I had the pleasure Tuesday night of joining a panel of speakers on blogging at the New York City Bar Association. Our host was blogging guru Kevin O’Keefe (Real Lawyers Have Blogs), and also sitting on the panel were Scott Greenfield (Simple Justice) and Dan Clement (New York Divorce Report). Each has a summary of the event at the above links.

The evening was a pleasure, and not just because these are really easy CLE credits for me. While I can’t contribute the way Kevin can on the technical aspects of blogging — I had a web guy set up this template for me and do all the technical heavy lifting — I was able to contribute what I know on the subject of creating content. In that regard, my post on 12 tips to better blogging served as a summary of what I think works, and doesn’t work, in this medium.

But the one thing that jumped out at me above all else were the technical questions on getting started and the use of RSS feeds. Kevin spent a long time on this, which is ironic since just five minutes of playing with a feed reader will teach you more than listening to an hour of talk. RSS is one of those things that are best taught by actually doing it. All one needs is some basic guidance on where to find a feed reeder, and then a kid’s desire to play and have a little fun.

And it is that same fun factor, I might add, that makes for good blogging. Because without the desire to do it, the blog will fall flat. This space, for example, as been relatively quiet in recent months because I’ve been busy elsewhere, and I refuse to post something just for the sake of posting. I would rather the space be silent than fill it with nonsense. Because that would take the fun out of it.

I’ve been tagged in an Internet meme by David Harlow at HealthBlawg. The objective here is to name five non-law blogs that I find interesting, then tag five other lawyers to do the same.

It probably comes as no surprise that many of the non-law blogs I read tend toward the medical, since much of my practice over the last 20 years has dealt with medical malpractice issues.

So here goes:

Kevin, M.D. – Dr. Kevin Pho is king of the medical blogosphere aggegators. He is to medicine what Howard Bashman’s How Appealing is to law;

Pharmalot – All things pharmaceutical, by Ed Silverman;

Capitol Confidential – Political blog of the Albany Times Union, keeping you up to date on event’s in this state’s capitol, which is no small detail where law and medicine intersect;

Respectful Insolence: The miscellaneous ramblings of a surgeon/scientist on medicine,
quackery, science, pseudoscience, history, and pseudohistory (and anything else that interests him);

Musings of a Highly Trained Monkey – You won’t find this emergency room nurse’s blog on the list of too many lawyers, but when she gets on a roll, she can quickly earn the laugh, or the teary eye, depending on the day;

So who is being tagged to come up with five of their own?

• Quizlaw: Who will probably hate me for this tag;

• TortDeform: Who will probably find a way to have a good time;

• Drug and Device Law – Just to see if I can throw them off-topic (all preemption, all the time) for a day;

• My Shingle: Carolyn Elefant always has something new and interesting;

• Simple Justice: Scott Greenfield may well be the most prolific writer in the blawgosphere, churning out long posts in the time it takes me to brush my teeth. He claimed he couldn’t do it the other day when tagged by Anne Reed at Deliberations. But I think he’s full of it. So he’s tagged again.

This little blog on personal injury law that I started in November 2006 undergoes a change today. I’ve become an advertising affiliate of American Lawyer Media’s (ALM) Law.com Blog Network.

Yes, I see a raised hand out there in the back…

Q: What the hell?
A: Agreed.

Q: No, I mean really, what the hell? Why are you doing this?
A: Well, first because they asked. I’m a sucker for flattery you know.

Q: So if someone asked you to jump off the Brookl–
A: Jumping off bridges has nothing to do with law. ALM, on the other hand, publishes the New York Law Journal (my hometown paper of record), American Lawyer, National Law Journal and a slew of other legal products.

Q: But aren’t most ALM products geared toward BigLaw stuff?
A: A healthy percentage. In fact, up until now there weren’t any personal injury blogs in their affiliate network of 30 blogs.

Q: So you said yes because you could claim to be the first PI blog in the country to be in their network?
A: I told you I was a sucker for flattery. I’ve got an ego like everyone else. Weren’t you listening?

Q: Listening won’t help. This isn’t a podcast.
A: Go get your own blog if you want to be snarky.

Q: I’m thinking of starting the Noo Yawk Personal Injury Law Blog to compete with you.
A: OK, you can stay. Just play nice.

