Resources
A Directory To Help You Be A Better Lawyer
Welcome to the Associate’s Mind Resources section, a curated list of the tools and websites I strongly recommend for lawyers who are looking to improve and grow. It is the largest and most comprehensive legal resource directory online.
I have reviewed every resource on this page. I, and many others, have relied on the resources listed here to improve their careers.
Court System
- Court Statistics Project – Stats on caseload data.
- DOJ Justice 101 – Overview of the federal court system from the Department of Justice.
- Ethics and Professional Responsibility – ABA maintained list of links to all 50 state bar’s ethics pages.
- Federal bar Association – For lawyers in the Big Leagues.
- National Center for State Courts (NCSC) – Links to the structures of the court systems for all 50 states and the federal courts.
- US Court System – Official page off US federal courts.
- World Legal Information – Free, independent and non-profit access to worldwide law.
Criminal Law
- Defending People – Texas lawyer Mark Bennett on the Tao of criminal-defense trial lawyering.
- Gasmo: For The Defense – Commentary by an Ohio criminal defense lawyer.
- My Law License – Miami attorney Brian Tannebaum’s occasional thoughts on practicing law. Then he went and wrote a book and ruined it.
- Norm DeGuerre – An anonymous PD in California.
- Radley Balko (Washington Post) – Uncovering overreach of the government in the areas of civil liberties and the criminal justice system.
- Simple Justice – Scott Greenfield pontificates on crime, blawgs, the legal industry, or whatever else floats his boat that morning. Prolific and always worth reading.
- The Criminal Lawyer – When Nathan Burney is not too busy churning out funny and informative legal comics at www.lawcomic.net, he shares his views on criminal law here.
Defense Bar
- Abnormal Use – Nominally about products liability, but tends to cover broader areas of practice, from a defense perspective.
- ADTL – Association of Defense Trial Attorneys.
- Jeremy W Richter – Alabama Insurance Defense Blog.
- DRI – The voice of the defense bar.
- NACDL – National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
Legal Industry News
- ABA Journal – Broadly covers trends in the legal industry and generally perceived as one of the central voices for lawyers in the mainstream media.
- Above The Law – Preeminent legal blog, covering most of today’s legal news. Topics range from the inner workings of the largest law firms in the world to guidance for solo practitioners and law school rankings.
- Bloomberg Big Law – Covering the business of “Big Law.”
- How Appealing – An AboveTheLaw network site, focused on appellate cases.
- Instapundit – Government & legal news from Glenn Reynolds, Law Professor, USA Today columnist.
- Jurist – Legal news and real-time legal research service powered by volunteer law faculty & students.
- NPR – Covers legal topics on a regular basis. Broad coverage from around the country.
- Overlawyered – One of the oldest running law blogs. Covers the legal system as a whole.
- Pinhawk – Daily newsletters on variety of legal topics, Big Law focused.
- Reuters – General legal news coverage.
- SCOTUSblog – Discussion of recent developments in U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence.
- TaxProf Blog – Nominally covering tax news, but also provides general news on legal education.
Legal Research
- CaseText – Public, annotated search.
- FastCase – New kid on the block.
- Google Scholar – Google indexes case law.
- LexisNexis – The classic.
- RavelLaw – Data-driven legal research.
- RECAP – Free PACER access.
- ROSS Intelligence – The robots are coming.
- WestLaw – That thing you used all through law school.
MyShingle
Carolyn Elefant is the online Godmother of solos & small firms everywhere. She’s been blogging for over 10 years and has never slowed down. Over the years she has built up enormous amounts of free resources worthy of their own mention.
Resources Continue Below
Directories
- ABA Blawg Directory – The ABA’s directory of “blawgs.”
- ABA State & Local Bar Directory – JOIN YOUR LOCAL BAR. Just do it.
- Justia Blawgsearch – I don’t think this is current anymore, but included for good measure.
- National Association of Women’s Lawyers – Devoted to the interests of women lawyers and women’s rights.
- LexBlog Network – The LexBlog Network of legal blogs.
- Library of Congress Archival Directory – For the blogs that have become part of history.
- Ms.JD – For aspiring and early career women lawyers.
- NCWBA – National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations
Family Law
- ABA Section of Family – Resources for ABA members, some public.
- IAALS Honoring Families Initiative – Materials, forms, guides & more on family practice from IAALS.
Free Speech, Other Online Censorious Behavior
- Constitutional Law Prof Blog – Legal ed. perspective on Con Law issues.
