The Trial Warrior Blog is Moving to WordPress

Dear Readers,

I will be migrating The Trial Warrior Blog from Blogger to WordPress over the next few weeks. My WordPress blog is already up and running and available at:  

New Blog Address: https://thetrialwarrior.wordpress.com/
RSS Feed: https://thetrialwarrior.wordpress.com/feed/

Please update your links and your non-commercial RSS feeds accordingly.

Thanks,

Antonin I. Pribetic

My Apologies to the Canadian Legal Blogging Community: A Reply

A Reply to Natalie Waddell, CEO of lawyerlocate.ca

Dear Ms. Waddell,

I take this opportunity to reply to your post entitled: My Apologies to the Canadian Legal Blogging Community.

I acknowledge your immediate "public relations damage control" response to the objections raised by some, including myself, on Twitter regarding your "dailyblawg" RSS aggregator site, which you subsequently have taken down, pending further consideration.

Please note that I do not speak for the "Canadian Legal Blogging Community." As far as I know, there is no  organized community of "blawgers", which many of us prefer to be called.  I do, however, speak for myself as a member of the Blawgosphere, which is made up of a number of communities, but is ,otherwise, amorphous and Matrix-like in its various manifestations.

According to your company's website bio, you are not a lawyer. Please then allow me to take the liberty of explaining to you some fundamental legal concepts that you should consider going forward with your business marketing plan strategy as it relates to the Blawgosphere. Of course, this in no way constitutes legal advice. You ought to retain a lawyer. Perhaps, as described by your business colleague, Mark C. Robins, on Twitter, you may find a lawyer willing to assist you on your "national legal referral service and directory".

In your apologia, you write,

"I created this aggregator as a way to facilitate this mission, and as a way to give back to the legal industry. You all write such fantastic, leading edge, and topical legal information, and I truly felt I was providing an additional venue for your information to be heard and easily shared amongst yourselves and with the public."

I have no reason to doubt your intentions as anything less than altruistic. Your mission statement says so. It is a material representation that I intend to rely upon. Hence, I will extend to you the benefit of my doubt that you wish your company to become the information hub for Canadian lawyers and the public. 

The problem, from my vantage point, is that the devil is in the details.

A Modest Blawging Milestone: 20,000 Unique Visitors

I am proud to announce that The Trial Warrior blog has now over 20,000 unique visitors!

With so many blawgs to choose from and so little time in the day, I am deeply grateful to everyone who has expressed even a passing interest in this personal blawg of mine. 

I also am thankful to my colleagues in the blawgosphere; many of whom I have had the privilege to appear as guest blawgers over the last year. 

As many will attest, blawging is not part of the job description. Lawyers, law professors and law students all have competing professional and personal commitments. Even those lawyers or law firms that see blawging as primarily a legal marketing platform understand the serious time commitment involved.

I am especially indebted to those blawgers who write for the sake of the love of writing: you know who you are. Whether or not you have obtained the recognition you deserve; for what it's worth, I salute you. 

We are all enriched by your efforts to promote and enhance the public's perception of the legal profession through your demonstrated professional collegiality, originality and analytical rigor. Without you, the rule of law becomes the law of rule. 

All the best,

Antonin I. Pribetic

Won Kidane on “The Status of Private Military Contractors Under International Humanitarian Law”

Won Kidane (Seattle University School of Law) has posted a new article on SSRN called, “The Status of Private Military Contractors Under International Humanitarian Law” (Denver Journal of International Law and Policy, Vol. 38, p. 361, 2010). Here is the abstract:

One of the serious problems that the new administration faces is undoubtedly the regulation and use of private military contractors in “the war on terror.” The private military industry is largely unregulated at the national level. Its status under international law is also poorly understood. This article assesses the legal status of this industry, characterizes the various functions, demonstrates the difficulty of regulating the industry as a unitary entity, and identifies the appropriate set of international standards that the new administration and Congress as well as the larger international legal community could employ in evaluating regulatory options.

"Big Mouth Strikes Again": Social Media and Client Waiver of Privilege

John Gregory's post on slaw.ca briefly discusses the recent California decision in Lenz v. Universal Music Corp., Case No. C 07-03783 JF (PVT) (N.D. Cal.; Oct. 22, 2010) dealing with a client's waiver of privilege on social media: see also, Venkat Balasubramani's post on  Eric Goldman's Technology & Marketing Blog and [pdf link] and Tom O'Toole's E-Commerce and Tech Law Blog.

In classic Socratic style, befitting Professor Charles W. Kingsfield, Jr., Gregory slyly asks:

"Do you advise your clients to restrict their discussions of their case? If not, would you do so after seeing this decision?"

He's kidding, of course. Unless you want to be sued for professional negligence, or possibly even disbarred for gross incompetence, the question is rhetorical.

Nevertheless, having read the decision of United States Magistrate Judge Trumbull in Lenz v. Universal Music, and the Plaintiff's Motion for Relief from October 22, 2010 Order (courtesy of Tom O'Toole's post), there are a few significant differences between American and Canadian approaches to the law of privilege worth noting here.

Katherine MacLellan (thecourt.ca): "Out, Damned Spot!...Chaudhary v. AG of Can. et al."

 For those who have a keen interest in wrongful convictions, Charter litigation and procedural justice, and who also appreciate fine legal writing, I  highly commend this post by 2nd year Osgoode Hall Law School J.D. student, Katherine MacLellan over at thecourt.ca entitled: 

"Out, Damned Spot! The AG’s office says the evidence is gone – but there’s evidence of wrongdoing all over in Chaudhary v. Attorney General of Canada et al."

Why Bother Blawging?

Over at Spam Notes, Venkat Balasubramani (whose lengthy name rivals my own) poses the perennial question: "A Topic That Refuses to Die - What Drives the Law Blogger?What Drives the Law Blogger?".

He mentions the "law marketing" and "client development" angles, which appear to be the driving forces behind most new lawyers (and many older ones) frantically jumping on the social media bandwagon. The fact that "Return on Investment" or "ROI" is difficult, if not impossible, to measure has no deterrent effect. "Publish or Perish", once the mantra of academia, has now become the rallying cry of social media law marketing types.

Balasubramani concludes:

"...I'll also add two more reasons to why people blog. First, because it's fun. Bloggers are an opinionated crowd, and we like to get our opinions out there. Second, lawyers are creatures of affirmation. We live and die by the proverbial pats on the head, or by knowing we've gotten the better of someone's argument. For better or worse, these are rewards in themselves. A third reason may be to contribute to the "collective consciousness," but I don't have any delusions that I have the necessary altruistic instincts for this to be a legitimate reason.

Finally, I'll agree with both of them on the core point. Revenue isn't even on my list of reasons of why to blog. Your mileage may vary, and I'm no "rainmaker consultant," but the fact that no one has coherently put forth any data on what blogs clients read, or anything persuasive on the relationship between blogging and revenue should tell you all you need to know. An even more compelling metric for me (and I've said this before) is that when I sit down and tally the hours spent blogging, I can't even think about doing the cost/benefit. It's easily 3 or 4 vacations worth. And I take my vacations seriously.

Balasubramani is right: there is no coherent, verifiable data on what clients read or any research that correlates blogging and revenue generation. 

So what, you ask? Plenty.