Q: I see that ad in the side bar. And also a box with the Law.com news feed. So they get to advertise their stuff on your blog that you slaved over?
A: Well, the ad is new. But I was running their news feed here from the start, just as I do on my web site. I ran it because it’s good. Same content now, just in a fancy looking box.

Q: Do they now own you?
A: No. I write what I want. They don’t own any part of the blog. This is an advertising affiliation agreement. I create content in the personal injury field that they hopefully like and promote in some way. They expand their reach a tad by (hopefully) reaching my existing readership, and I expand mine by (hopefully) reaching theirs. Maybe they’ll stumble on the greatest hits post and think this is worthy enough to add to their RSS feed.

Q: Why your blog?
A: Good question. One theory is that I threw money, booze and a Las Vegas junket their way. Another theory is that my little corner of the web was able to stand out a bit because many other personal injury blogs have a primary focus on self-promotion, and are quite a bit thin in the actual blogging department. If you have a third theory, I’m game to hear it.

Q:How much do you get out of this advertising deal?
A: Not sure. Maybe enough to buy an occasional six pack of Magic Hat. Mostly, I hope to get more readers. If I’m going to write, having readers is kinda nice. We’re back to that ego thing.

Q: Last year, in your Better Blogging:12 Tips piece, you said that a blogger shouldn’t “uglify” a blog with ads. Are you a hypocrite?
A: I see you’re a long time reader.

Q: You didn’t answer the question.
A: I see you’re a lawyer.

Q: Are you going to answer it?
A: Yes. The vast majority of ads I’ve seen do, in fact, uglify a blog. And that is because most are those wretched little Google ads that sit in the middle of the blog where the actual content is supposed to be. I don’t have a real problem with ads for law books, legal support services, etc., in an appropriate header or sidebar. But those won’t bring in readers and, with few exceptions, the money isn’t enough to push aside content or links. With ALM, however, I am hopeful that new readers will be brought in, and the ads themselves are directly on point. I figure that if it’s good enough for Howard Bashman or Blawg Review, it’s good enough for me. So I’m giving it a try.

Q: That’s it? More readers?
A: And a bit more. On my first year anniversary I wrote that I wanted to do more original pieces, as opposed to commentary on existing stories. So in addition to more readers, being known as part of the ALM Blog Network might give me a smidgen more legitimacy as a media outlet if I’m looking for original content. It can’t hurt.

Q: What next?
A: Regarding what?

Q: The blog.
A: Beats me. Hopefully a good personal injury story will drop into my lap and I’ll get to write about it.

Q: You have a story in mind?
A: No, but if you do, would you please email it to: blog [at] TurkewitzLaw.com

Q: I like the way you did that.
A: Did what?

Q: Ended this rambling fake interview with a request for tips.
A: Hey, I’m in the big leagues now. I need stories. Guest blogs are welcome too.

Personal injury blogs have once again been ignored. This time it comes from the new web directory, Alltop. Constructed by web impresario Guy Kawaskaki, it’s law page is chock full of great law blogs, some mainstream and some in small niches. My quick count shows 105 of them, and it has the potential to be a great resource for people to see who is writing about what in a single glance.

But not a single blog deals with personal injury law as its main subject. Now you would think that with all the yelling and screaming about tort “reform,” jury verdicts, federal preemption, punitive damages and related subjects, that one or two blogs that devote themselves to the subject would be on the list. But they aren’t.

Have we seen this before? Yup. (See: Vote For Me In Blawg 100!! (Oh Wait, You Can’t))

So, in the event that the Alltop law page gets updated, here’s a tip to Guy for a few blogs on the subject to consider:

• Bill Childs (TortsProf)
• John Day (Day on Torts)
• Beck/Herrmann on defending BigDrug and BigDevice (Drug and Device Law)
• Bill Marler on food poisoning (Marler Blog)
• Byron Stier and Howard Erichson (Mass Tort Litigation Blog)
• Perlmutter & Schuelke, publishing weekly personal injury round-ups chock full of links to good personal injury blogs
• TortDeform on civil justice defense

For goodness sakes, pick one or two from the list, or use some of the many other fine ones that I haven’t mentioned. But ignoring an entire field of the law seems to be a mistake if the intent is to aggregate law blogs.

See also:

• Blawgs Get Kawasakied (Blawg Review)
• Blawg Stuff, How To Keep Up (Simple Justice)
• Finding Good Blogs (Deliberations)
• Law Alltop Launches (The Inspired Solo)