The Illinois State Bar Association today formally launched Illinois Lawyer Now, a first-of-its-kind bar portal that aggregates content from members’ legal blogs together with original ISBA content.
“By aggregating ISBA and members’ legal blogs from around the state, it is hoped that Illinois Lawyer Now will become the preeminent site for recent Illinois-specific legal content,” the ISBA said in a post announcing the site.
Illinois Lawyer Now is the first site to launch using syndication portal technology developed by the legal blogging and publishing company LexBlog. The technology is a turnkey publishing product that gives organizations the ability to aggregate content from many blogs and sites into one online publication.
[Full disclosure: I am publisher and editor-in-chief of LexBlog.com.]
Based on the technology that powers LexBlog.com, which aggregates content from over 22,000 members, the syndication portal attributes content to the original author, organization, and site, so author ownership and links are maintained.
For Illinois Lawyer Now, any of the ISBA’s 30,000 members who maintain a blog can add the blog’s content to the portal. Blogs qualify for inclusion if either the author is an ISBA member or the blog is associated with a firm that employs at least one ISBA member.
ISBA is seeking participation from blogs that feature substantive legal news or information. It reserves the right to reject blogs that are overly promotional are that do not meet other standards.
Once the ISBA accepts a blog, then its content also appears on Illinois Lawyer Now. Each post will include the post title, the blog title, the author’s name, any accompanying artwork, and a link back to the original post.
“By aggregating members’ legal blogs on a single website, the ISBA aims to shine a brighter light on the excellent writing its members are doing every day,” the ISBA said.
