Blog to the Future

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For almost a century, the law reviews published by Marquette and the University of Wisconsin Law Schools have provided the legal community with in-depth analyses of the law.

But time may be catching up with the print-based publications.

The days of attorneys thumbing through the latest volume to get case information or expert analysis are long gone, according to some in the legal world, as legal blogs are supplanting law reviews as a resource for timely and practical information.

Attorney Anne W. Reed suggests that attorneys today are interested in obtaining relevant information in minutes, rather than weeks, and reputable legal bloggers provide that service.

“The analysis [attorneys] need is a kind that law reviews never did particularly well, and that’s the role that blogs are taking over: reporting current developments, whether new cases or otherwise; and putting it in context quickly and accurately,” said Reed, who maintains a legal blog called Deliberations.

Fresh and Cheap

Two major reasons for attorneys to opt for blogs over law reviews are accessibility and cost, said Bonnie Shucha, head of reference at the UW Law School Library and founder of WisBlawg, the library’s blog.

It can take months to get an article published in a law review, but mere minutes for a blog post to go up on a Web site.

“Because blogs are so freely available, information can flow around the blogosphere very quickly, allowing lots of people to add to the conversation,” Shucha said in an interview.

“Law reviews, on the other hand, are print-based and expensive — two detriments to the easy flow of information.”

Chicago attorney Mark Herrmann co-authors a product liability blog called the Drug and Device Law Blog and addressed the emergence of legal blogs as an alternative to law reviews at the Wisconsin State Bar Convention on May 8.

While he does not anticipate law reviews becoming extinct anytime soon, Herrmann said that attorneys do not read law reviews to keep up with legal trends.

“The idea that I can put something about a recent case in a law review and have people read it 8 to 10 months from now? Those days are gone,” said Herrmann during the panel discussion.

But Eric J. Weiss, editor-in-chief of Wisconsin Law Review, said the publication still has plenty to offer.

During an interview, he conceded that blogs can instantly offer brief insights into current legal issues, but readers still seek out law reviews for fleshed-out perspectives, and that will never change.

“Blogs are short and quick,” said Weiss. “They can present analysis during oral argument, but they are not thoroughly researched like law review submissions.”

Regarding cost, the Wisconsin Law Review publishes 6 issues annually at a cost of $40, which Weiss said is just to cover printing costs. Though hardcover subscriptions have declined during the past couple years to about 700, Weiss suggested more readers are taking advantage of articles being posted on the law review’s Web site for free.

Print subscriptions for the Marquette Law Review are $30 annually for four issues. Articles are also available online for free at the law review Web site, and annual print subscriptions total about 500, according to an editor.

Credibility

One potential pitfall of legal blogs is the credibility of the writer, something which is generally not an issue with law reviews.

“Unlike a law review article where the reader can be fairly certain that the author is knowledgeable and the information is accurate, blogs have no such assumption of authority,” said Shucha.

Weiss noted that at least four editors review a potential article prior to publication in the Wisconsin Law Review, whereas anyone can write a blog.

“There are issues of credibility and accuracy,” said Weiss. “I might go to a blog to read tidbits about something, but if I want to really know about an issue, I’ll read a law review.”

For law students, law reviews are still required reading, said Shucha, because most of the work done by students and professors is scholarly in nature.

The use of blogs as academic tools is a relatively new concept, added Shucha, and not one which professors and students are completely comfortable with yet.

“I suspect that the same could be said of many attorneys,” said Shucha.

But Reed suggests that most practicing attorneys, for better or worse, do not use the kind of legal writing found in law reviews.

“Either because they’re not interested or because they don’t have time,” said Reed.

Regardless of an attorney’s motivation for reading a blog rather than a law review, Weiss said the two information outlets can be more collaborative than competitive.

“Even though they may be serving different purposes, at the end of day, both expose more readers to more legal info,” said Weiss, who added that the law review may integrate components of a blog in the future.

Reed agreed, and said a successful hybrid of the information is ideal.

“I think one of the best results of the wealth of good blogs is that at their best, they bridge the historical gap between these two kinds of information,” said Reed.