Ten years ago tomorrow, I wrote my first posts on Inter Alia. Back in 2007 Bob Ambrogi tried to figure out who was the first legal blogger, and calculated that my blog was #11 on that list. Anyone who reads this blog knows that I have been keeping track of law blogs for a long time now (as well as when they first posted), and there were actually a lot of lawyers and law students who came before me. According to my list, I’m #68 – but of those 67 blogs that came before me, 21 are still going strong – so I’ll content myself by saying I have the 22nd-Oldest Still Active Legal Blog. That works, huh?
My blog has never been about long, erudite posts – my goal has always been to provide helpful resources to lawyers on legal research and more recently legal technology, usually in short bites of information. Over time, I have found it increasingly difficult to do more than post my regular “Blawg of the Day” feature – with work and extracurricular activities, I just don’t have as much time as I did before. Ironically, it’s because of the blog that my time for blogging has decreased.
I see articles all the time telling you “start a blog and it will bring you business.” Inter Alia has never brought me a dime’s worth of business – it was really never about that – but it has brought me an embarrassment of riches in other areas. Because of the exposure the blog has given me, I have had the opportunity to travel all over the country, meet great lawyers, and talk to them about how technology can help them provide better services to their clients. I have made a lot of friends I never would have met – most of my best friends are those I have met over the past 10 years through and because of the blog. It was those friends who led me to the ABA Law Practice Management Section, where I found a home for lawyers interested in improving the way they manage the “business” of the practice of law. I was privileged to serve as Chair of the Section this past year, and I have been able to write some books on legal technology for lawyers as well. It’s hard to imagine any of this happening without the blog.
But as I prepare to celebrate my “Tin” (“Tinth?”) anniversary, I want to thank all of you, my readers. You’re the real reason this blog is still around, and I value your readership, comments, and friendship over the years. I hope you stick around as I look toward my “China” anniversary ten years from now. Thanks for your support!