Every now and then, you’ll see someone refer to Thomas Paine as a blogger or even as the first blogger.
Now, I’m about as big a fan of the Internet as you’ll find, but even I realize that Paine was writing well before the Internet was invented. However, it is tempting to picture Franklin and Paine hacking a line of kites with keys tied to their strings in a thunderstorm to create a broadband connection and sending out RSS feeds.
I mention this because I’ve just finished reading Harvey Kaye’s Thomas Paine and the Promiose of America. It’s a good book to add to your reading list in this Age of Blogreason.
I’ll note that Kaye does not call Paine the first blogger. His coverage really runs from Paine to Reagan (John Kerry gets one sentence, I believe), so you’ll have to draw your own blog parallels, if you choose to do so.
The book works at two levels. First, it does a good job of covering Paine’s life and works, highlighting major themes. Second, it explores the legacy of Paine and follows Paine’s path from popular Founding Father to being all-but-erased from the history books to re-discovery and adoption by a variety of political figures.
The coverage of the mid to late 1800s can seem a little dry (or maybe that was because I was reading that part late at might), but it’s a fascinating tale and history well worth reacquainting yourself with.
The best recommendation of the book is that it made me want to re-read or read for the first time all of Paine’s works. I understand why bloggers want to claim Paine and non-bloggers see Paine in the blog world. He stands uniquely both before our time and of our time. Kaye’s book makes my list of recommended reads for bloggers.
[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]
Like what you are reading? Check out the other blogs where I post – Between Lawyers (feed) and the LexThink Blog (feed).

OK, some of you had some fun at my expense because I offered a 10% discount to people who booked my electronic discovery seminar (see link below) at the same time there was a Bruce Springsteen show in town if they got me a good ticket for the show. I’ll admit that it was an idea ahead of its time and one not likely to get much traction among law firms. But, you never know.
Well, a new set of concerts has been announced and I’m announcing the same 10% discount offer. Here’s the new concert list. Call me for details.
In the meantime, I’ll be digging into the new Bruce Springsteen: VH-1 Storytellers DVD, which is a fascinating inside view of an artist’s creative process, much like my favorite book of 2004, Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit.
[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]
This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy’s half-day electronic discovery seminar – “Preparing for the New World of Electronic Discovery: Easing Your Transition from Paper to Electronic Discovery.” Contact Dennis today for more information and to schedule a seminar for your firm or legal department.

Yvonne Divita is a great blogger and a great person. I met her in person at the first LexThink conference and learned a lot from talking to her about her area of expertise: marketing to women. But I had long admired her blog before we met.
Today, she mentioned me and my blog by saying about me: “Dennis Kennedy: lawyer extraordinaire — mainly because he’s human; sorry, Dennis, we had to say it.” Let me say that I was triply flattered. First, just by being mentioned by Yvonne on her blog. Second, for being mentioned on a list with some of the bloggers I admire most in the whole darn blogosphere. Third, for the nice comment Yvonne made about me.
Sure ’nuff, though, someone had to ask whether I thought the comment hurt or helped me as a lawyer. I assume the question addresses the “human” comment, not the “lawyer extraordinaire” part.
Now, I have gotten this comment from time to time in my legal career or the common variations: “you’re not like other lawyers” or “you’re too nice to be a lawyer.”
When I ask people what they mean, they’ll say things like I’m helpful, or that I care about people, or that I take the time to explain things so they can understand them, or that I’m, well, human.
Damn, what have the rest of the lawyers been out there doing?
As for the question, I’m still naive enough to believe that being considered “human” has to help my reputation. I’m not ready to believe that we live in a world where it hurts it.
So, Yvonne/Jane, no need to apologize. Your comment made my day.
For those interested in a cool effort to humanize lawyers, take a look at the group blog I’m part of called Between Lawyers. I think that Jane might like that blog too.
[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]
This post brought to you by LexThink(TM) – The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink! – Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world. Coming Soon – LexThink’s BlawgThink 2005.

I must confess at this point that I was hoping for some easier questions for my By Request Day.
Interestingly, this question comes from someone who I believe really does “get” it.
This comment, as you note, might have several meanings.
First, it can simply mean that you agree with a point that the person has been saying for years and rarely finds someone who agrees with the point. This may be a good thing or it may be a bad thing, depending on who is doing the talking. It’s a mixed blessing when someone whom you otherwise think is a wacko starts slapping you on the back and saying that you “get” it.
Generally, however, I think the term gets used to described someone who is able to see the “bigger picture” and appreciate the context in which his field or subject fits. The comment also suggests that you have some ability to see patterns where others don’t realize that they exist. That can be a gift or a curse.
Someone who appreciates the fact that Google currently returns an article on Arnold Schwarzenegger as the first result on a search on “he gets it” probably really does “get” it.
[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]
This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy’s half-day electronic discovery seminar – “Preparing for the New World of Electronic Discovery: Easing Your Transition from Paper to Electronic Discovery.” Contact Dennis today for more information and to schedule a seminar for your firm or legal department.

The questioner clarified the original question with: “Will a majority of attorneys ever use an aggregator as a primary means for collecting information?”
Let me answer this one by telling a little story. In the fall of 2003, I wrote an article called “Beating Information Overload with News Aggregators.” The article initially appeared in the ABA’s Law Practice Management magazine and other places as well.
It’s probably my best effort at explaining, in very practical terms, what the benefits of RSS and news aggregators are to lawyers and others.
Here’s the punch line: I thought the world would change because of my article and lawyers would flock to using RSS and news aggregators.
Lately, people seem to enjoy telling me that I’m still a year or two ahead of the curve on the use of RSS in law.
So, I’m not sure that I’m the best person to answer this question. If I have anything to do with it, the answer will be yes. I think it may take a lot longer than I initially thought.
I look back at that article from time to time. I consider it one of my best articles. I wish it would have had the impact I thought it might have.
We’ll all just have to get the word out about the benefits. Or, perhaps better, take advantage of the benefits and make others curious about the edge we are gaining.
[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]
This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy’s consulting services, featuring RSS and advanced blogging consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.

