Why Real Lawyers Have Blogs Says Publishing Builds a Lawyer's Name and Business

Real Lawyers Have Blogs, written by LexBlog CEO Kevin O'Keefe, argues that publishing is the mechanism by which lawyers become known and, over time, grow their practice. The logic is straightforward: lawyers who write regularly about their area of law create a public record of their thinking, and that record does the work of reputation-building and client acquisition long before a prospective client ever calls. The blog has made this case for over twenty years, which is itself part of the argument—the payoff comes from sustained publishing, not a single post or campaign.

The core claim: publishing is how lawyers get found and remembered

The blog's own description states the thesis directly: "Publishing helps lawyers build a name and grow their business." Two distinct outcomes are bundled here.

Building a name is about visibility and association. When a lawyer publishes consistently on a topic, readers begin to connect that lawyer with that subject. Over time the lawyer becomes a known reference point—someone whose name surfaces when the topic comes up.

Growing a business is the downstream effect. A name that is associated with a practice area generates inbound interest: referrals, speaking invitations, media requests, and prospective clients who arrive already persuaded.

The order matters. The business growth is a consequence of the name, not something that can be manufactured directly. This is why the blog frames publishing as the input and business development as the output.

Why content accumulates instead of expiring

The distinction the blog draws is between publishing and short-term promotion. A paid advertisement or a one-off marketing push stops producing the moment spending stops. Published writing behaves differently:

• Each post remains accessible and searchable after it is written.
• A body of work on a single topic compounds—older posts lend credibility to newer ones.
• Readers who discover one post can move through the archive and form a fuller picture of the lawyer's expertise.

This is the practical meaning of "long-term" in the blog's framing. The asset is the accumulated library, not any individual piece. A lawyer who publishes for two years has something a lawyer who published once does not, even if the single post was better written.

The blog as a personal brand vehicle

A blog is a container the lawyer controls. Unlike a profile on a firm website or a directory listing, it carries the lawyer's own name, voice, and editorial choices. That makes it a natural carrier for a personal brand rather than a firm brand.

The blog's own history illustrates the point: Kevin O'Keefe has published under the Real Lawyers Have Blogs name for over twenty years, and the site is identified with him personally, not just with LexBlog. The publication and the person are linked in readers' minds—which is exactly the association the blog recommends to lawyers.

The citation problem the blog raises

A recurring theme on the site is that legal bloggers do poorly at linking to each other. In a discussion quoted on the blog, Carolyn Elefant described the failure to hyperlink as her "biggest pet peeve" after 23 years of blogging, and O'Keefe agreed that "legal bloggers do a poor job of linking—at least as to each other's publishing, if not to the law."

The blog suggests that inclusion in a citation system for secondary legal sources could be a starting point for fixing this. The underlying concern is that a publishing culture without citation is a weaker ecosystem: posts that don't reference each other don't build a shared body of authority, and individual bloggers lose the network effects that citation would create.

For a lawyer deciding how to publish, the practical takeaway is to link out—to statutes, cases, and other practitioners' writing—rather than treating each post as a standalone broadcast.

What this means if you are deciding whether to publish

The blog's position implies a few conditions for the approach to work:

• Consistency over volume. A steady cadence matters more than occasional long pieces.
• A defined subject. Readers associate a name with a topic, so scattered publishing dilutes the association.
• A long horizon. The reputation and business effects are described as accumulating over years, not weeks.
• Willingness to cite others. Linking to related work strengthens both the post and the wider publishing community.

If those conditions fit how you want to work, the blog's argument is that publishing is one of the few marketing activities whose value increases the longer you do it. If you need immediate, measurable lead flow, publishing is a poor fit for that timeline—the blog does not claim otherwise.