Never say Never...

So I did exactly what I despise in other bloggers... I left a blog hanging out there w/o any updates and w/o the courteous sign off saying goodbye for now.

I find myself in a very awkward position. I'm not planning on coming back to this blog anytime soon (due to time constraints), and I'm not willing to say goodbye either. I'm just going to leave it as is for now...

IMPORTANT NOTICE: At this time I am no longer maintaining/updating this blawg or it's links.

Where Can I find a Blawg about...

I just received notice from A Taxonomy of Legal Blogs indicating that he has included this website in his rather thorough collection of Blawgs arranged by subject matter. If you're looking for a blawg, chances are you can find it through his site.

Also, due to my change in status at work, I will spend little or no time updating and maintaining this site for the foreseeable future, so check out the Taxonomy site.

Finally!!! Oyez Podcasts

For those of you ahead of the curve on this one, please forgive me for my excitement here... For those of you wondering what all the commotion is about, listen up, because the Oyez website has finally been upgraded with an Oyez Podcast (If you're not sure what a podcast is or how to use one, this link should help).

Oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court have been an enigma of sorts for law students and practicing attorneys for years primarily because of the restrictions and limitations on access to viewing the arguments themselves. Audio recordings have been allowed now for years, however, actually gaining access to a full oral argument wasn't easy until a website was launched a few years ago which actually posted mp3 files of the oral arguments (see Oyez.org). Initially, the site promised to be the next great coming for appellate advocates and Con Law enthusiasts alike, however, as terms slipped by, the site never added any new audio to their original playlist (which featured some historical arguments in addition to recently argued cases).

So it is with great excitement that I add a link to the Oyez Podcast website under the "Legal Podcasts" heading at right.

Lexis & Westlaw Withdrawal

Consider this a public service announcement aimed at those of you still in law school. Take full advantage of Lexis & Westlaw now, while you still can! Someday you might find yourself in the awkward position of no longer having access to either of these fine resources or worse... You might find yourself in the painful position of having to pay for these services out of your own pocket!

From Blawgs to Podcasts... the ever-changing face of communications

Now that blogging has firmly established itself within the legal community, the next techie trend or variation to cross over into the legal world is podcasting & vlogging. For a sampling of the legal podcasting boom, check out the Legal Talk Network's lineup of seven different podcasts. Vlogging refers to the shift by some bloggers to away from traditional html blogging to a video format. While a smattering of legal blogs, or "blawgs," have experimented with this format, it hasn't caught on yet.

Lawyers & Their Blawgs...

While hesitant to cite to the NY Times, they did run an interesting piece about the boom in lawyers writing blawgs... Apparently they think that lawyers just have too many words...

NY Times Article "Opening Arguments, Endlessly"

Legal Guide for Bloggers

The fine people at the Electronic Frontier Foundation have pieced together a few online FAQ's to help bloggers answer some difficult and often times tricky legal questions. These guides are a must-read for any serious bloggers out there with little knowledge about the law with regard to defamation, intellectual property rights, privacy, and bloggers as journalists.

I do recommend starting from the EFF: Legal Guide for Bloggers page before working your way through the specific FAQ's (This link has also been conveniently placed in the "legal references" section to the right).

If anyone out there plans to be the next big "journalist" to rattle the cages, I highly recommend reading these publications from the EFF before biting off more than you can chew... and remember, "professional" journalists like ABC's John Stossel have their legal defenses bank-rolled by their employers (see Rogal v. Stossel).

Checking Source Credibility

Credibility of sources has never been more important. Due to the growth of technology, anyone out there with the requisite knowledge, a computer and an Internet connection can create a web site or blog proclaiming just about anything.

Such individuals do actually exist (and in high numbers) so remain skeptical when you find information on a blog of which you are unfamiliar. When attempting to determine blog credibility, begin by looking around at the top of the main page for identification. You may see a brief intro about the contributors of this blog, or you may find an "About" link which may provide general or specific information about who's running the blog.

Professor/ Firm Blogs: Law professors and firms have hopped on the cyber-bandwagon with creating blogs for various reasons. These blogs may command immediate authority, but don't forget that, in the end, everyone has their own opinion and some blogs may be slanted to push a particular agenda. The best examples in this area are Professor Doug Berman's Sentencing Law & Policy blog (cited by Justice Stevens in the U.S. v. Booker decision) and Goldstein & Howe's SCOTUSblog.