The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog

Navigating Illinois Trial Practice by Category

Since I started this weblog in January, 2004, I've written 689 posts. Most of these posts are assigned to one or more categories. You can get to these categories by clicking on the list that appears on the left side of the weblog. I've also listed the categories here, followed by the number of weblog posts that have been assigned to each:

Appeal 25
Books 15
Class Actions 21
Closing Argument 26
Courtroom Tech 29
Cross-Examination 31
Current Affairs 4
Damages 14
Depositions 107
Direct Examination 9
Discovery 68
Evidence 37
Experts 39
Instructions 8
Law Online 30
Legal Writing 37
Mediation/Arbitration 8
Miscellaneous 56
Motion Practice 33
Opening Statement 17
Pleadings 5
Requests for Admissions 8
Settlement 5
Trial Style 29
Voir Dire 33
Web/Tech 20
Weblogs 16

One other thing to point out: despite the title of this weblog, the majority of my posts aren't limited to Illinois. I probably should have called this the Trial Practice Weblog, but then the Illinois-specific posts wouldn't have been confusing. Consider the current weblog title a compromise of sorts.

BlawgWorld 2007 Is Here

First, a photo. If you click on it, it will take you to a free pdf download of BlawgWorld 2007--

What's it all about? The press release from TechnoLawyer will give you a good idea--

BlawgWorld 2007 features a remarkable collection of essays from the legal blogosphere and the 2007 TechnoLawyer Problem/Solution Guide offers a new way for law firms to find answers to management and technology questions.

BlawgWorld 2007 enables lawyers to find legal blogs of interest fast. More than 120,000 blogs launch every day, many of them in the legal sector. Lawyers clearly do not have the time to read every legal blog (blawg). But many blawgs contain excellent content pertaining to their practice of law.

The first edition of BlawgWorld, release in November 2005, was downloaded more than 45,000 times. The second edition is expected to have an even larger audience because of its wider distribution . . .

Fifty percent larger than its predecessor, BlawgWorld 2007 contains thought-provoking essays from 77 of the most influential blawgs. Handpicked by each respective blogger, the essays provide a window into their blawgs, making it easy for lawyers to figure out which ones merit their personal ongoing attention.

Follow these links for more information: a complete copy of BlawgWorld 2007; the full TechnoLawyer press release.

Related posts from Legal Underground:

1. "BlawgWorld 2006: A Book About Law-Related Weblogs from TechnoLawyer"

2. "BlawgWorld 2006 Now Available for Free Download."

Navigating Illinois Trial Practice by Category

Since I started this weblog in January, 2004, I've written 622 posts. Most of these posts are assigned to one or more categories. You can get to these categories by clicking on the list that appears on the left side of the weblog. I've also listed the categories here, followed by the number of weblog posts that have been assigned to each:

Appeal 23
Books 14
Class Actions 21
Closing Argument 26
Courtroom Tech 25
Cross-Examination 30
Current Affairs 4
Damages 14
Depositions 91
Direct Examination 9
Discovery 58
Evidence 34
Experts 36
Instructions 7
Law Online 29
Legal Writing 28
Mediation/Arbitration 8
Miscellaneous 46
Motion Practice 33
Opening Statement 16
Pleadings 5
Requests for Admissions 7
Settlement 5
Trial Style 28
Voir Dire 29
Web/Tech 20
Weblogs 15

One other thing to point out: despite the title of this weblog, the majority of my posts aren't limited to Illinois. I probably should have called this the Trial Practice Weblog, but then the Illinois-specific posts wouldn't have been confusing. Consider the current weblog title a compromise of sorts.

Navigating Illinois Trial Practice by Category

Since I started this weblog in January, 2004, I've written 572 posts. Each of these posts was assigned to one or more categories. You can get to these categories by clicking on the list that appears on the left side of the weblog. I've also listed the categories here, followed by the number of weblog posts that have been assigned to each:

Appeal 23
Books 10
Class Actions 21
Closing Argument 20
Courtroom Tech 24
Cross-Examination 26
Current Affairs
Damages 13
Depositions 69
Direct Examination 9
Discovery 52
Evidence 30
Experts 31
Instructions 7
Law Online 26
Legal Writing 26
Mediation/Arbitration 8
Miscellaneous 40
Motion Practice 33
Opening Statement 14
Pleadings 5
Requests for Admissions 7
Settlement 5
Trial Style 27
Voir Dire 26
Web/Tech 17
Weblogs 15

One other thing to point out: despite the title of this weblog, the majority of my posts aren't limited to Illinois. I probably should have called this the Trial Practice Weblog, but then the Illinois-specific posts wouldn't have been confusing. Consider the current weblog title a compromise of sorts.

