Blog Or Law Review Articles More Valuable For Landing Jobs?
For years, there has been criticism that no one reads law review articles. Lawyers, judges, and mainly law professors spend a lot of time writing these in-depth articles for a very, very small audience.
Blogs, or blawgs as they are known in the legal world, have taken over as the vehicle for instantaneously informing the public of a new case or analysis on a particular area of law. At this point, law reviews can't really compete with the instant dissemination of a blog because, generally, law reviews still use the old model of print publication. And print takes time.
There has even been talk that blogs are more valuable than law review articles to land jobs. Pat Ellis, spoke to his alma mater, Michigan State University School of Law, about his employment success that he attributes, in part, to his blog.
"Ellis told the audience that one blog post of his shared on social media brought far more attention and conversations with lawyers and law professors than a law review article would."
In addition to the networking attention that blogs can bring, "[b]logging was also more enjoyable for Ellis because of its more engaging style. No long articles that needed to be footnoted. How long would that take? Who was going to read such an article?"
One of the important takeaways from his discussion is that "[t]he things historically thought of value by law students — which law school, law review, moot court, who you know — were no longer as important. Developing an online presence via networking was more important, per Ellis."
As for the practical side of blogging, "Ellis advised having a good blog design, great content, linking to social, tracking visitors, posting regularly, and writing in your voice."
It's probably true that blogging brings about more networking attention. But one of the main benefits of blogging is the professional development that it provides. To blog, I must stay up-to-date on the happenings of libraries, law libraries, and law schools, and it forces me to think about the issues facing the profession.
Blogs, or blawgs as they are known in the legal world, have taken over as the vehicle for instantaneously informing the public of a new case or analysis on a particular area of law. At this point, law reviews can't really compete with the instant dissemination of a blog because, generally, law reviews still use the old model of print publication. And print takes time.
There has even been talk that blogs are more valuable than law review articles to land jobs. Pat Ellis, spoke to his alma mater, Michigan State University School of Law, about his employment success that he attributes, in part, to his blog.
"Ellis told the audience that one blog post of his shared on social media brought far more attention and conversations with lawyers and law professors than a law review article would."
In addition to the networking attention that blogs can bring, "[b]logging was also more enjoyable for Ellis because of its more engaging style. No long articles that needed to be footnoted. How long would that take? Who was going to read such an article?"
One of the important takeaways from his discussion is that "[t]he things historically thought of value by law students — which law school, law review, moot court, who you know — were no longer as important. Developing an online presence via networking was more important, per Ellis."
As for the practical side of blogging, "Ellis advised having a good blog design, great content, linking to social, tracking visitors, posting regularly, and writing in your voice."
It's probably true that blogging brings about more networking attention. But one of the main benefits of blogging is the professional development that it provides. To blog, I must stay up-to-date on the happenings of libraries, law libraries, and law schools, and it forces me to think about the issues facing the profession.
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