A new PR firm for Foley Hoag

The Boston and D.C. law firm Foley Hoag has hired Boston-based Arnold Corporate Communications to handle its public relations, the Boston Business Journal reports.

New site targets 'mystery bills'

A new Web site is home base to a campaign that asks Congress not to act so hastily on bills that the public has no time to review them. Called ReadtheBill.org, the site has launched a new Mystery Busters initiative urging members of Congress to vote against any legislation or conference report that has not been posted on the Internet for 72 hours. Each week when Congress is in session, the site will publish a list of "mystery bills," including a "mystery bill of the week."

New blog discusses law firm diversity

A new blog, Law Firm Diversity, describes its purpose as promoting a rational discussion about the so-called business case for law firm diversity: that "the creativity and problem-solving ability of a group is a function of diversity."

The blog is written by Mister Thorne, a freelance writer and editor in San Francisco. Although not a lawyer, he is married to one. He is "one half of an interracial couple," he says. "I’m Anglo, and my wife is Afro, which means I have experiences that most Anglos don’t."

And it is OK to call him Mister -- that is his actual first name.

'60 Sites' now posted on Techshow site

Along with Jim Calloway and Natalie Kelly, I presented the "60 Sites in 60 Minutes" program at ABA Techshow last month. Now, the complete list of sites is posted. As always, we include some serious sites and some offbeat sites. This year we added a special category for Web 2.0.

Podcast discusses SCOTUS eBay ruling

The recent Supreme Court ruling in eBay v. MercExchange, setting the standard for injunctive relief in patent cases, is the topic of this week's legal affairs podcast Coast to Coast. Joining my co-host J. Craig Williams and me are two prominent patent lawyers, Rachel Krevans, partner at the law firm of Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco, and Dennis Crouch, patent attorney at the law firm of McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff in Chicago and author of the blog Patently-O.

• Show link.
• MP3 download.
• Windows Media stream.

Bloggers win victory in Apple v. Does

In a victory for bloggers as journalists, a California appeals court today issued a decision preventing Apple Computer from forcing the disclosure of unnamed individuals who allegedly leaked information about new Apple products to online news sites. In a 69-page opinion in O'Grady v. Superior Court, the California Court of Appeal said that the trial court erred in refusing to grant an order protecting against disclosure of their identities.

"We hold that this was error because (1) the subpoena to the email service provider cannot be enforced consistent with the plain terms of the federal Stored Communications Act (18 U.S.C. §§ 2701-2712); (2) any subpoenas seeking unpublished information from petitioners would be unenforceable through contempt proceedings in light of the California reporter’s shield (Cal. Const., art. I, § 2, subd (b); Evid. Code, § 1070); and (3) discovery of petitioners’ sources is also barred on this record by the conditional constitutional privilege against compulsory disclosure of confidential sources (see Mitchell v. Superior Court (1984) 37 Cal.3d 268 (Mitchell)). Accordingly, we will issue a writ of mandate directing the trial court to grant the motion for a protective order."

Denise Howell has more analysis of the decision. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has background.

Extortionate legal marketing

Why would a law firm engage in marketing that starts with spam and closes with threats? That is precisely what an increasing number of firms seem to be doing.

Here is an example taken from an actual series of e-mails I received. I've changed the names to protect the innocent.

It starts with an e-mail titled: "Link Exchange - XYZLawFirm.com." The text reads:

"Hello Webmaster!

"We are mailing you because we found your site through google search and your active links page indicates that you are interested in link exchange. Taking initiative in this direction, we have already put your link at our site. ...

"We have placed the URL, Title, and suitable description for your site that will surely benefit your online presence. You are free to verify the same. Please let us know about any suggestions or concerns and we will get it done.

"We intend to have a reciprocal link at your links.html page also. Please look at our information below for this:

"URL = http://www.xyzlawfirm.com
"Title = Anystate Discrimination Lawyer
"Description = Our goal is to carefully attend to the needs of our individual and corporate clients and to try to resolve without delay legal problems confronted in a manner as simple as possible. We give you discrimination lawyer to be out of the well of discomfort ness.