- Deep Links – The Electronic Frontier Foundantion’s blog.
- Legal Satyricon – Irreverent thoughts on law, liberty, tech, and politics.
- Popehat – A group complaint about law, liberty, and leisure.
- The Torch – Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) Blog.
- /. YRO – User submitted stories on tech/law intersection.
Health/Humor/Lifestyle
- BigLawInvestor – NYC Biglaw private equity lawyer walks you through organizing your finances.
- Personal Finance and Investing Calculators – Great resource to help you manage your money.
- Brian Cuban – Former lawyer Brian Cuban on addiction.
- Law & The Multiverse – Where comics meet the law.
- Lawyers & Liquor – Lawyer, Asshole, Half-Assed Blogger.
- Legal Nomads – Former lawyer Jodi Ettenberg eats her way around the world, occasionally talks with other lawyers.
- Lowering The Bar – Legal humor. Seriously.
- Ms.JD – Women, on women, in the profession.
- People’s Therapist – Lawyer turned psychotherapist, William Meyerhofer, on life.
Intellectual Property Law
- Internet Cases – Evan Brown’s blog about law, technology and culture.
- IP Law Server – Decades old forum dedicated to IP issues.
- IP WatchDog – Leading IP blog.
- Likelihood Of Confusion – Ron Coleman on trademarks and IP.
- PatentlyO – The OG patent site.
- Shear on Social Media Law – Bradley Shear on social media issues.
- Socially Awkward Law – Avvo VP/GC Josh King on law & social media.
- Techdirt – Copyright newson companies behaving badly.
- Technology & Marketing Law Blog – Eric Goldman, Venkat Balasubramani, & more on tech/law.
International/Security Law
- International Economic Law and Policy Blog – International economic law and policy by WorldeTradeLaw.
- Just Security – National security with human rights component.
- LawFare – National security through the lense of the Brookings Institute.
- Opinio Juris – International law and international relations
Practice Management
- 3 Geeks and A Law Blog – Pretty much what it says it is.
- Attorney At Work – One idea a day for lawyers.
- Case Status – Client Management. You need this.
- Clio – Practice management blog.
- Law Practice Today – The ABA’s take on practice management.
- MyCase – Niki Black on practice management.
- Smokeball – Ripper! The Aussies made a practice management platform. Take a sickie, grab a slab, & barbie!
Podcasts
- Law Reboot – On running a small firm.
- Law School Toolbox – Getting through law school.
- Lawful Masses – “Legal education for the masses.”
- Lawyerist – The Lawyerist Podcast
- Life Of The Law – American Public Media on the law.
- LSTRadio – Law School Transparency’s podcast.
- More Perfect – RadioLab covers SCOTUS.
- TWiT – This Week In Law, focus on tech.
Professional Development
- Associate’s Mind – Yep, you’re still here.
- Code Academy – Learn to code.
- DuoLingo – Learn another language.
- Khan Academy – You can learn anything.
- Lawyers Advising Lawyers – Service for FL Bar members to get advice/mentoring from other lawyers.
- Ten Minute Mentor – The Texas State Bar developed this for their young lawyer section, but it is freely available online. Around 100 ten minute videos that offer brief overviews of a wide variety of topics (Immigration, Trial, Probate, etc).
- TYL – The ABA’s The Young Lawyer online presence. Touches on a variety of young lawyer issues once a month.
- Listen Like A Lawyer – Emory law prof Jennifer Romig on exploring effective listening practices for lawyers, law students, and all legal professionals.
- Dumpster Phoenix – Get out of student loan debt guide.
- Law – Covering current developments in law and legal news.
- Law School – Chit chat about law school
and meme threads. - Law Firm – Discussion, issues, best practices, and support for lawyers practicing either solo or in a small firm.
- Lawyers – Private community, invite only. Must be a lawyer to become a member. Law students and general public not allowed.
- LegalAdvice – Hahaha! Included for humor purposes only. If you’re a lawyer, only go here if you have a desire to cause yourself physical pain.
- LSAT – Some people still want to go to law school I guess?
- SCOTUS – Coverage of The Nine.
Tax Law
- Bloomberg BNA Tax Blogs – Multiple blogs covering a variety of Tax issues.
- Taxgirl – Kelly Phillips Herb, tax lawyer and senior editor at Forbes.
- Tax Policy Center – Analysis and facts about tax policy. A joint venture of the Urban Instituteand Brookings Institution.
