Last week, we exchanged notes with a blogger who’d been publishing for 18 years and this week’s guest is hot on their heels.
Texas-based lawyer Peter Vogel began publishing his Internet, IT & e-Discovery blog way back in August of 2008 and he’s as persistent and consistent as ever now closing in on two decades later. Much like other bloggers, Vogel was already speaking and writing on his area of expertise so it made sense to translate that to the world of digital publishing.
But we don’t want to spoil the whole interview. So let’s get to it.
Why did you become a lawyer?
I loved studying history in high school and college, and had as many hours in history as I did in my Accounting & Marketing degree. But actually law is my second career since I fell in love with computer programming while studying Accounting & Marketing. So I had a career as a computer programmer, received a Masters in Computer Science, and worked on a Ph.D. in Computer Science, but did not like the pure academic life. So I decided to study law as a historian, but I never intended to be a lawyer and taught graduate and undergraduate computer science courses with a game plan to become a computer consultant after law school which I did for two years and until clients asked me to represent them.
So I just hung up a solo law shingle and started practicing law. Now 30+ years later I limit my law practice to representing buyers and sellers of Information Technology, Internet, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, and eCommerce. Half of my practice is trial and I have had cases in 38 states, and the other half is drafting and negotiating contracts.
Why did you begin to publish?
For my entire law practice I have given 30-40 presentations a year about Information Technology, Internet, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, and eCommerce. Also I was an Adjunct Law Professor for 30 years and taught courses on the Law of eCommerce for 15 years, and I have been involved with the Internet for 30+ years. I saw LexBlog as a great legal blog platform and started blogging on August 1, 2008.
What’s been most rewarding in legal publishing?
Since I am a computer nerd I hang out with Chief Information Officers (CIOs), Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) to whom I also give many speeches every year. So my CIO, CISO, CFO, and lawyer friends constantly tell me how much they like reading my blogs which I promote in social media.
What’s been the greatest challenge in publishing?
Keeping the blogs short since I think my blog readers will not take more than 2-3 minutes to read a blog. So my challenge is to keep my blogs brief. Also for many years I tried to blog at least twice a week which is difficult given my busy law practice.
What would you tell a law student or a lawyer out there on the fence about whether to join you as a publisher?
One of the biggest advantages in blogging is that so many other professionals, clients, and potential clients can easily see that you are an expert on your blog topics.