"We will be glad to see our link at your site and have you as our links partner. It will be appreciated if you can send us the exact location of our link."

Out of the well of discomfort ness? Of course I don't respond. Three days later comes a second e-mail, titled: "Reminder Links Exchange - XYZLawFirm.com." It says, in part:

"Hello Webmaster!

"A few days back we had sent you a mail regarding our link exchange offer with our site but were unable to find any response from your side. Assuming that you missed our mail, we are sending you our link exchange offer once again. We are mailing you because we found your site through google search and your active links page indicates that you are interested in link exchange. ...

"We will be glad to see our link at your site and have you as our links partner. It will be appreciated if you can send us the exact location of our link."

Of course, I again do not respond. Two days later comes the final e-mail in this series, titled: "Deactivation of Link at XYZLawFirm.com." It says:

"Hello Webmaster!

"A few days back we had sent you a mail regarding our link exchange offer with our site but were unable to find any response from your side.We had also sent you a reminder mails regarding the same but did not receive any response. After waiting for a considerable period (for your response), now we are forced to withdraw our links exchange offer. Hence, we are left with no option but to REMOVE YOUR LINK from our site.

"Until now, we have placed the URL, Title, and suitable description for your site that will surely benefit your online presence. You are free to verify the same. Please let us know about any suggestions or concerns and we will get it done.

"We intend to have a reciprocal link at your links. html page also. ...

"We will be glad to see our link at your site and have you as our links partner. It will be appreciated if you can send us the exact location of our link or we will go ahead with removal of your link."

Left with no option but to REMOVE YOUR LINK? Did I ever ask for your link in the first place? Do you think that by threatening me you will build good will?

What misguided marketing hack is behind these e-mails? Why would a law firm be party to this? Can anyone explain?

S.C. Bar may put discipline online

The South Carolina Bar was scheduled to vote today on a proposal to post all attorney disciplinary actions on its Web site, according to The State. The Bar's House of Delegates was to vote on the resolution as its biannual meeting today in Charleston, the report said.

State Department orders, then bans, laptops

I don't know if this is funny or sad. The U.S. State Department ordered 16,000 Lenovo laptops, only to decide it should quarantine them for fear that their Chinese manufacturers loaded them with spyware. As I sit here typing this on a Lenovo laptop, I wonder who in China might be monitoring my every keystroke.

State senate blog a 'first'

With the launch of this "semi-official" blog, The Senate Site, Utah's state Senate became the first legislative body to make blogging a tool for lawmaking, Stateline.org reports.

"Joining the nation's growing proliferation of political Web logs, or blogs, the Utah site was the first of its kind to strike up a digital dialogue that included entries not just from state Senate Republicans but also from minority Democrats and lawmakers in the opposite chamber. Unfolding comment by comment, the unofficial daily log often paralleled official debate taking place under the dome -- with the added bonus of anonymity."

Lawyer video on your iPod

The Globe and Mail reports that venerable Toronto firm Torys LLP has launched a series of video podcasts "of pinstriped partners holding forth on such topics as merger break fees and proxy contests." Reporter Beppi Crosariol writes:

"Several industry watchers say Torys' videocasts appear to be the first foray by a law firm onto the handheld screen."

The article mentions the Coast to Coast podcast that I cohost with J. Craig Williams. He reports me as saying of podcasts, "He concedes there is a danger, particularly among lawyers, in coming across as wooden." Would I say that?

Podcast discusses immigration reform

Sweeping proposals this week from Congress and the president to change U.S. immigration laws have been met with strong reactions from across the political spectrum. On this week's Coast to Coast legal-affairs podcast, my cohost J. Craig Williams and I discuss these proposed changes with immigration lawyers Gregory Siskind, founding partner of Siskind Susser in Memphis, Tenn., and Monica Guizar, employment policy attorney at the National Immigration Law Center in Los Angeles.

• Listen in streaming Windows Media.
  
• Download MP3 file.