- TaxProf Blog – Nominally covering tax news, but also provides general news on legal education.
- ThisMatter: Tax – Good overview of many tax laws. If you need to get up to speed, start here.
If you want to blog, podcast, use social media, or build a website – you need media assets. Pictures, clip art, video, audio, & more. And because you’re a lawyer, you (hopefully) know better than to just start using whatever you find online from a Google search. Start here instead.
Job Hunt
- Biglaw Associate Salary Scale – Get those golden handcuffs.
- District Attorney Salary Scale – Crime does pay.
- Glassdoor – Not legal focused, but you can find legal jobs there.
- Internet Law & Policy Foundry – Job board focused on internet/tech companies.
- Law Jobs – Mostly Big Law & Corporate.
- Law Match – Long running legal job site.
- Martindale – Yes, they’re still around. And they have a career center.
- NALP – Directory of legal employers.
- NALP Salary Guide – Get those digits.
- Public Defender Salary Scale – Working for the public good (for little pay).
- USA Jobs – Work for the Feds.
Law As Business
- 36 Months – Daniel Gershburg on the business of starting a solo practice.
- Adam Smith, Esq. – A look into the economics of large law firms.
- ABA Law Practice Magazine – The ABA’s publication dedicated to running law firms.
- The Business of Being a Lawyer – UA Law’s series of interviews with lawyers & judges on business.
- Consultant’s Mind – Thinking through the problem.
- Cordell Parvin Blog – On developing next generation rainmakers.
- Divorce Discourse – Lee Rosen on running a successful law practice.
- Lawyerist – Run by Sam Glover and Aaron Street. Regular updates on topics of interest to small firms.
- Lawyernomics – Avvo’s blog on running a practice.
- SoloSez – The discussion list for solo & small firm lawyers.
- Start My FLorida Law Firm – Guide on starting a practice from the FL Bar.
Law School
- Girl’s Guide To Law School – Lawyer turned coach/trainer Alison Monahan’s site on making it through law school in pink.
- IAALS – Law Jobs By The Numbers – Calculation tools to help you learn about tuition costs, job prospects, & more.
- Law School Discussion – Forum largely focused on law school selection.
- Law School Transparency – If you went to law school before thoroughly reviewing LST, you’re probably hopeless.
- Law School Tuition Bubble – Matt Leichter on law schools
- Leiter’s Law School Reports – Law prof on law schools.
- Top Law Schools – The largest law student forum.
- Yale Law School Career Development Office – Guides on various careers in law. Public and private versions available.
Technology
- ABATechShow – The ABA’s annual conference.
- Duke Law Tech Lab – Duke’s legaltech accelerator.
- Droid Lawyer – Oklahoma City attorney, Jeffrey Taylor on using Android devices in practice.
- Future Lawyer – Long running legal/tech blog by Richard Georges.
- iPhone JD – New Orleans attorney Jeff Richardson on using iOS devices in practice.
- Law Sites – Robert Ambrogi’s blog, covers software & tech for use in law firms.
- Law Technology Today – The ABA’s law/tech site.
- Legal Loop – Niki Black on trends in legal tech.
- Strategic Technology Law Blog – Lawyer turned consultant Ron Friedmann on legal tech & practice management.
Writing
- Adams’ Drafting – Ken Adams’ crusade for the use of plain language in transactional work.
- CopyBlogger —Developing marketing copy that leads to conversions. Translation: Writing so well and persuasively that the incessantly-clicking, ADHD, driven-to-distraction masses will actually purchase something. If you want to see high quality persuasive writing, look no further.
- Georgetown Law – Resource of documents, articles, and guides on effective legal writing for scholars, students, and lawyers.
- LawProse — Bryan Garner’s blog. Provides daily usage tips for words and phrases. For aspiring snoots.
- Legal Skills Prof Blog — Often about general legal skills and news related to the profession, but features writing specific posts regularly.
- Legal Writing Prof Blog — General tips on writing from a law professor perspective. Often links to Law Review articles on writing.
- LegalWritingPro — Ross Guberman, George Washington University Law Prof, author of Point Made. Regular articles on writing.
- LegalWriting.net — Wayne Scheiss, Texas School of Law professor and author of four books on legal writing. Posts sporadically, but always good reading.
- The (new) Legal Writer — Raymond Ward, Louisiana appellate lawyer. Posts infrequently, but always good advice.
- Supreme Court Briefs – Courtesy of the DoJ, briefs from all SCOTUS cases. Text searchable from 1985 onwards.