WhoCanISue.com Officially Launches

The website WhoCanISue.com, which aims to assist “people with potential legal claims find an attorney to answer questions and assist with bringing a claim,” announced its official launch today. Although the site has received some media attention, it’s unclear what real value it brings to the field — with generic legal information and lawyer referrals — among established sites like FindLaw, Avvo, and LawHelp.org. -M

Blogroll, Please

As promised, we just published our first-ever technola blogroll. It’s broken up into 7 categories, each stocked with blogs that we read on a regular basis, which range from pure technology blogs to legal aid and poverty law blogs. We look forward to hearing from you about other interesting, topical blogs in the comments.  -M&K

Updated Technola Resources Page

After a brief hiatus, the Technola “resources” page is back up with additional sites and more complete descriptions. It now includes three categories:

• Legal Aid/Public Interest Law Technology;
• Nonprofit Technology; and
  
• Law Technology

We’ll do our best to keep it updated over time (please add your suggestions to the comments). Also, we’ll soon be publishing a blogroll with all of our favorite law, technology, and nonprofit blogs. -M&K

Design Inspiration for Your Organization’s Website

DesignM.ag, a website aimed at web designers and developers, recently posted a list of 40+ Inspirational Non-Profit Website Designs.  A few of my favorites include Change.org, Tenement Museum, Children’s Rights, and Housing Works. -M [h/t to the NTEN Blog]

A Few Good USB Podcasting Mics

The topic of USB podcasting mics has recently come up on the LStech listserv and during a training that I did on podcasting with Liz Keith and David Bonebrake, so I wanted to share a few mics that Wired recently reviewed in its January 2009 issue:

• Alesis USB Mic Podcasting Kit (8 out of 10)
  
• Audio-Technica AT2020 USB (8 out of 10)
  
• Marshall Electronics MXL Studio 1 (7 out of 10)
  
• Blue Microphones Snowball (6 out of 10)
  

All of these except for the Blue Snowball are cardioid mics, so they record only what’s in front of them. The Blue Snowball also has an omnidirectional polar pattern option, so you can record around the mic (if you are doing an interview with someone sitting across from you, for example).  Another mic that’s not mentioned here is the Blue Snowflake, which is more compact and less expensive than the Snowball.  In doing a little research for this post, I also noticed that Blue has a new portable iPod recording device called the Mikey,  a USB converter and mic preamp that allows you to connect an XLR mic directly into your computer, and a nice video on getting started podcasting.  -M

Tour the Legal Web’s New Sites

A nice article in Law Technology News by Robert Ambrogi on new legal web sites, including Lexis Web, LitiReviews (legal and litigation software reviews) and Global Legal Monitor from the Law Library of Congress. -M

Word of Mouth Marketing Builds a Foundation

Hamster Dance. Star Wars Kid. All Your Base Are Belong To Us. All went viral and were viewed by millions. But as it turns out, going viral might not be all that it is cracked up to be. You do get the immediate fame, but your site, project, or product may not gain a lasting following according to The Word of Mouth Manual – Volume II from Dave Balter. You would do better building a community of loyal followers even if it takes longer.

Dave has a few other nuggets to share.

• People have a list of about 40 products and services that they are willing to talk about.
• Word of mouth is not about the big influencers but normal people who influence their smaller networks.
• Organizations engaged in word of mouth marketing need to recognize that it is a conversation and have to be ready to listen to what comes back.
• Don’t just jump in. Word of mouth takes planning. (Dave used a couple of great examples – Ghost Busters and the Coney Island hot dog eating contest.) – K

Law Professor Blogs Network

While Law Professor Blogs professes to be “a network of web logs (“blogs”) designed from the ground-up to assist law professors in their scholarship and teaching,” I’ve found them to be a great source of legal information for advocates of all stripes. Here are a few blogs in the network that may be of interest to legal aid and public interest advocates:

• Administrative Law Prof Blog
• BankruptcyProf Blog
• CrimProf Blog
• Family Law Prof Blog
• First Amendment Law Prof Blog
• Health Law Prof Blog
• ImmigrationProf Blog
• Law Librarian Blog
• Legal Writing Prof Blog
• Nonprofit Law Prof Blog
• Poverty Law Prof Blog
• Reproductive Rights Prof Blog
• Sentencing Law & Policy Blog
• Sexual Orientation and the Law
• Workplace Prof Blog

For the full list, visit lawprofessorblogs.com. -M