Blogging about legal topics as an attorney can be tough. We at IP/DE post very frequently for a legal blog written by active, practicing attorneys, and I've occasionally been asked by other attorneys how it's going. I thought I'd offer some thoughts on legal blogging here at IP/DE, after 5 years of it, and about the successes and challenges we've faced.
(This was originally part of our Celebrating 5 Years post, but it was honestly kind of a buzz kill. So I followed my wife's wise advice to "split that part into its own post and add a sad clown face.")
One post per day adds up
IP/DE started as a personal project during the initial COVID lockdowns. Back then, I set a goal of the blog having one post per business day on average. Timeanddate.com tells me there have been 1232 non-holiday business days since we launched, and this post should be our 1250th post—so we've more than hit that goal!
For anyone thinking of starting their own legal blog, I will say that it is a significant time commitment. How significant? Well, Nate and I don't outsource any blog writing to associates (other than writing their own posts), and we don't use AI to draft posts. My time records say I've spent around 1700 house on the blog over the past five years.
I'm guessing I've written or helped to write about 2/3rds of our posts, and if that's correct it works out to right around 2 hours of work per post on average. Assuming that number holds steady for our other authors (my guess is that it may be low), that's 2500 hours of work.
No wonder there are so few blogs like ours!
Our traffic is low but steady
We don't track detailed visitor metrics, but we do use SimpleAnalytics to track the overall number of visitors to the blog. Since 2023, we've plateaued at about 7500 "unique" visitors each month:
(That big spike in traffic in 2022 was when Chief Judge Connolly started issuing his Mavexar opinions, which drove a ton of traffic to the blog.)
What are our other most popular posts?
- Rule 30(b)(6) Amended; Still Doesn't Provide Rules for Objections (4781 unique visitors)
- What Is "Plain and Ordinary Meaning," Anyway? And Why Do Plaintiffs Want It? (3474 unique visitors)
- Initial Contentions in Delaware Patent Cases: A Primer (2135 unique visitors)
- Where to Find the OTHER District of Delaware Local Rules (1919 unique visitors)
- Don't Push the Limit on Notices of Subsequent Authority (1791 unique visitors)
I've seen IP/DE posts cited in briefs (including at the Federal Circuit), but as far as I know we have yet to be cited in a legal opinion. Maybe one day!
Blogging as an attorney can be costly
There is no advertising on IP/DE. The blog brings in no money. And, to my knowledge, Nate and I have only ever received one matter for our firm that came in because of the blog (and we nearly lost one as well!).
The hosting costs for the blog are low, but I don't even want to think about how much we've spent in CM/ECF fees to pull material for posts. And writing a legal blog can involve other burdens as well. Believe it or not, Nate and I have had our own posts cited back to us repeatedly in meet-and-confer calls, e-mails, and discovery disputes, by both Delaware counsel and out-of-town counsel. Sometimes others have even our blog posts to accuse our out-of-town co-counsel of lying and hiding cases we posted about years ago! As you can probably imagine, that's always fun.
(For the record, I can't remember half of the stuff I've posted, and I often search the blog myself only to find I've written a post about a case that I had totally forgetten! I'm always amazed that we don't have more instances of writing two posts on the same case.)
So why do we write IP/DE? And will we keep it going?
If our readership is fairly low, the blog brings in no money, and it sometimes causes headaches for us in our legal practice, why do we keep going?
Mostly, it's because writing for IP/DE is also rewarding. Our readership is low, but it's largely made up of people who practice here in the District of Delaware, who we want to keep in touch with (and keep informed). I get a fair amount of e-mail with comments on blog posts or ideas for new blog posts (both of which are always welcome!). It's great to be part of the D. Del. legal community, and I think having a blog about the District of Delaware helps us all feel a bit more like we are on the same page. I often hear about newer associates or out-of-town counsel with cases here who love the blog and read it every day to learn the ropes of D. Del. practice. I think that's wonderful.
I also think the blog is a great resource for attorneys who are already very familiar with practicing in D. Del. At this point, I'll often search our old posts as part of doing research for issues that come up in cases, right along side LexisNexis and other resources. Often, it's easier to find the best cases by searching the blog! I've heard the same from others as well.
All told, I'm proud of the site we've put together, and of the efforts of all of our contributors over the years. I hope that we can keep IP/DE going for another five years, or more!
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