Robert Ambrogi Blog
The number of lawyers with legal blogs is dwindling, according to the latest Legal Technology Survey Report from the American Bar Association’s Legal Technology Resource Center.
For 2014, 24% of respondents in the annual survey said that their firms have blogs, down from 27% in 2013. Asked whether they personally maintain a legal blog, 8% said yes, down from 9% in both 2013 and 2012.
(My other posts about this survey, from this year and prior years, are collected under the tag ABA Tech Survey.)
Blogging was down among lawyers in all firm sizes except those in firms of 10-49 attorneys, where the percentage of lawyers who blog rose a point from 5% in 2013 to 6% this year. Among solos, the percentage who blog dropped from 12% to 10%; among those in firms of 2-9 attorneys, the percentage dropped from 11% to 8%; and in firms of 100 or more attorneys, the percentage went from 10% in 2013 to 9% this year.
Blogging also skews by age, with attorneys in their 40s and 50s more likely to blog than their younger or older counterparts. Most likely to blog were respondents between the ages of 50-59 (11%, compared with 9% in 2013, 11% in 2012, and 6% in 2011). Next most likely were respondents between the ages of 40-49 (9%, compared with 12% in 2013, 8% in 2012, and 4% in 2011). Under age 40, the percentage who blog dropped slightly, to 8%, while over age 60, just 5% had blogs.
Lawyers who personally maintain blogs were asked whether they had ever had a client retain them directly or via referral as a result of their legal blogging. Yes was the answer given by 39.4% of respondents, roughly the same as last year’s 39.1%. Some 30% said they did not know.
Overall, the lawyers who have blogs reported that the time they spend maintaining their blogs was 2.1 hours per week. This is about the same as in prior years (2.4 hours in 2013, 2 hours in 2012 and 2.6 hours in 2011). The number of lawyers who said that they spend less than an hour a week rose from 47% last year to 53% in 2014.
The Legal Technology Survey Report is edited by Joshua Poje, director of the Legal Technology Resource Center. It is published in six volumes. Each volume can be purchased for $350 or, for ABA members, $300. The volumes are:
- Vol. 1: Technology Basics.
- Vol. 2: Law Office Technology.
- Vol. 3: Litigation and Courtroom Technology.
- Vol. 4: Web and Communication Technology.
- Vol. 5: Online Research.
- Vol. 6: Mobile Lawyers.
A combined edition can be purchased for $1,800 or, for ABA members, $1,550.