Web-Tones

Why Lawyers Are Dangerous

This brouhaha over O'Reilly's Web 2.0 service mark is proof of why a legal strategy and a business strategy do not always align, or simply why  lawyer's can be dangerous, if not absolute complete morons. To be sure we do not know if it was the lawyers or the business people that were behind this gaffe, and no doubt it will ultimately be the lawyers that will be taking it on the chin (comes with the territory) but the point is basically the same. Because you can do something legally, doesn't mean you should. There is no telling how much O'Reilly's reputation (and future profits) have been damaged, but you can rest assured that it will be significant. A mea culpa is certainly forthcoming, but this is a paradigmatic example of where the apology is necessary but not sufficient, because frankly once this negative buzz starts it is hard to get the genie back in the bottle, especially when you have been the one arguing that genies should be free.

The best that O'Reilly can do at this point is to stop the bleeding and to call in some chips from their author community and others tangentially on the payroll to aid in the effort. The rest is left to the Internet gods to sort out and all the organization can do is pray for kindness. Surely a sad state of affairs over a mark that was nothing but a blip in the O'Reilly universe. This blip has already taken on a life of its own (Frankenstein cannot be controlled) and will live on as an example of how not to shoot yourself in the head in law and MBA classes for years to come.

Blogging & Bandwidth

I am referring to human bandwidth, and the amount required, to maintain a current blog. Law School eats your time and it was clear that as the time crunch came, I lost all available CPU cycles to post. However, I also noted, because while I stopped posting I did not stop reading (well at least scanning via Bloglines) my favorite blogs, that some Professor written blogs also took a hiatus as demands on their time had a similar effect (vis-a-vis their own admissions). The bottom line is, as anyone who has seriously tried to maintain a blog current knows, quality human CPU cycles are required, and while certain individuals (e.g. politicians) can pay for someone to blog on their behalf, most other professionals cannot afford this luxury (nor is it likely to work for them).

Academics are starting to realize the potential benefits of blogging. There is a movement afoot to "hire" grad students to blog on their behalf. This is NOT likely to be an effective strategy because a blog is all about finding your "voice" on subjects that are of interest to you; hard to find your voice via a proxy. That said, collaborative efforts might be viable, as long as one individual takes the lead in setting the tone.

But, the bandwidth required should also not be lost on attorneys (or other professionals) that want to blog to create mindshare in a certain space. Do not be misled by consultants that tout all the benefits and tell you nothing of the costs. It may be a brave new world out there, but crossing the chasm to prosper in it will require the bandwidth to climb the curve, and the bandwidth to ride it once you have learned to stand up on the board.

First Year of Law School is History

Wow, the first year of law school is over and what should have been a collective sigh of relief (it was) was tempered by the passing of one of our classmates, Raman "Noodles" Subramanian. Raman took ill right before the start of finals, diagnosed with cancer, and passed a few days after finals were over. It is hard to believe that the person I sat two seats from in PR, the person with the constant smile, who (it seems) never failed to greet a classmate, is no longer with us. He will surely be missed, that smile was infectious and even those of us who were not his closest friends, all feel a deep sadness because we have lost "one of the good guys" and "one of our own."

There is, without a doubt, a certain "bonding" that occurs during the first year of law school (even for the "old guys" like me) because for the entire first year (and in our case summer 2005 as well) you spend all your time in the same classes with the same classmates. You get to know each other quite well, and everyone has their favorite "war stories" of class incidents that will always be remembered. We all have our favorite memories of Raman, and therefore his spirit will live with us regardless of where our travels lead us.