UK Blawg Roundup #8 - Change!

Hello, and welcome to the UK Blawg Roundup #8. The topic for this Roundup is 'change'. 

An admission – a quick look at the state of the UK blawgosphere prior to writing this Roundup astounded me. It is huge! There are some seriously great law blogs out there.

So... in preparing to write this review, I took the decision not to try and list every single one of these fantastic blogs in existence, but review those submitted, along with the blogs that I turn to again and again.

Whilst I will no doubt miss some amazing blogs out, and probably include some that others won't necessarily like or know – I don't think that this is necessarily a bad thing. It simply means that this blog will be a snapshot of my view of the UK blawging scene. I hope it will also mean that the post is more than simply a list of blogs, which will enable me to set out in a bit more more detail why I love these blogs and, more often than not, their authors.

Although the theme lends itself well to the ongoing changes and challenges faced by the legal profession, that particular theme will be covered specifically by Shireen Smith, who will host the next review on her blog.

Instead, I am just going to keep the Roundup general and only loosely tied to the theme.

Anyway, thats enough about me for now, onwards to these blogs. I hope you enjoy the Roundup.

First up, we have a few bloggers who seem to me to be writing specifically for their clients, as opposed to for their own interest or the interest of other practitioners. Maybe its just a sign of who I associate with and the fact that I get most of my blog updates via Twitter, but perhaps this 'trend' is a reflection of the market generally, and the fact that we all know these days that we have to 'go knocking' when it come to new instructions. These chaps are a mixture of practising and non-practising solicitors.

First up in this category is The Law Wizard. The Law Wizard is a probate tool developed by non-practising solicitor Tom Hiskey and business partner and general IT whizz Rob Blake. The Law Wizard blog, unsurprisingly, focuses on probate – with recent posts on the increasing cost of probate administration, and a great 'breaking news' story on the announcements by US legal brands Rocket Lawyer and Legal Zoom of their intentions to enter the UK legal market in the next 12 months.

A bit of a master blogger, on her Landlord-Law blog Tessa Shepperson has recently written a series of blogs on the foundations of landlord and tenant law. The series is educational, but not dumbed down. In one of the posts Tessa says:

“People automatically tend to think that law is boring, but actually it isn’t – it is all about people and the mad, bonkers and devious things that they do. It is something we all ought to learn – we are presumed to know it and, if you are a landlord or a tenant, it is an important (albeit largely unknown) part of your life."

Tessa continues: “From the olden days, according to Oliver Cromwell, land law was:

“a tortious and ungodly jumble”.

Well – all I can say is – to me, it still was when I studied land law on the GDL! In the series Tessa covers land ownerships, tenancies, the interaction between statute and common law and the Rent and Housing Acts. A great blog.

Also on the subject of property law, we have John Dickens and his blog, Digging the Dirt. John is a solicitor specialises in planning and environmental law and tends to stick to these subjects when he blogs. Most recently he has blogged on changes to the planning system and squatting laws. An informative blog on a specialist subject.


A quick mention for Natalie Saunders, employment solicitor, who has written a nice piece on her Pharos Legal blog on how to survive as a solicitor in these turbulent times.


Julian Summerhayes, a former dispute resolution solicitor, is now a bit of a blogger extraordinaire, uploading new content onto his blog daily. Julian's potential clients are lawyers and law firms, and his blog makes for a jolly good read – even for PR heathens like me.

Julian blogs about a whole world of different things, but his focus is upon excellence in practice, how to make your clients love you and generally how to be a better lawyer. He also blogs frequently on social media.


Lastly in this bracket, (although by no means least), employment solicitor Michael Scutt deserves a big fat mention for his Jobsworth blog. This is the blog that made me decide I wasn't clever enough to blog on employment law. Recent posts have covered the important question of whether you can tell your boss to f*** off and get away with it, and an interesting observation about independence of advice in circumstances in which an employee is offered a compromise agreement. A great, educational blog for anybody interested in employment law.

In terms of 'getting around', purely in the sense of obtaining a good Google ranking of course, another former solicitor, Gavin Ward is an old master. In addition to his Wardblawg site, Gavin also has a series of other linked blogs including Scotslawblawg, Usblawg and Euroblawg.

Within the Wardblawg site, there are resources for law firms and students and whole lot of information and features, including a fair few guest posts.

Recent posts include top 10 LinkedIn tips for young lawyers and 5 reasons to guest blog. In my view a great series of blogs. Although Gavin no longer practises, he remains very much plugged into the profession.

On the theme of tips for junior or 'yet to be' lawyers, the following are some great ones to keep an eye out for...

First up, and the only blog associated with a training provider is BPPs Legal Awareness Society's blog. The blog is managed by Shibley Rahman, BPP student, training contract seeker and all-round interesting chap. The blog is focused upon promoting the importance of the law to business and vice versa. The blog covers a wide range of different topics and is a great resource for students. Recent posts have covered the ongoing Legal Aid debate and social networking.

Next up, we have the Pupillageville blog which is written by the cleverly monikered Justin Time. The blog is written purely with the aim of educating would-be barristers in the art of securing a pupillage. As well as a variety of observational posts and guest posts (told you Gavin Ward got around), there is also a handy 'day in the life' section by various current pupils. Now I'm not a barrister, so clearly no expert in these things, but this blog does appear to me to be a useful resource in such a competitive market.

Moving onto what seems to be the post popular form of blogging amongst lawyers; the slightly random, weird and wonderful brain-dump type of blog. I use the description in the nicest possible way, as the following bloggers are some of my all time favourites. What all of these blogs have in common is that these bloggers write about things that they are passionate about. The are usually related to the practice of the law.