Blog embarks on 'adventure of strategy'

A man who, while still in his 20s, commanded a South African infantry regiment and then managed 425 acres of African game preserve certainly knows something of adventure. And one who started his own consulting firm and oversaw its growth to 67 employees probably knows something of strategy. Rob Millard is both those men, and he is sharing his knowledge of strategy for professional services firms through his new blog, The Adventure of Strategy. Millard, now a principal with Edge International, writes:

"The Adventure of Strategy aims to make strategy in law and other professional service firms a more enlightening and intellectually pleasurable experience than it often is. To say nothing of making that strategy more effective and more profitable in the result, too."

The consulting firm Edge is home to another well-regarded blogger, Gerry Riskin.

A Wikipedia for Congress

A new Web resource, Congresspedia, is using the wiki model to create a tool for citizens to research and share information about members of Congress. In the same way that Wikipedia is a collaboratively written encyclopedia, Congresspedia is a collaboratively written encyclopedia of Congress. It launched in April with 539 articles, one for every current member of Congress, the non-voting delegates, and one former representative. It expects that users will build its collection from there by adding new articles on any subject related to Congress. The site is a collaboration between the Center for Media and Democracy and the Sunlight Foundation. The Sunlight Foundation is underwritten by a securities lawyer, Michael R. Klein.

Webby Awards honor best law sites

Awards for the best law sites along with awards for sites in 69 business, consumer and culture categories were announced today with the release of the 10th annual Webby Awards.

The award for best law site went to Justice Learning, a civics-education site devoted to helping students and teachers understand law and justice. The site is the product of a collaboration between National Public Radio and The New York Times.

The People's Voice Award in the law category was given to Jurist, the legal news and research site published by the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. The People's Voice Award is based on votes by visitors to the Webby Awards site.

A full list of Webby Award and People's Voice Award winners can be found at www.webbyawards.com.

The Webby Awards are presented by the Academy, a global organization with more than 500 members including musician David Bowie, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, The Body Shop president Anita Roddick, "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening, Naked Chef Jamie Oliver, and fashion designer Max Azria.

The 'MySpace' of the legal world

I just wrote about a site that aims to be the Wikipedia of the legal world. Now here is a site that aspires to become the MySpace of the legal world. It is called Lawbby.

If MySpace is where teens and college students meet and mingle, Lawbby says it is "where lawyers mingle," whether for business or pleasure. Like MySpace, users can create their own profiles and groups, post photos and create blogs. And in a feature more akin to Craigslist than MySpace, users can post classified ads in categories such as jobs, expert services and lawyer referrals.

The site was just launched last month and has attracted only a smattering of activity so far. Legal lonelyhearts, you now have a home.

Coast to Coast: E-discovery

Somehow I neglected to mention my own podcast last week, in which we focused on e-discovery. We had two great guests and experts in the field, Eric Meyer from Dilworth Paxon in Philadelphia and Stephen Prignano from Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge in Providence, R.I.

Coast to Coast is the weekly legal affairs podcast cohosted by J. Craig Williams and me and produced by the Legal Talk Network. An archive of all past shows is available here. All shows are available to listen to in Windows Media format or to download in MP3 format. The show's RSS feed is available here.

• Download the show as MP3 file.
• Play it now in streaming Windows Media.

Wiki-Law: The 'Wikipedia' of law

I've become a big fan and regular user of Wikipedia, the free, user-edited encyclopedia. Last fall, Cornell's Legal Information Institute launched the legal dictionary and encyclopedia Wex, which, like Wikipedia, is collaboratively written and edited by users. Now, another legal wiki has launched, Wiki-Law, and its co-founder says its mission "is to become the Wikipedia of the legal world."

A wiki, according to Wikipedia, is "a type of website that allows users to easily add, remove, or otherwise edit all content, very quickly and easily, sometimes without the need for registration." The new WikiLaw describes its purpose as being "to create a free, complete, up-to-date and reliable world-wide legal guide and resource."

Users can contribute content in any of seven categories: Dictionary, Forms, Statutes, Case Briefs, Law Firm Profiles, Law School Profiles and Law Journal Profiles, or they can write their own blog or submit an interesting law related link. Not much there yet, but I hope the idea takes off.

