Best legal blogs of 2018
Legal Evolution
Indiana University Maurer School of Law professor Bill Henderson, a 2009 ABA Journal Legal Rebel, covers successful innovation in the industry; 2018 ABA Journal Legal Rebel Jae Um is a regular contributor. “Easily the best, most thoughtful, useful content about the legal profession available on the web today,” writes Ivy Grey, director of business strategy at WordRake.
The Legal Geeks
E-discovery lawyers Josh Gilliland and Jessica Mederson’s blog explores legal questions that emerge from the plotlines of sci-fi TV shows and movies. For instance: “Was Ant-Man’s Plea Agreement Valid?” These bloggers also took their show on the road this year, staging a mock court-martial for Poe Dameron, based on the character’s actions in Star Wars: The Last Jedi at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. Readers with their own ideas for posts are urged to submit them for publication.
Proskauer on Advertising Law
NEW: This blog, edited by New York-based lawyers in Proskauer’s False Advertising & Trademark Group, covers advertising law cases at the appellate level, analyzes their significance and provides the lawyers’ takes on whether the courts reached the correct decisions.
Race and the Law Prof Blog
“A good place to go for discussions of interest to minority legal scholars and scholarship,” Tushnet writes. “The minisymposium on Black Panther was a fun read.”
Jeremy W. Richter
This Birmingham, Alabama-based law firm associate writes some insurance-defense posts here, but most cover the practice of law rather than the law itself—and readers find them practical and useful. Topics include what insurance companies want from outside counsel and how to keep up with time entries.
SHARIAsource
This blog of Harvard Law School’s Islamic Legal Studies research venture takes note of recent scholarship related to Islamic law as well as analysis and commentary on court rulings and legislation that affects some practicing Muslims. Some posts highlight and link to content in SHARIAsource’s research portal.
Take Care
NEW: At Take Care, law scholars provide legal analysis of President Donald Trump’s administration. “Sometime in the future, perhaps sooner than we imagine, we will look back on this moment in history and marvel that we made it through,” says Frank Wu, a professor at the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. “This blog is for those who are trying to ensure that we emerge on the other side with democracy still functioning.”
The TMCA.com
Dorsey & Whitney’s blog on trademarks, copyrights and advertising (get it?) covers conferences, decisions by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board and analyzes appellate rulings in these areas. But it also brings the fun, covering news such as the Grumpy Cat copyright case and online call-outs of copycats in the fashion industry.
The TTABlog
Tushnet says: “TTABlog finds interesting trademark issues at the [Trademark Trial and Appeal Board], including the often amusing ‘Would You Have Appealed?’ category, as well as ‘pick which rejection got reversed’ entries that reveal some of the basic uncertainties of trademark law.”
Understanding the ADA
Georgia lawyer and consultant William D. Goren blogs on topics related to Americans with Disabilities Act compliance: He analyzes new appellate rulings as well as older rulings that have been key to his own cases, and he tackles topics such as how a company should handle website accessibility litigation. (The upshot: Do you want your company to be a test case before the U.S. Supreme Court?)
Verdict
Every weekday, these scholars take deep dives into the big issues of the day, such as the expected impact of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominations, the clergy sex abuse crisis as well as sex abuse brought to light by #MeToo. Two Verdict authors also wrote a three-part series this fall exploring the constitutionality of California’s mandate that women be placed on corporate boards.
Who Is My Employee?
NEW: BakerHostetler partner Todd Lebowitz’s blog on independent contractor misclassification disputes and joint employment issues “gives good illustrations as to some of the incongruousness and absurdities of labor law enforcement,” says Anthony Kaylin, vice president at the American Society of Employers in Livonia, Michigan. “I have been following for a long time and really enjoy the analogies and learn much to keep me up to date as to the interpretation of law.”
Zen and the Art of Legal Networking
NEW: Posts by law firm network executive Lindsay Griffiths offer lawyers detailed approaches on how to nurture the professional relationships that can bring in business and how to identify and confront their interpersonal barriers to success. “This blog is outstanding, thoughtful and useful,” says Ivy Grey, director of business strategy for WordRake.
Sidebar
Blog judges
Ivy Grey is director of business strategy for WordRake, professional editing and proofreading software for Microsoft Word. She is the creator of American Legal Style for PerfectIt, which is a proofreading add-in for Microsoft Word.
Photo courtesy of Ivy Grey
Rebecca Tushnet is the inaugural Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment at Harvard Law School. Her work focuses on copyright, trademark and advertising law. Tushnet’s 43(B)log is in the ABA Journal’s Blawg 100 Hall of Fame.
Photo courtesy of Rebecca Tushnet
Mark Walsh is a contributing writer to Education Week. He also writes about the Supreme Court for the ABA Journal and is a regular contributor to SCOTUSblog.
Photo courtesy of Mark Walsh
Frank H. Wu is the William L. Prosser Distinguished Professor at the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. He blogged at HuffPost for five years, currently writes for the Daily Journal, Diverse Issues in Higher Education, Film Inquiry, 35mmc and The Run Commuter.
Photo of Frank Wu by Jim Block
