Singing Loudly

In a follow up to the other post about what I'll be doing this summer, I wanted to post something about what my posting habit will be like for the summer and beyond. Afterall, this blog is now morphing from a law school blog to a practitioner's blog.

I've read that many people are starting to change their posting habits for a variety of reasons. I know that Evan at the Legal Underground is changing the format to adjust to erroneous (but inevitable) impressions that people have of bloggers who write long blogs. That impression is that they are sacrificing more important things in order to spend time blogging. Most people who don't blog, of course, have little knowledge of how long or how short it is to write a decent blog post. I think this is especially true for someone as sharp as Evan.

Elsewhere, there are people who are starting their summer jobs during law school. They are battling whether or not they should post anything. This is also true for the graduates who are going into clerkships and into full time positions.

I can't say that I fall too much into Evan's category because I don't often post really long posts. I also don't have a weekly rotation that is very meticuously done. I post on a whim when I have time. If it's an issue I feel I know a good amount about then I will post a long post to explain my position. If, however, I read something that I think is interesting and think that document says it better than I will provide a link with minor commentary. Even more infrequently, I will post some personal things about my own life or about music or about movies.

Therefore, I think that I'm going to fall more into the area of graduates who are going into the workforce and are just worried about saying the wrong thing. I've told that I'm going to an immigration law firm, but I haven't said anything else about it. That's not going to change. There is plenty of gossip from around my office that I'm sure would be fun and entertaining. There are times that I'm frustrated and work and times that I've been very impressed. I don't think that any of the gossip, thoughts on the work environment, or anything else from my job will be of any true importance to anyone reading this blog.

Part of the purpose of this blog is to share a piece of my life and to inform people in making their own decisions. I think that is especially helpful for law students. There is no doubt in my mind that posting about my particular work situation will be of zero help to anyone looking for assistance. I just really don't think it will make any meaningful difference. I'm siding on the side of people who say that the only thing that can come of it is harm to myself, my employer, and possibly clients of the firm. That is unacceptable to me on all three of those levels.

Furthermore, I am going to have some ground rules for myself on posting

1. I won't post about work, clients, or anything that happens with employees from my firm.
2. I won't post during work.
3. I won't read blogs during work.
4. I will try to post at least once a day.
5. I will post my own thoughts about immigration law and criminal law in general because I think that a practitioners thoughts on his or her own area of the law is invaluable to people who want some insight into new bills, laws, or applications of the law.
6. I will continue to post sporatically about my own life, because I think this is a wonderful outlet for myself and for valuable feedback.

Right now, those are the main things that I can think of for what to expect from this blog as a blog that is no longer a law school blog. I've graduated from that group of bloggers and move into the world of a practitioner's blog. I don't like having to come up with limitations for myself, but I think that as a matter of professionalism it is necessary to deal with it. In my opinion, better to do it sooner rather than later.