Of blogs and Law Professors

The Faculty Lounge has an interesting post on blogs by Law Professors. A study on data of Law Professors who blog was done titled "Law Faculty Blogs and Disruptive Innovation : The Data". What is seen here is that though blogs by Law faculty is increasingly being quoted by law reviews as well as judgements, the proportion of Law Faculty actually involved in blogging is still very low. Is it not considered as scholarly as a law review article? I have earlier blogged about blogging here and here.

A more critical piece on Law Reviews is found here where in the growing importance of blogs and online writing was emphasized:

"Much of the intellectual groundwork for the Supreme Court's ObamaCare rulings was laid at blogs like Volokh Conspiracy (for libertarians and conservatives trying to overturn the individual mandate) and Jack Balkin's Balkinization (for liberals defending it). Elizabeth Warren became a national figure in part through her clear and hard-hitting online writing about the problems of consumer debt. Professionally edited web outlets (including The Atlantic) allow law professors to get their arguments before an intelligent audience in hours rather than weeks or months. As online law writing has taken off, readers are rewarding qualities like clarity, concision, relevance, and wit, and steering clear of pedantry and mystification. 

The doors to the hothouse have been flung open; fresh air is getting in. It's about time."

The International Economic Law and Policy blog is, I think, one of the best forums where the top international trade law faculty converge. Though all of them do not contribute as regularly as each other,the contributors list is in itself the who's who of international trade law. The blog is an excellent tribute to legal scholarship and blogging in the field of international trade law. I was surprised not to see a reference of this blog in the study mentioned above.

Blogging, to me, is a great leveler. It provides a forum that pits the greatest of law faculty with a novice student. It provides an opportunity to express without barriers and offers an avenue for dialogue. It may not be as scholarly as a law review article, but it is by no means less important!

Here is more to blogging.