I started Mac Law Students over the end of the year break in late December, 2005. Now I’m half-way through law school. In May, 2008 I’ll be done with school. The tag line “By and for Mac-using law students” won’t make much sense if I keep writing MLS after I graduate. Some individual or group of individuals needs to pick up the torch at some point, or I’ll just have to fold the site a year and a half from now. That wouldn’t be the end of the world, of course. MLS isn’t exactly burning up the Technorati Top 100. Still, it would be nifty to see the site continue.
Suggestions?
14 Comments
I really enjoy the site — even though I’m not in law school anymore, I still have to do many of the same things on my mac, and the tips and software reviews are great. There aren’t too many blogs on being a mac-using lawyer, maybe you could morph the site into just mac law? You’d be filling a definite need and staying true to the original aim. You could open it up to be a group blog and try to get a mac law student to contribute law student-y things…
I agree with the previous poster…retire the name to Mac Law. This site is too great of a resource to mac-using law students (I’m a 1L) and attorneys alike to just let it die.
Jordan & Aj: Thanks for the comments. I suppose I hadn’t even thought of that notion. There are a couple of excellent Mac lawyer sites already, (The Mac Lawyer and Home Office Lawyer), but perhaps there is room for another.
Have to agree. Broaden it to all legal purposes and keep a section on Law Students open.
I’m a 1L at UW and would love to contribute (when i’m not in finals).
Jesse,
If you get a chance, drop me a note (I know, I need to make my contact info more obvious on the site). erik@maclawstudents.com and we’ll figure out a way for you to get involved in some fashion that won’t become a burden.
Thanks for the comment, too. Looks like broadening is the way to go.
Great open letter to law schools banning macs here:
http://www.lawschooldiscussion.org/prelaw/index.php/topic,83374.msg2032294.html#new
NB,
Indeed. I couldn’t resist writing my own follow-up to that lawschooldiscussion post.
Hi Erik,
Being a lawyer (and a master’s student in Portugal) I’ve been following your blog over the last few weeks.
My advice is that you’ll never know what will happen down the road. I worked 3 year as a content manager/reporter/translator for a portuguese computer company and when it ended I thought to be done with writing on technology.
Time flies by and 4 years later here I am writing again on technology, only this time for free and covering just apple themes.
So, my advice to you is to carry on with the site even after graduating and get another student to help you out. Hey, you might still get back to study law by means of a postgraduate degree, for instance.
Pedro
Pedro,
Thank you for the comment. I think you are right. I’ve been around long enough that certain themes have developed in my life, and writing is one of the big ones.
BTW, I love the photo banner on your website.
Erik
Erik,
Tks for your comments and compliment. As to the photo, it’s from Barcelona (sunset at Montjuic’s Castle) where I currently live, and it’s cycled every weekend.
I’ll send you a few more when I get home (just to make envy for living on such a city).
Regarding the website, I guess writing in portuguese does limit the audience. Maybe translating a few of my posts, namely the ones with personal opinions on leopard or the apple current lineup, wouldn’t be a bad idea.
Pedro
Pedro,
I imagine if you made some of your posts available in English, you’d be surprised at how many new readers you’d acquire.
I’m already envious of you for living in Barcelona.
Why not just “Mac For Law” – I’m a law librarian working at a big firm, who happens to love Macs (at home) and thinks the perspective of Macs and Law is kind of neat.
This will open up the site nicely, and carry through your career – no need to shut it down.
Hi Shelly,
I think that’s an excellent idea. See, this is why I asked readers for their ideas. Sometimes I’m not very good at seeing the obvious.
Actually, Shelly’s comment makes me wonder how many sub-audiences there are for Mac/law content and how a “MacsForLaw” site could best fit in the overall Mac law blog environment.
At present I know of the MacLaw listserv (which is very helpful), MacAttorney, which combines out-of-date with up-to-date content, Ben Stevens’ The Mac Lawyer, and Grant Griffiths’ Home Office Lawyer.
For some time I’ve also been contemplating the addition of a discussion board to Mac Law Students. That might make MLS more of a hub for discussion. Then again, it might just be more hassle than it is worth. Thoughts?