The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog Wins an Award . . . Almost

The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog was a finalist for "Blawgger of the Year" in the Technolawyer 2006 @ Awards. Congratulations to my co-finalist Dennis Kennedy, and to the winners, Stephen Albainy-Jenei and Karlyn Schnapp of Patent Baristas.

The Technolawyer @ Awards include a number of non-weblog categories such as "Favorite Case/Practice Management Solution," "Favorite Document Management Solution," and "Favorite Electronic Discovery Solution." There are certainly a lot of links to follow and products to explore. When I get a chance, I'll probably start with TimeMap, winner of "Favorite Trial Presentation Solution."

UPDATE 6/6: I should have noted, as Dennis Kennedy did, that the "Blawgger of the Year" award was "an award based on the number of downloads of the BlawgWorld ebook tracked to links from various blogs." I posted about BlawgWorld here.

A New Trial Practice Resource

Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog is a new weblog published by the Maryland law firm of Miller and Zois, which was previously featured here in "Lawyers Who Share Their Expertise for Free." The earlier post was about the firm's website and its "Maryland Personal Injury Attorney Help Center." With the Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog, the firm is adding blogging to its constellation of online services.

Recent posts at the new weblog include "Cross Examining IME Doctor on Bias" and "Independent Medical Exams." Even though the weblog is aimed at plaintiffs' lawyers, I think defense lawyers might learn something there too--for example, how the opposition thinks.

Weblogs and Lawyers: The Basics

In a cover story in May's Illinois Bar Journal, Helen W. Gunnarsson answers lots of frequently-asked questions about law-related weblogs in her article "Do We Blawg and How?"

Why would a busy attorney start a blog? You might assume that bloggers' reasons are primarily mercenary, but according to most bloggers interviewed for this article, that assumption would be wrong. Rather, most bloggers say that they blog because they enjoy it, not because they expect their blogs to enhance their incomes, though they welcome any additional business blogging brings.

In resarching her article, Gunnarsson was nice enough to ask me why I started this weblog. Here's what I said--

I started The Illinois Trial Practice Weblog to give back some of the benefit of my experience to younger lawyers. When I started out as a young associate in a large firm, I really appreciated the older lawyers who were willing to answer my questions about practice issues.

Though the issue of what motivates lawyers to publish weblogs is complex, I agree with Gunnarsson that lawyers who write weblogs wouldn't keep going unless they enjoyed it. Since part of the enjoyment comes from having readers, be sure to check out the many other weblogs featured in the Gunnarsson's article, some of which you may not be familiar with. There's a list of these weblogs with direct links in a post I did at Legal Underground.

Are You New to Legal Weblogs? Do You Have a Weblog of Your Own and Want to Make It Better?

It was my turn to host Blawg Review this week, which I did at Legal Underground in my post "Blawg Review #38."

It's an issue of Blawg Review that serves dual purposes:

• It's an introduction to a lot of other legal weblogs (though I unfortunately couldn't include all those that I would otherwise recommend);

• It's a long list of tips for better blogging.

Hope you like it!

A Big Book of Legal Blogs

Here's how TechnoLawyer.com describes its new ebook, published today--

According to various studies, approximately 80,000 new blogs launch every day, including dozens of legal blogs (blawgs). No one knows how many blawgs exist, but whatever the number, monitoring them would amount to a full-time job.

For this reason, we've published BlawgWorld 2006: Capital of Big Ideas, a TechnoLawyer eBook designed to take you on a journey through 51 of the most influential blawgs.

BlawgWorld 2006 includes posts from both this weblog and Legal Underground. You'll also recognize a number of other legal weblogs. The book is easy to download and read --just go to this page and register (for free) with TechnoLawyer.

UPDATE: There's lots of commentary (and criticism) of the BlawgWorld project in a similar post I did at Legal Underground.

Lawyers and Weblogs

Last week, I spoke in Chicago at a lawyers-and-weblogs conference called BlawgThink 2005. The conference was organized by lawyers Dennis Kennedy and Matt Homann.

At Legal Underground, I wrote in more detail about BlawgThink 2005 and linked to some posts by other weblog writers. If you're interested in learning more about the goings-on, you can start there.