Blawgs Help In-House Counsel Decide on Hires, Survey Says
Have lawyer blogs really caught on among corporate counsel who could throw work your way?
Twenty-seven percent of 164 in-house counsel who responded to a survey (PDF) indicated that reading blogs published by lawyers on relevant topics was one of their most important activities for researching outside counsel for a potential hire. The survey was conducted by Greentarget Strategic Communications, ALM Legal Intelligence, and Zeughauser Group. (Still carrying more weight that legal blogs: recommendations from trusted sources, a lawyer’s articles and speeches, and law firm website bios.)
“Blogs have arrived in the in-house legal world,” Corporate Counsel says. Half of the in-house counsel surveyed “agree or somewhat agree” that lawyer-authored blogs will influence future hiring decisions.
But those considering starting a law blog should take heed: Mark Hermann, now an in-house counsel at Aon who posted at Drug and Device Law until December 2009, warned of the huge commitment of blogging in a March article in Litigation (PDF).
“If you’re thinking of launching a legal blog, have your eyes open,” Herrmann wrote. “Once you launch a blog, you will face the relentless, mind-numbing, never-ending task of finding worthwhile material to publish. That burden begins on the day of your first post and ends only the day you call it quits.”
Though others note the benefits. Leanna Hamill, who writes Massachusetts Estate Planning and Elder Law, whose clients are individuals and families rather than corporate entities noted in a recent tweet that she’d had more clients in the prior three months come in from her blog than through referrals.
