Happy Holidays, LXBN readers! It’s the season of list-making for who was naughty, nice, and produced one of the best law blogs of the year. The ABA Journal doesn’t dabble in the first two as much, but they do release a Blawg 100 every year, where they list their top 100 law blogs from the year. We’re excited to announce that 16 blogs made the Blawg 100 list this year! And since it’s the tenth anniversary of the ABA’s list, we thought it would be nice to check in with this year’s Blawg 100 winners and the Hall of Famers from our Network, so they can share their process and insight.

We’re starting with Max Kennerly, of Kennerly Loutey and Litigation & Trial fame. He’s not the sort of blogger who sticks to an editorial calendar, but his opinions are key and his blog posts are can’t miss—no matter what the issue. It’s no surprise he’s made the Blawg 100 list five times.

What discipline have you set up for yourself to help your blogging process? 
I wish I was more disciplined! Over the years I’ve gone through different methods to make myself write. The problem with lawyers using blogger productivity methods is that the blog must inevitably fall to professional duties. If a lawyer sets an arbitrary schedule for how often they must blog, they will break their own schedule in service of a client — at least I sure hope they will, or else their priorities are in the wrong place. Currently, my process is simple: for every dozen things I think are worth writing about, I try to write about at least one of them.
What new audiences are you trying to reach? 
I don’t have a particular audience in mind. No one should be forced to read something that the writer didn’t even want to write. Trying to reach new audiences with a legal blog is a recipe for bland, boring content. My individual posts often have a particular type of reader in mind, but there’s no intentional effort to engage a particular audience.
What has been your biggest obstacle to overcome in your blogging career? 
After enough years it’s easy to end up feeling like a host in Westworld. You see the same things over and over again and lose your motivation to keep fighting the same battles. You even start to wonder if you should really write about the issues important to you because you’ve already written about them so many times.
Tell us your most successful/exciting blogging story. 
This is neither successful nor exciting, but it is something that any lawyer considering writing a blog should know: at every conference I’ve gone to over the past few years, a lawyer I’ve never met before has recognized me and thanked me for something I wrote. Blogging can often feel like they’re just writing for the vast emptiness of space, but there are people out there who read and appreciate in-depth posts.

What kinds of things do you do to engage your readership?
Nothing. I usually answer comments on the rare occasion that they’re posted. Readers can follow me on Twitter if they’re so inclined. Beyond that, I don’t think most readers of a legal blog want to be engaged. They want something valuable or thought-provoking. Give them that or don’t bother.