First up is Milly Bancroft and her blog, Beneath the Wig. This geeky former wig-wearer (her words not mine) has a slightly amazing tendency to pick up on the zeitgeist every time she blogs. I'm not jealous at all, but recent posts on legal aid and reporting restrictions on children following the riots have all been highly relevant and timely. A special mention for her post on the examination of Bob Dowler in the trial of Levi Bellfield (accused and convicted of the murder of Milly Dowler) is necessary as it is the best piece of blogging I have ever seen.

Hot on MIlly's heels is Brian Inkster and his ace blog, The Time Blawg. Surprisingly (to me, at least) Brian is a relative latecomer to the world of blogging. Although he previously blogged on the Inksters website, Brian set up The Time Blawg on 1 January 2011. A little bit like the Tardis flies around in different dimensions (I believe – not a Dr Who fan myself), so, The Time Blawg whizzes between different themes. Brian's posts have recently covered the pros and cons of life for a law firm 'in the cloud', The Lawyer's report on top 10 firms according to Klout, and law blogging trends – blawgs or flawgs. Although it has been operational for less than a year, Brian's posts always attract a large number of comments – always the sign of a well respected blog.

Next in the line up is Obiter J's blog. Obiter J is a frequent blogger on all things topical and legal. Recent posts have covered the Dale Farm eviction case, the attempt by the MET to invoke PACE 1984 against The Guardian to try to force it to reveal its sources and the sentencing of those involved in the August riots. A nice stream of posts.

On her blog Shireen Smith has written a thoughtful piece on whether law firms should be giving away free advice. An Interesting topic, given that the provision of the 'free half hour' is such a popular and well known devise, it is pretty much expected on the high street. In the past Shireen has also covered such topics as whether multiple law firm sites constitute SEO spam, and whether there is etiquette to be followed on Twitter. In addition to writing the blog (and obviously running her firm, Azrights), Shireen organises the now monthly Tweeting Legals tweetups in London so is, I imagine, a very busy lady!


Lastly, in this category, a well deserved, in my opinion, mention for the mysterious trainees known only as Miss TS and Magic Circle Minx.


Miss TS is a trainee with a penchant for high heels and fashion. In her spare time, she writes a mean blog, recently discussing social media adoption by her (anonymous) firm, and the difficulties of securing one of those pesky training contract wotsits.


Magic Circle Minx is already quite the legend, with her blog setting out the life of a fictional (or so we are told) magic circle trainee. Actually hilarious.

Moving quickly along, time for a bit more light relief. 

Enter the Bizzle.

Another avid Dr Who (and seemingly Torchwood) fan is The Bizzle, or as he is know on Twitter @LegalBizzle. Not only a fan of the Doctor, the Bizzle is also a fan of secrecy.  Few have ever seen him, although he is active on Twitter. It was rumoured that he attended a legal tweetup in London recently. An in-houser, this bear of a man (just look at his Twitter avatar) writes a mean blog. His posts recently have covered moral behaviours in business and the existence of prejudice in the profession. A force to be reckoned with, I'm a big fan.

On the subject of in-house lawyers, it would be most rude of me not to mention Tom Kilroy. In his GC's Eye View blog Tom writes on a variety of subjects.  Most recently, he has discussed ethics, the transition from private practice to in-house and the pricing of legal services. Tom has a knack of writing pieces that are informative, detailed and most of all, interesting. 

Now this next blog is, in my blog library at least, a bit of a find. Tessa Shepperson's The History of Law blog, which I only came across recently - is an interesting one. I don't know Tessa well enough to say that she is a geek, but I am and I love this blog. A fascinating look at various aspects of the law over the centuries, Tessa covers subjects as wide ranging and differing as The Domesday Book to the historic feudal system. The fact that this blog is different - to me at least, means that I can shoehorn it into my theme.  Tessa says:


"This blog looks at the history of law. Boring? Not at all! ... law is all about people, how they organise themselves and resolve their disputes. And about the bonkers things they often argue about, and their deviousness in avoiding things they don't like - tax for instance."


Next up, a very brief foray into the changes that the profession faces in the coming months and years. Another entry by Michael Scutt, who writes an insightful blog on UK legal services 
deregulation. Michael has recently covered the influx into the market of alternative providers of legal services, such as Rocket Lawyer and 365legal. Michael has also strayed into the world of podcasting, with an interesting discussion with Gary Yantin of HIghStreetLaywer.


Phew... Nearly there.


The very last blog I will mention, doesn't really fit into any of the above categories. It would not be possible to write a Blawg Roundup without mentioning the Daddy, the Don.... the blogger know as Charon QC. Charon's blog covers a whole world of different topics, and features the popular law podcasts. The best place for dark humour, an update on current legal topics and lots of duck updates. Its actually quite difficult to put in writing why this blog is so brilliant, so I will just say this - check it out.

We are now nearing the end of the Roundup. I will admit, it has not been easy to keep to the theme of change. That said, certain trends have become clear to me. The most popular blogs, as far as I can tell, are those which are written by authors with a real passion about what they have to say. To my mind, it doesn't matter what the purpose of a blawg is, as long as it is well written, informative and does not try and sell anything to me. 


I suspect that this has always been the case so again, unfortunately, no change there either.


There are changes coming though, and I hope you will forgive me for my shoehorning efforts in this, UK Blawg Roundup 8. 


Its been fun...


Thanks for reading.

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