UK law firms are likely to follow the US trend with a significant growth in the number of legal 'blogs', or Web logs, within the next two years.

Nick Holmes, managing director of information at legal publishing consultant Lawyers Ltd, said UK firms had been surprisingly slow to start providing on-line Web journals, or blogs, so far.


There are currently only around 12 legal blogs - sometimes called blawgs - written by lawyers in the UK, compared with hundreds in the US. Blogs are Web sites that can be a diary or focus on a particular topic with frequent updates by the author.


Mr Holmes said: 'I am surprised there have not been more legal blogs set up by solicitors. I expect it will become a much more accepted medium in the next year or two and will really take off.


'At the moment, the content of the sites depends very much on who is offering the blog, so the subject matter is quite diverse.'


Current blogs include the Freedom of Information Act blog, which provides a running update of the 2000 Act; Deaf Lawyers UK, which covers legal issues relating to deafness; and employment tribunal claims: tactics and precedents, featuring recent tribunal decisions.


The Law West of Ealing Broadway is an anonymous blog by an English magistrate, which gives a humorous take on cases heard. The UK Criminal Justice Weblog is produced in association with the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies and draws together criminal justice news from various media sources.


Legal blogs provided by academic institutions include the Bournemouth and Poole College Law Weblog, and Displacement of Concepts, which is a legal technology and education blog run by the University of East Anglia and Norwich Law School.


Mr Holmes' own blog, 'What's new on the UK legal Web?', provides regular legal updates.


'There are several blogging services available that make it very easy to set up a blog,' said Mr Holmes. 'Most of the successful blogs are done by someone who writes concisely and establishes a personality.'




Links: www.infolaw.co.uk


www.foia.blogspot.com


www.deaflawyers.org.uk/blawg


www.etclaims.co.uk


http://thelawwestofealingbroadway.blogspot.com


www.ukcjweblog.org.uk


www.sixthform.info/lawblog


http://lawblog.uea.ac.uk