Developing Content Forum

[Prudent_Jurist]

Greetings, hive mind,

I’m looking to develop a better practice of writing short firm blog posts/LinkedIn posts/other content in my practice areas (litigation focused). Obviously that means paying attention to important state/federal statutory changes and state/federal decisions. Does anyone have good resources or practice tips to stay on top of those developments?

I was thinking there’s got to be some RSS feeds out there or something similar, but I’ve come up dry in my admittedly cursory Google searches. Thanks!

[Sackboy]

I do this for my practice (not lit, though). At least for what I do, Bloomberg provides an email every morning with developments in my area of the law, and I've spun those topics into practice area publications. I'd check out Practical Law and every other major vendor your firm might have and see what they have. Subscribe to a few and unsubscribe to the ones you don't like in a couple of weeks.

[Anonymous User]

I set google alerts for certain key phrases. Typically if something notable happens, several people are already writing about it. I don't plagiarize. But honestly, if you read 2 or 3 law firm press alerts and then look at the underlying source document (e.g., an opinion or proposed statute or regulation), the release writes itself. I can usually bang out the initial draft in an hour or two. Going through edits with people that don't want the release to say anything that can be used against the firm takes more time, but I usually just ask people to propose edits and then I accept all edits. Realistically, no one reads this shit, so it's all about signaling to the firm that you care and signaling to potential clients that you know the area.

Another thing I have done is set Westlaw alerts, but that doesn't seem to work as well. Often the order/whatever is a few months old but for whatever reason just making it to Westlaw. And you have to dig through a bunch of worthless alerts to find anything good.

Good luck.

[Sackboy]

Realistically, no one reads this shit, so it's all about signaling to the firm that you care and signaling to potential clients that you know the area.

I think this is the key takeaway. I do it simply because it makes several partners in my practice group love me and think I'm more invested than others and because marketing also loves me and uses me as an example of someone doing BD. It's been great for my internal reputation, and I have the understanding that I'll get 0 clients because of the content I make.

[Prudent_Jurist]

Thanks for the quality replies. I’ll look into those suggestions. The whole impetus behind it for me is just cred with the partners and the firm. I know my audience isn’t the public; it’s my employer. Gotta write for your audience.