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Denise Howell Denise Howell
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Dennis M. Kennedy Dennis M. Kennedy
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Tom Mighell Tom Mighell
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Marty Schwimmer Marty Schwimmer
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Ernest Svenson Ernest Svenson
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Denise Howell is a seasoned appellate and intellectual property litigator based in Los Angeles. Denise writes one of the first and most popular law-related blogs, Bag and Baggage, coined the term "blawg" and helped pioneer podcasting for lawyers. Microcontent obsessed since 2001, she is frequently quoted in the media on legal issues involving intellectual property and technology law. "Sound Policy" is Denise's show at IT Conversations, and it's also what she hopes results from the briefs she submits to court. Email Denise at dhowell@gmail.com.

Dennis Kennedy is a computer lawyer and legal technology expert based in St. Louis, Missouri. An award-winning author, a frequent speaker and a widely-read blogger, he has more than 300 publications on legal, technology and Internet topics, many of which are collected in his e-books. Dennis has been described as someone who knows almost every rock song in existence and, more importantly, how they apply to technology and law. Email Dennis at his gmail address.

Tom Mighell is Senior Counsel and Litigation Technology Support Coordinator at Cowles & Thompson in Dallas. He has published the Internet Legal Research Weekly newsletter since 2000 and blogged about the Internet and legal technology at Inter Alia since August of 2002. With Tom's singing, Ernie on guitar and Dennis' encylopedic knowledge of rock music, we may have the beginnings of a good band, if this whole blog thing doesn't work out. Email Tom at tmighell@swbell.net.

Marty Schwimmer left a partnership in the largest trademark practice in the world and founded Schwimmer Mitchell, a full-service IP micro-boutique in Westchester County, New York, where he represents owners of famous and not yet famous trademarks. He founded The Trademark Blog, the first IP law blog and the one with the most pictures. He is the first to come in and the last to leave in his firm. Email Marty at marty@schwimmerlegal.com.

Ernest Svenson practices law with a mid-sized law firm in New Orleans, specializing in business-related lawsuits. Most of his practice takes place in federal court, especially the Eastern District. He is best known for his weblog Ernie the Attorney, which he started as an experiment. Like many experiments it got out of control. Nevertheless, he continues to practice law and, occasionally, to seek enlightenment. Email Ernest at esvenson@gmail.com.
About this blog
Between Lawyers provides just-in-time group commentary on the issues raised when technology, culture and the law intersect. We take you behind the firewalls and conference room doors to show you how experienced lawyers deal with these issues and help you prepare for the new challenges we all face. For more, see our introductory post.

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June 7, 2005

Kentucky Advertising Rules May Keep Kentucky Lawyers from Blogging

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Posted by Dennis M. Kennedy

From David Giacalone comes a troubling, but not unexpected, story of the Kentucky Attorney's Advertising Commission's efforts to treat all blogs by lawyers as advertising. At the heart of the story is one of the nicest people I've met through blogging, Ben Cowgill, who, ironically, writes the Legal Ethics Blog. Ben has been working hard to explain blogging to the commission and pave the way for other Kentucky lawyers to blog without falling under difficult rules, and I want to thank him publicly for all of his efforts and wish him success in his efforts.

If those of us in the legal blogging community can do anything to help, Ben, just ask and we'll get the word out.

As I've mentioned before, it is quite difficult to understand when and how legal advertising rules might apply to blogs, which traditionally are geared toward providing education and information and have done a good job of improving the reputation of lawyers. What will be especially difficult is if disciplinary bodies decide to treat blogs differently from how websites have historically been treated. Let's hope that we don't see a case of "letting no good deed go unpunished," especially in the case of a good-hearted and well-intentioned lawyer like Ben Cowgill.

I've always considered Between Lawyers to be a pure education and information blog. Now I'm wondering if we need to load it up with a bunch of advertising and other disclaimers. Blogging is a lot of fun, but being a lawyer who blogs makes it harder to have fun blogging. That's sad to me.

Comments (2) + TrackBacks (0) | Category: Blawgs


COMMENTS

1. david giacalone on June 7, 2005 11:45 PM writes...

Very nicely said, Dennis. Thanks for adding your well-considered voice.

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2. Dennis on June 8, 2005 2:14 PM writes...

Fixed a place where I inadvertently used the wrong word in the original post. As previously written, there was a sentence that made no sense. I hope it's more clear now.

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