When Todd Smith launched his first appellate blog in the mid-2000s he wasn’t chasing trends. He was a young lawyer leaving big law with no book of business and needed a way to show trial lawyers who he was and what he knew. Blogging gave him a place to explain appellate issues in plain language and a way for peers to get to know him before they ever picked up the phone.
In this episode of the Real Lawyers podcast, Kevin talks with Todd about the early days of legal blogging, how publishing shaped his reputation over nearly twenty years and why he rebuilt his blog when he relaunched his practice as Texas Appellate Counsel. Todd reflects on what has changed, what has stayed useful and why owning your online real estate still matters in a crowded content world.
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Episode outline
- 00:00 Why Todd turned to blogging when he left big law
- 01:50 Early legal blogging and Todd’s first LexBlog site
- 03:16 Using posts to explain appellate issues to trial lawyers
- 05:44 Leaving big law again and restarting his practice
- 07:51 Why early posts sparked real face-to-face conversations
- 09:27 Writing for usefulness not self-promotion
- 12:18 How content marketing changed the landscape
- 14:06 What was lost when blog comment culture faded
- 16:26 Publishing as reputation building rather than traffic
- 17:54 How referrals work today and where a blog fits
- 18:24 Why he believes lawyers must own their online real estate
- 19:44 Wrestling with AI and what it means for writing habits
- 21:12 Treating a blog as a long-term publication and knowledge base
- 22:49 Blogs as secondary sources for clerks and judges
- 26:38 Updating old posts to test assumptions and stay sharp
- 27:30 The opportunity to build an appellate blogging network
- 31:30 How blogs complement legal research platforms
- 33:34 Authenticity on social media and the value of showing who you are
- 35:53 The business impact of years of steady publishing
- 40:41 What Todd tells law students who ask whether they should blog
- 47:34 The wide-open niche opportunities inside appellate work
- 51:35 Why recognizing strong publishers matters
- 52:43 Restarting a firm with clearer eyes and a stronger foundation
Key takeaways
- Early blogging helped Todd stand out in a niche practice at a time when few appellate lawyers published online
- Publishing became a durable source of reputation and referrals across career stages
- Owning your platform matters more than chasing algorithms or rented channels
- Writing in public forces clarity and speeds up learning
- Niches inside appellate law remain largely untouched and open to new voices
- Blogs continue to function as practical secondary sources for practitioners and courts