ai is still predictably ambivalent about whether to blog his summer job -- my advice: yes, but very cautiously -- and now is wondering whether being a successful blogger is bad for law business. The impetus for this last post is Evan Schaeffer's decision to retool his blog. Actually, Evan wrote in a comment, "this weblog is going to come to an abrupt halt," but then noted that he would "rebuild it from the ground up with a different type of content now that I know a little more about what effect having a (fairly popular) weblog has on my public image." Here is a longer comment from Evan about his concern:
[W]hat if a weblog has a negative marketing effect for a lawyer? What if weblogs drive away business? That would concern me. One reason it might happen: Weblogs seem very complicated to those who don't know much about them--most lawyers, say. Weblogs seem like they take more time than they actually do. That explains why lawyers might draw the conclusion that a lawyer with a weblog must not be very busy or very successful. But do they draw this conclusion? Yes, most certainly. It's why I'm probably going to revamp this weblog from the ground up.
I have heard similar inferences from law professor colleagues. On the other hand, what do law professors do? We profess. And if blogging isn't that, I don't know what is.
Blogging takes substantial chunks of time, no doubt about that. Which is one reason that my blogging is so focused on issues that relate to what I otherwise teach and write. I have come to view blogging as an integral part of the process by which I stay on top of recent developments and think through emerging legal issues. Moreover, writing about those issues is a form of public service that I hope has value to those who read here. In short, blogging has become part of my job description, not just a sideline pursuit.
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