The decisions are never easy. This year’s winners run the gamut from blogs with multiple contributors to those with one, some big firm lawyers, some solo practitioners. Some blogs target the general public, while others are written for the legally-trained audience, covering family, criminal, employment, estate and probate, securities and patent law. Our winners include new blogs as well as repeat winners.

What were our criteria? In addition to content, we evaluated design and ease of navigation. We liked blogs with regular posts, even if the posts were monthly versus multiple times per week.

Lawyers are communicators so it is not surprising to see more and more lawyers beginning to blog. We all benefit from their efforts; more information, about more topics, demystifying the law for all. Congratulations to all of our winners. Start reading, then spread the word.

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2012. | Permalink | 2 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Blawg, Legal Blogs, Top 25, Top 25 Blawgs

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Last year was the first year of the Minnesota Top 25 Blawg contest and although we specially recognized 25 blogs, we added all the nominees to the practicelaw blogroll because all the nominated blogs contained valuable discussions of various legal practice issues. We know more attorneys have started blogging in the last year, so, once again, we want to feature some of the great Minnesota legal bloggers out there.

What blog do you read over your morning coffee? Do you have a go-to blog for finding help on confusing cases or for marketing ideas? What client-focused blog inspires your own blog writing? What blog’s design makes you green with envy?

Get information and make your nominations here.

If you’re wondering about the difference between a “blog” and a “blawg,” it’s simple: Blog + Law = Blawg. We generally like to stick with calling them blogs because we don’t think the legal profession needs any more jargon, but for the sake of having some fun with our Top 25 list, it shall be blawgs.

Now you’ve got two things to do by October 31:

1. Make your Halloween costume; and
2. Nominate a blog you like (or even nominate your own… then you need not get a costume, you can go as a blogger).

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2011. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Top 25 Blawgs

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The cardinal rule when writing anything is to keep audience and purpose in mind. Always. If you take nothing else away from this post, remember this rule. It simplifies all your decisions on length, format, word choice, and topic.

For example, most blog readers aren’t interested in reading an article. If they were, they’d turn to another medium. So Corollary #1 to the cardinal rule is Short. Shoot for 250 words, don’t go over 500. Don’t stop at implementing Short with the length of the post; strive for short words, short sentences, short paragraphs. Doesn’t need to sound like Dick and Jane, but better that than War and Peace. You can always divide a long post into two short ones.

Corollary #2 can be summed up in two words – Visual Tricks. Bulleted lists, headings, subheadings, white space. The idea is to make readers think you’ve implemented Corollary #1 more than you have. You may have a lot of words, but you’ve added visual cues to help the reader read and appreciate the post.

What do blog readers want to read? Brings me to Corollary #3. Appetite. Blog readers want a quick bite, a quick taste of something. The something, topic, depends on whether your readers are your clients, prospective clients, or colleagues. Don’t start writing until you’ve asked yourself, “Who will start reading this post and what will make them read to the end?” Thanks to Corollaries #1 and #2, the reading won’t take long, but comfortable length does not insure readership. If you don’t engage readers with the topic, the reader will click away. Regardless of topic, the reader will appreciate links to more in-depth information (and the providers of that information will appreciate the mention.)

Corollary #4 – Edit. Write, leave it, then return and edit. If you can’t, ask someone else. The first pass is never your best. Trust me.

There are lots of other suggestions for out there for aspiring bloggers, but, in keeping with Short, I will stop here.

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2011. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
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As I’ve said before, I’m loyal to about three theme developers. But I’m now looking at two other developers and their themes, particularly a few specific themes that appear to be tailored to law firms and other professionals.(...)
Read the rest of Premium WordPress Themes for Law Firms (816 words)

© Gregory Luce for Practice Blawg, 2011. | Permalink | 6 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Web Sites, WordPress

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But what happens after installation? Basically, I run through a list of ten essential things to do after every WordPress installation. Here they are (click on an item to expand it out).

1. Change the Permalinks

2. Neutralize Mr. Admin

3. Nix the Default Category

4. Install Plug-Ins

5. Consider an Under Construction Page

6. Burn It in Feedburner

7. Install Google Analytics

8. Install a Theme

9. Add Lorem Ipsum Gibberish

10. Mess Around

© Gregory Luce for Practice Blawg, 2011. | Permalink | 7 comments | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Blogging, WordPress

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