For nearly two decades, Cleveland employment lawyer Jon Hyman has published the Ohio Employer Law Blog with a consistency and clarity few lawyers sustain. His plain-spoken style, encyclopedic command of workplace issues and willingness to show personality have made him one of the most recognizable voices in his field.
In this episode of Real Lawyers, Kevin O’Keefe talks with Jon about how he got started, why he protects his voice, how opportunities continue to come from his writing and why blogging remains one of the most effective ways for lawyers to build trust.
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Episode outline
- 0:00 How Jon found his way into employment law
- 1:20 Liberal arts, early influences and growing up in a union household
- 3:20 Why workplace issues grabbed his attention
- 6:00 Starting the Ohio Employer Law Blog in 2007
- 6:40 Writing 4,500 posts and what sustained the habit
- 8:00 How early bloggers found each other before social media
- 9:30 Blogging as a business development tool for lawyers
- 11:20 Why consistency builds connection long before a lawyer enters the room
- 13:20 What Jon tells young lawyers who want to start publishing
- 15:00 What law schools miss on business development
- 17:00 How writing daily sharpens judgment and client service
- 20:10 Jon’s daily workflow and keeping posts to 500 words
- 22:00 Writing conversationally and avoiding legalese
- 24:00 Navigating firm culture and keeping ownership of his work
- 26:00 The real risks firms imagine versus what happens in practice
- 28:10 How Jon measures success without obsessing over analytics
- 30:00 Inside the “worst employer” series and why it resonates
- 33:20 Using satire to teach better workplace practices
- 37:30 How Jon uses AI for research, ideas and cleanup
- 42:00 Blending personal stories, family life and professional insight
- 47:00 Why preserving blog content matters for future lawyers
- 50:20 Writing as a long-term craft, well past a legal career
Key takeaways
- Consistent publishing still opens more doors for lawyers than any marketing tactic
- A conversational voice builds trust faster than polished legalese
- Writing daily sharpens judgment and accelerates professional growth
- Law schools underserve students by ignoring business development
- AI supports writing but cannot replace a lawyer’s voice
- Preserving legal commentary matters as blogs become a lasting knowledge base