In my own consulting work with law firms, I often encourage them to create materials that highlight the real people who make up the firm and its clients — a description of a day in the life of an associate, a testimonial direct from a client, a bio that provides insight into the lawyer. I…

Speaking of SearchEngineWatch, it got a new owner today. Jupitermedia Corporation announced that it has sold its Search Engine Strategies trade shows and its ClickZ.com network of Web sites, which includes SearchEngineWatch, for $43 million in cash to London media company Incisive Media plc.…

Think most search engines deliver similar results? Think again. Today’s SearchEngineWatch reports on a new study that compared Ask Jeeves, Google, MSN Search and Yahoo, and found that the average overlap in their first-page results was just 1.1 percent. The survey found that 84.9 percent of all results were unique to a single search…

An ambitious Web site launched today, Courthouse Forum, aims to be a one-stop shop in which to monitor, discuss and evaluate all of the nationÂ?s federal and state courts and judges. The site is built around a complex structure of separate forums for each jurisdiction and venue in the United States. The site’s founders…

Metasearch sites are useful for their ability to send your query through multiple search tools at once. I recently discovered a new metasearcher, Ixquick, with several unique features:

For members of a profession often portrayed as greedy, it is nice to have evidence that proves otherwise. A survey released today finds that two thirds of U.S. lawyers gave free legal assistance to people of limited means and organizations serving the poor, volunteering an average of 39 hours of pro bono work a year.…

Beginning Sept. 15, the legal research service VersusLaw will expand its library of federal district court opinions to include cases back to 1950. At the same time, it will raise the monthly prices of its premium and professional plans by $5. The monthly subscription to the premium plan will increase from $19.95 to $24.95…

Thanks to everyone who supported my son and me in our ride Sunday in the Reid R. Sacco Memorial Foundation bike-a-thon. A day of perfect weather and a beautiful seaside route made for a great 28 miles. I met several of Reid Sacco’s friends and family members and came away impressed that someone so…

Thanks to excited utterances, I learn that Alan J. Rothman has launched a blog, The Subway Fold. A non-practicing lawyer and MBA, Alan is a veteran expert in legal technology and the Internet. Until recently, he ran the Computer Law Lab for the New York County Lawyers Association. Earlier in his career, he…

The Thomson Corporation yesterday announced that it had acquired Global Securities Information, owner of LIVEDGAR, a Web service for searching and delivery of EDGAR filings and other SEC information. GSI will become part of Thomson West, publisher of Westlaw. The announcement says:

“The acquisition will enable West to satisfy the currently

My son and I made a last-minute decision to ride in a 28-mile bike-a-thon this weekend to help raise money to fight cancers in young adults. The event is in honor of an extraordinary 20-year-old man who died in April after a two-year battle with sarcoma.

We need sponsors. If anyone would like to pledge…

One other piece of news from my phone call with Scott Kinney, CEO of FindLaw: By the end of July, FindLaw will launch a directory of law-related blogs. It will be “an initial version,” with FindLaw continuing to add blogs “as rapidly as we can.”…