Updated list of Mass. law blogs

I've been trying on and off since September to keep a list of lawyer-written blogs in Massachusetts. Here is my list as it stands so far. Please let me know of missing links. Leave me a comment or write me at ambrogi-at-gmail.com.

• Andrew Sinclair.
• Automating Invention.
  
• bk!, f/k/a a mad tea-party.
• Blue Mass. Group (two of the three bloggers are lawyers).
• Bostonist (contributor Josh Michtom is a lawyer).
• Corporate Collections.
• Eon (Charles Nesson).
• John Palfrey.
• LawLawLaw: Erik J. Heels.
• LawSites.
• LeapLaw.
• Massachusetts Campaign for Open Government.
• Massachusetts DUI Podcast.
  
• Massachusetts Law Updates.
• MassLawBlog.
• McBloom Law Blogs.
  
• Media Law.
• Mediation Mensch.
• ODR News Blog.
• Of and Concerning.
  
• Online Guide to Mediation.
• OpenSourceLegal.org.
• Standards Blog.
• The TTABlog.
• Velvel on National Affairs.
  

A forum for finding public records

A new Web site, DetectiveForums.com, provides links to public records resources on the Web together with free bulletin boards where users can share resources and post questions on public records. The site so far has links in only seven categories, but says it will soon have more than 75 categories. In numbers of links, it is no comparison to SearchSystems.net or Pretrieve.com. But the site's bulletin boards could prove useful in helping to locate hard-to-find records. That, of course, will depend on how many users the site gets and how much information they have to share. But if you regularly search for public records online, this site is worth watching.

Low pay, big cases, happy lawyer

Some lawyers defend the forgotten and won't tolerate injustice. Here is one of them, courtesy of the New York Times.

Free this week: WSJ.com

Thanks to beSpacific for pointing out that the Wall Street Journal Online is offering 10 days of free access to mark its 10th anniversary on the Web. Here is the link to use.

A podcast on drunk-driving defense

I just happened across Massachusetts DUI Podcast, a short series of podcasts for lawyers about defending drunk-driving cases in the state. They are recorded by lawyer Russell Matson.

Two new legal podcasts

Two new legal podcasts:

• Lewis & Clark Law School Podcasts, featuring recorded lectures, symposia speakers and events from the law school.
• FWPodcasts, from the Florida law firm Fowler White Boggs Banker, with three posted so far on employment and immigration topics.

On Law Day and an impartial judiciary

After I wrote earlier today on Legal Blog Watch about Law Day, I came across this Law Day essay by an old friend of mine, Tom Bolt, a lawyer in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Here's an excerpt:

"[R]emoving judges from the bench through campaigns of misinformation and innuendo, as has occurred in several jurisdictions, does a disservice to the judiciary and, ultimately, to all citizens. Better that we should all strive to understand the judicial process as a means of promoting accountability than to undermine the benefits of a fair and impartial judiciary."

Worth a read.

A podcast about podcasting

I had the good fortune at ABA Techshow to sit in on a presentation by Dennis Kennedy and Tom Mighill on podcasting for lawyers. Now they've made a recording of the session available as a podcast in Episode 2 of The Kennedy-Mighell Report. If you are interested in learning more about podcasting, here is an opportunity to learn from two leaders in legal tech.

(Thanks to them for their kinds words in their presentation about our podcast, Coast to Coast.)

Techshow photos

Whether or not you attended ABA Techshow, you are likely to find some familiar blogger faces from these three Techshow photo sets:

• Neil Squillante's photos.
• Adriana Linares' photos.
• Rob Robinson's photos.
  

I managed to make it into one of Neil's shots.

Coast to Coast: The Am Law 100

Today on the legal affairs podcast Coast to Coast, we discuss the Am Law 100, the annual ranking by The American Lawyer magazine of the nation's 100 highest grossing law firms. Joining us as our featured guest is the magazine's editor-in-chief, Aric Press.

Coast to Coast is the weekly legal affairs podcast cohosted by J. Craig Williams and me and produced by the Legal Talk Network. An archive of all past shows is available here. All shows are available to listen to in Windows Media format or to download in MP3 format. The show's RSS feed is available here.

• Download the show as MP3 file.
• Play it now in streaming Windows Media.