Drug and Device Law talks about what happens when a law firm lawyer creates a successful blog, and the firm then wants to . . . . take it over?  The money quote:


The dynamics of blogging at a law firm must be interesting.  I don't have much of an executive committee whose approval I need to seek and whose decisions I need to abide by, so I cannot speak from personal experience.  (But being a blogger, that won't stop me from expressing an opinion on the subject!)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again.  "Law Firm Blogs" don't really work.  Blogging is all about an individual voice, and a small firm can conceivably have an official blog which is about the size of a group blog.  But a 50 lawyer firm (for example) cannot operate a blog without the blog losing its blogginess.  That's just the nature of the beast.  The individual voice that is essential to any blog will inevitably be inconsistent with the mission of any firm's marketing department, which is to put out the message of "the firm".  Add to this other complications that creep into the mix, such as conflicts issues, whether posters must seek approval, client perception, and finally, compensation and ownership issues. 

It just adds up to being not worth it. 

(NB:  odd how seldom people work out IP issues w/respect to blogs, even lawyers.  This is just a general statement, not having anything to do with the Drug and Device Law post, or the blog referred to in that post.)

Added (here's the relevant bit from the article linked above - this was my take in 2005):

In my opinion, the appeal of a blawg is mostly the personality of the blogger (or bloggers), so it doesn't make sense to have a "corporate blog".  Even the more successful blogs affiliated with corporations are run by individuals (for example, both GM and Boeing have blogs).  Corporate blogs should still heavily reflect the personality of the individual blogger.  Blogging to me is a bit counter-culture.  On that level, it's tough to imagine a blogosphere where corporate blogs live in the center and not on the fringe. 

I think firms will definitely toe the line between newsletter and blog and publish up-to-date daily news that's useful to their clients and which may also generate business for them.  Preston Gates, for example, recently started an e-discovery blog that looks like it will be pretty successful.  I'm sure there are other examples out there.  But I'm not sure how dramatically different their blogs are going to be from their previously existing newsletters and e-mail updates.  I don't envision pitched battles in the comment sections of these blogs or significant linking to other blogs.  I don't envision a lot of "snark".  These are central features of a typical blog.

Also interesting to see which of the blogs on my list of favorites (from 2005) no longer exist!!