January 15, 2007

Blogging among top concerns of in-house counsel according to Lawyers Weekly article

According to a new Lawyers Weekly article on concerns of in-house counsel blogging is one of the top concerns of in-house lawyers in Canada. The article cites a qualitative survey conducted by public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard Canada Inc. of a small group of corporate counsel. While litigation concerns, governance, and regulatory issues all were cited higher than blogging, the numbers for blogs were still noteworthy. One third said they would monitor blogs and respond to inaccuracies; 20 per cent said they would take legal action in response to a blog; and fully 50 per cent said they were concerned about liability as it relates to blogging.

My thoughts: 1) it sounds like a very small survey, so take these numbers as very interesting, but not equivalent to the findings of a large empirical study; 2) the concern about blogs suggests to me that blogs are without question now on the radar of corporate counsel but not yet well-understood, and 3) there is an opportunity here for tech-savvy law firms that understand the blogosphere to create a new niche in advising clients on "blog law".

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Law firm names: Short is sweet

Last year I wrote an article for Lawyer's Weekly on the trend of law firms moving to shorter names. I was reminded of it when I came across an article this morning in the Philadelphia Businesses Journal of another U.S. firm - Gibbons Del Deo Dolan Griffinger & Vecchione that is moving to simply "Gibbons". A wise move, for the exact reason noted by the firm's Managing Partner: "our clients peers and our own attorneys call us by the name Gibbons. When the most important people to your business call you by one name, it is the logical next step to use that name in all communications to leverage the equity in that name to create a consistent message and increased brand awareness." Couldn't have said it better myself.

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January 05, 2007

The CLawBies and the Coach

Two points of recognition to start off the new year. First, a big thanks to Steve Matthews of the Vancouver Law Librarian Blog for creating the Canada Law Blog awards (a.k.a. "the CLawBies") to showcase some of the best work currently being done in the legal blogging space here in Canada. There are a number of gems there that are definitely worth exploring further if you are involved in the legal industry in this country. Steve has done a great job turning his blog into a key online resource and this is just another of his many valuable contributions.

Secondly, kudos to Skunkworks' client Allison Wolf, who has recently left her long-time role as the senior in-house marketer at Harper Grey LLP to pursue her own entrepreneurial dreams as the owner of Shift Works Strategic Business Coaching. In conjunction with her new direction, Allison has recently started The Lawyer Coach Blog and, well, insert your own passage about ducks and their natural affinity for water here. In her first month she has already garnered herself one of the afforementioned CLawBies in the category of Practice Management, and is quickly emerging as a thought leader online. Nicely done to both.

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