicted lawyers have an awful lot to lose and can hurt a lot of people.  For more thoughts and some resources in the various states, there are some resources here.  

I wish you all a healthy, joyful holiday season.  Enjoy the parties, network your little hearts out, and I'll see you in January.