Lawyers are risk-averse. They frequently fail, however, to consider the risk of alternatives.
Cutting a Winning Edge in Law Firm Blogs, an article about large law firm blogs illustrates this point. A blog-less BigLaw firm’s spokesperson is quoted, re firm blogs:
“They take effort, we have to generate the content and there’s a big issue when you’re communicating with the public: Are you giving legal advice?” If you say something a reader interprets as advice, you’re then in a situation you don’t want to be in.”
Never mind that e-mail alerts, articles, and content for web sites all take effort to generate. And never mind that the firm has large amounts of content on its public web site that readers might interpret as advice. Is this firm already in a situation it does not want to be in?
Fortunately, the rest of the article is a pretty good and well-balanced view of the pros and cons of BigLaw blogs. It also includes practical steps to take to minimize risks.