Award-Winning Contract Drafting Blog

Here’s an outstanding addition to any formal skills training or on-the-job experience: Adams on Contract Drafting. This blog uniquely focuses on the language, not the content, of business contracts—how to express what you want to say in “modern and effective contract language.”

This award-winning blog is the creation of Ken Adams, an internationally recognized consultant and speaker, a former corporate law practitioner who taught the first contract drafting course at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and the author of A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting, published by the American Bar Association (latest edition, 2013).  For anyone interested in how to express effectively what you mean to say in business contracts, Adams on Contract Drafting is definitely worth checking out.

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Constitutional Law Prof Blog

Returning 2Ls are diving into Constitutional Law textbooks as the semester begins.  Here's a good way to get out of the case book, see what some other Con Law professors are saying about the latest court decisions and other developments, and get some informational background and perspectives for class discussion: read Constitutional Law Prof Blog. The blog features posts written by Professors Steven Schwinn (John Marshall Law School, Chicago) and Ruthann Robson (CUNY School of Law), along with comments by other professors in the field and links to media commentary.  It is part of the Law Professor Blogs Network, "the nation's only network of legal blogs edited primarily by law professors." One or more blogs in the network may cover subjects of special interest to you.   

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Law, Past and Present

The Law Library of Congress has a popular blog, In Custodia Legis, written by a team of 15 librarians.  It covers modern legal trends, international law sources, and much more, in addition to gems of legal history that you won't find anywhere else.  Yesterday's "Pic of the Week" is sure to bring a smile to the faces of today's law students, because it shows how little some things have changed since the days of their medieval predecessors.  If you've ever been bored during a class lecture with a heavy casebook open on the desk, you can relate to the medieval law student who created a doodle of his boring instructor right on this page of Justinian's Institutes, the introductory textbook for Roman Law.  And if you want to find out how Richard III, the king whose remains were recently unearthed in an English parking lot, used the law of his day to take revenge on enemies and expand his legendary reputation as a cruel monarch, Thursday's post will fill you in on that subject. Count on these librarians for some different takes on the legal world.     

Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Blawg 100 Voting

Voting is open in ABA Journal's Blawg 100. ABA Journal has named the best legal blogs of 2010, the voting is to decide which of those are the best.

Students, yes, people really do read blogs about practicing law. Lots of them. In addition to being a good forum for academic communication, blogs are also a good way for attorneys to keep abreast of developments in a particular area of law, or just a good way for attorneys to commiserate.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Blawgs: Still Around, Still Useful

Perennial legal technology commentator Robert Ambrogi had a recent article in Law Technology News declaring that, although the universe of legal commentary and analysis is full of abandoned or useless legal blogs (or "blawgs"), there are also a number of excellent legal blogs out there, and, like it or not, legal blogs have become a very important source for legal news and analysis.

See our older post on how to use blawgs for research. One link we neglected to add there was the academic legal blawg search from Cornell Law Library's Legal Research Engine.

To keep track of blogs, use an RSS reader.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

ATL -- The Nine Lives of Blawg Posts and Legal Articles

Today Above The Law has a great post with tips for how attorneys can get the most out of any legal writing that they do. Basically this involves using different social media to share articles and republishing the same article in multiple formats.

This advice could be useful for both clerks and new associates at law firms, and solo and small firm practitioners who are trying to build a practice. As ATL notes, the work of writing legal articles often falls to clerks and new associates (even though firm partners often share or take the by-lines), so getting more readers for an article can give clerks and new associates more professional exposure. And solo and small firm practitioners can make themselves appear big and important (and thus attract more clients) by writing articles that seem to have been written by seasoned experts.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Futurelawyer

If you want a quick and fun way to keep up with new legal technology and technology-related legal issues, including cool new features and developments in mobile devices, email, and legal software, try attorney Rick Georges' blog, Futurelawyer. Georges is a Florida practitioner, author, and adjunct law professor with an avid interest in technology and its impact on both the law and the work and lives of lawyers. The site has a sense of humor and a lawyer-centered focus on what technology works best. You can also set up an RSS feed.


Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Best 100 Blawgs

I like to prowl the Web thinking that I'm your favorite library cat (at least of the virtual variety), and that this is one of your favorite blogs. But taking a few minutes to discover a new favorite among the hundreds of legal blogs by attorneys and law professors, especially in subject or practice specialties and in career development, can enrich a law student's academic life and professional future. It can also make a great study break during exams.

Earlier this week the American Bar Association announced its Third Annual ABA Journal Blawg 100, representing the 100 best legal blogs for 2009 as selected by the ABA Journal editors. All 100, arranged by categories such as News, Careers, Legal Theory, Practice Specific, and Legal Tech, with companion Twitter feeds, are here to explore. You can also vote for your favorite blog in each category after completing a brief registration. The winners will be announced in the February edition of the ABA Journal. And, if you have a suggestion for a good legal blog to add to our blogroll, or to feature in a future post, let us know.




Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Split Circuits

To follow up from last Sunday's post on using blawgs for research, I've just discovered Split Circuits, a blawg dedicated to tracking . . . yes, circuit splits. This blog is good fodder for academics, paper-writers, and Supreme Court watchers.



Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat

Blawgs for Research

The world of legal scholarship has expanded to include more than just law journal articles and treatises. There is now a wealth of legal commentary--much of it good--on law blogs, or "blawgs" as some people call them.

Blawgs can be particularly helpful for students writing research papers related to current or ongoing topics. If you are following a case or a new development in the law, there may be one or more professors or attorneys who specialize in that area of the law blogging about it.

Here are some places to get started looking for blawgs:

Justia's Blawg Search: Justia has a fairly comprehensive directory of blawgs--using this search, you can search that directory for blawg posts containing any keywords,

ABA Journal Blawg Directory: This directory groups blawgs by area of law,

Law Professor Blogs Network: All of the contributors to these subject-specific blawgs are law professors. These are some of the best law blogs around.





Ernster, the Virtual Library Cat