Best legal blogs of 2018
Great legal blogs go deeper into practice niches than the mainstream legal press and share well-written personal insights. Here we’re highlighting 10 blogs that are new to our Web 100 list, 20 making a repeat appearance and five joining the Blawg 100 Hall of Fame.
Ad Law Access
NEW: For attorneys looking to stay abreast of trends in consumer protection, Ad Law Access provides analysis of issues from the labeling of gummy vitamins to whether leaving empty space in packages of chips and candy is misleading. “A nice source—from Kelley Drye & Warren—for developments in advertising law, including cases decided by the advertising industry self-regulatory body,” says Harvard Law School professor and blogger Rebecca Tushnet.
The Appeal
NEW: This blog launched in 2017 as In Justice Today, and it was rebranded this year. The Appeal and its two companion podcasts produce original reporting that examines cases of prosecutorial misconduct, overcharging and abuses of power in the criminal justice system. A particular focus is the toll mass incarceration is taking on the nation.
Appellate Advocacy
NEW: University of Arizona legal writing professor Tessa Dysart and a band of academic contributors blog about how to tackle drafting appellate briefs; the latest and greatest reference resources; and things as fundamental as the paragraph as a unit of persuasion. The blog has “good summaries of appellate advocacy issues,” says Mark Walsh, a freelance journalist who covers the U.S. Supreme Court for the ABA Journal and other publications.
Artificial Lawyer
Consultant Richard Tromans covers developments related to artificial intelligence in law. In August at his blog, he launched the AL 100 Legal Tech Directory to provide information to law firm IT professionals and others about the top legal tech companies and applications.
Asbestos Case Tracker
At this blog, lawyers from Goldberg Segalla do one thing and do it well: They cover the latest asbestos-related rulings, often on the day that they are issued.
Best Practices for Legal Education
HALL OF FAME: At this blog, law professors discuss what skills and qualities—beyond knowing the law—the future lawyers in their classrooms really need and the nitty-gritty of how to teach them. Recent posts discuss suggestions for bar exam reform, approaches to take with Generation Z law students who were raised on the internet, and what law students remember about professors decades later.
Big Law Business
This site focuses on news coming out of the nation’s largest corporate law departments and the law firms they hire. Posts cover significant job moves by lawyers in these circles; law firm expansions, mergers and bankruptcies; and which powerhouse lawyers are getting hired for high-profile cases.
Business Blog
NEW: The Federal Trade Commission “doesn’t hide the ball when it comes to business guidance,” Tushnet says. “This blog provides updates on FTC cases against various abuses and points to relevant guidance.”
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