Note: Yikes! One of the dangers of announcing a “by request day” is getting unexpectedly busy with work and then having my blogging friends taunt me about “where are the by request posts?” I may have to answer the requests over the next few days.
I kind of expected this question. I was out-of-town when Matt Homann posted about Law.com ending his run on the Law.com blog advertising network (a great post, done with humor, insight, and, dare I say, graciousness) and haven’t had the chance to post about it in a thoughtful way before now.
As you know, Matt is both a friend and my partner in LexThink, so it should not surprise you that I come down squarely on Matt’s side in this one.
First of all, I was surprised that any publishing/media company would take any action that was within even a hundred miles of opening itself to the possibility of criticism that it was basing its decisions on continuing membership in the network on the content of what a blogger was writing or that it might be somehow being punishing Matt for what he said or didn’t say. I’m willing to take at face value that Law.com was going in a different direction with its network, that Matt’s blog no longer fit that direction, and that nothing more was happening. However, I know a few people who have privately raised some questions and some eyebrows.
By way of disclosure, I was approached by Law.com to join this blog network very early on and was intrigued by the idea. As it turned out, for some of the same reasons that you don’t often see my articles appearing in American Lawyer Media publications or on Law.com, we simply could not come to terms on the basic contract. From my point of view, there were some deal-breakers and we quickly decided that it simply wouldn’t work out. I can be a real pain in the ass when negotiating on the rights I want to retain in what I write.
We parted on amicable terms – I liked the idea of the network and I suggested other bloggers who I thought might be good candidates for the Law.com network.
Out of that process, I formed a very high opinion of Lisa Stone, who was putting the blog network together, and would be willing to work with her on another project in a heartbeat. In fact, I agree wholeheartedly with the comments Matt made about Lisa in his goodbye post.
Because legal bloggers are looking to “monetize” their blogging efforts, there has always been a lot of interest in the Law.com blog network. For some of the long-time bloggers, however, neither the business model nor the contractual arrangements of the Law.com blog network really work.
However, if you get any group of legal bloggers together, I can almost guarantee that the Law.com blog network will come up as a topic of the conversation in which people are genuinely interested. In every one of these discussions, people will mention several ways that they think that Law.com could improve the network. There is also speculation about when the competitor legal blog networks will develop and what they might look like.
I will always point favorably to Law.com as a first mover and a pioneer in recognizing what was happening in the world of blogs and seeking to create an arrangement that might mutually benefit Law.com and legal bloggers. Bringing in Lisa Stone to put the network together was a brilliant move.
That said, I do have some concerns about what happened with Matt.
If I had been part of the Law.com blog network and Matt would have been let go in the way he was, I would have resigned, noisily, right then and there. That’s me – I’m the theatrical kind. I’m not being critical of the other bloggers in the network, because everyone makes their decisions on their own facts and circumstances, but I am surprised at how little mention I can find about Matt’s departure by the other bloggers (I was a little lazy in my search, but presumably it would have shown up highly in Google).
Hey, it took me a month to write anything, so I’m no role model, but it does raise the question whether Matt’s exit, and the perceived reasons for it, had some kind of “chilling effect” on bloggers in the network. I’d point to Lisa Stone’s post as a good way to handle the matter.
I’m now going to be curious and wonder whether anyone else who leaves the network at this time was asked to leave.
Given Matt’s personal popularity and the wide respect he has among legal bloggers, I suspect that it will become difficult for Law.com to attract high-profile legal bloggers to its network. That will also open the door wider to potential competitor legal blog advertising networks. Competition is a good thing! I’d be happy to hear from anyone putting together a competitor network, as I ‘m sure Matt and other non-Law.com bloggers would be.
Matt’s situation also raises a question (and again I’m surprised that this question arises in the context of an arrangement involving a media/publishing business) about what is really expected in terms of content and editorial control when a blogger joins a blogging network, takes sponsorships or otherwise attempts to “monetize” a blog. I believe from now on lawyer bloggers will want to see guarantees that they can write what they want on their blogs. This issue is becoming more important as many legal bloggers, and Matt is just one example, are using their blogs to talk about a variety of topics that may not be considered “law-related” by some.
I honestly don’t know every little detail in Matt’s situation, but, for the reasons I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I’ll accept his version on his blog as the truth for purposes of answering this question. I simply raise some questions, not criticisms, that struck me (and others I have talked with) when I read Matt’s post. My best guess is that while Law.com helped legal bloggers take an important first step toward monetizing their blogs, the second and following important steps will be taken by others.
Just my two cents on a $64 question of the day.
[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]
This post brought to you by LexThink!™ – The Conference, Re-imagined. LexThink!(tm) – Think big thoughts, do cool things, change the world. Coming soon – LexThink’s BlawgThink 2005.

I thought I was giving myself enough flexibility by saying that I’d do a “by request day” either yesterday or today. That wasn’t the case.
Work got in the way. Sometimes blogging has to take a second seat.
I’ll see if I can do some answers to requests (thanks for sending them in) this weekend. If you have a question for me, email it to me or leave it as a comment.
At least my last two days weren’t as bad as this blogger’s seem to have been.
[Originally posted on DennisKennedy.Blog (http://www.denniskennedy.com/blog/)]
This post brought to you by Dennis Kennedy’s consulting services, featuring RSS and advanced blogging consulting and technology committee coaching packages for law firms, corporate legal departments and other professional services providers.