Ben Shatz, the Co-Chair of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips Appellate Practice Group, has one of the more unique origin stories in legal blogging. His publication, Southern California Appellate News was not an intentional marketing effort on his or his firm’s part, but rather a passing of a torch. The blog was originally founded in June of 2010 by an Orange County Court of Appeals research attorney Nathan Scott. After blogging for a few years, Scott was appointed to the bench in 2013 and selected Shatz to be his successor and carry on the blog. While it still retains its same classic look and charm, Shatz has grown the blog and its audience over what has now been almost a decade. He joins Bob Ambrogi on This Week in Legal Blogging and shares his thoughts on blogging and his efforts to foster a community.
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Episode Outline
- 02:44 – Shatz got interested in this area of law when he did an externship at the 9th Circuit
- 04:37 – How he was first introduced to blogging
- 05:48 – The story of how he took over Southern California Appellate News
- 07:11 – He has expanded in scope to all of California, not just SoCal
- 08:42 – He prefers to write short posts with greater frequency than to write long ones
- 10:42 – The blog is written primarily for the appellate community
- 12:13 – He always refers people to other appellate blogs including How Appealing, SCOTUSblog and At The Lectern
- 13:58 – The blog allows him to share what he’s looking at within the appellate space
- 17:18 – He took over the blog because he saw it as a valuable resource for his community
- 18:33 – Shatz sees blogging as “24-hour networking” that is always up showing your credentials
- 19:51 – Blogging is an organic way to build your persona which in turn helps your business
- 22:55 – His blogging tips: pick a topic, consistently post and be careful with your subject matter
- 26:13 – He writes his blog posts like he is writing to himself