Today, the Illinois State Bar Association unveiled the first site to formally launch using a LexBlog syndication portal. The new Illinois Lawyer Now is a membership hub that hosts original ISBA content as well as content from members’ blogs throughout the state.

With a strong mission to support Illinois lawyers in their practice of law, ISBA seeks to provide the best services to highlight publishing excellence among their members. Illinois Lawyer Now will be ISBA’s preeminent site for recent Illinois-specific legal content.

A syndication portal is a unique and valuable way for an organization to highlight its members, their sites, and their work – all while allowing the organization to maintain overall control of curation and publishing. Similar to LexBlog.com, which aggregates content from over 22,000 members, the syndication portal attributes content to the original author, organization, and site, so author ownership and links are maintained.

A syndication portal allows any organization to strengthen its membership community by creating a hub of news and conversation. Organizations that could benefit from a portal include:

• Bar associations
• Law schools
• Large law firms
• Special interest groups

“We find that a syndication portal is a win-win for our members and their readers,” says ISBA President, James F. McCluskey. “Illinois Lawyer Now gives our blogging members an opportunity to grow their audience, and at the same time, it gives readers access a variety of knowledge from Illinois lawyers all in one place.

LexBlog’s product team provides all setup, training, and support, allowing the organization and its members to focus on publishing, rather than technology.

“There’s no other syndication platform out there that is so simple to get started or as easy to work with as ours,” says Robert Ambrogi, LexBlog Editor-in-Chief and Publisher. “This is a sophisticated, professional, and accessible level of syndication technology that you just can’t find anywhere else.”

The portal includes:

• Featured articles curated by your organization.
• Feeds of all articles from member blogs.
• Automated newsletters sent at specified date, time, and frequency.
• Profiles of each blogger, including the blogs to which they contribute and their recent posts.
• Profiles of each blogger’s law firm or organization, including all the blogs they support, all their blog authors, and the recent posts from all their blogs.
• An advertising-ready design for organizations wishing to monetize their portal.

Content published through syndication portals may receive additional exposure through publication to the Fastcase legal research service.

“LexBlog’s syndication portals are important, not just from the standpoint of technology, but because they aim to bring focus back to the individual blogger,” says LexBlog CEO, Kevin O’Keefe. “The blogger retains ownership of their content with a greater ability to grow relationships and build social influence in their network through blogging.”

To learn more about syndication portals, visit LexBlog’s product site page and FAQ.

About LexBlog:

Founded in 2004 to empower lawyers to increase their visibility and accelerate their business relationships through blogging, LexBlog today is the world’s largest legal blogging community that brings together many of the best legal minds on the web. With a platform empowering 22,000 bloggers to share their insights and commentary, LexBlog aids the democratization of legal journalism and the rise of citizen reporting around the globe. Learn more about LexBlog’s publishing products and global news and commentary network.

For more information, please contact:

Caroline Hess

Marketing and Communications Lead

caroline@lexblog.com

(425) 286-9459

“When the mission of a company is to transform the practice of law for good, as is the case with Clio, LexBlog is all in,” said LexBlog CEO, Kevin O’Keefe. “Clio has documented that lawyers spend more time on business development than on billable hours. We hope to flip those numbers and enable those lawyers to live their dream of doing the work they want to do for the clients they want to work for – through blogging on the LexBlog network.”

The integration is designed to reduce duplicate data entry between LexBlog’s content management and Clio’s practice management software, Clio Manage, to enable legal professionals to capture valuable leads. In a profession where time is money, the hassle of constant copy-pasting or misplacing important client information can be detrimental to both productivity and efficiency.

With this integration, legal professionals can take advantage of several helpful features:

• Create an automated workflow from their LexBlog site contact form to their tasks and contacts in Clio Manage.
• Avoid tedious copying and pasting, as well as duplicate and misplaced information.
• Transform inquiring blog readers and subscribers into lead generation for their practice.

This partnership between LexBlog and Clio stems from both companies’ mutual dedication to helping legal professionals grow their practices. Joining the ranks of over 125 integrations in Clio’s App Directory, LexBlog believes this product will assist in bringing greater access to legal services for thousands of potential clients.

Interested in using the Clio-LexBlog integration? Give it a try.

About LexBlog:

Founded in 2004 to empower lawyers to increase their visibility and accelerate their business relationships through blogging, LexBlog today is the world’s largest legal blogging community that brings together many of the best legal minds on the web. With a platform empowering 22,000 bloggers to share their insights and commentary, LexBlog aids the democratization of legal journalism and the rise of citizen reporting around the globe. Learn more about LexBlog’s publishing products and global news and commentary network.

About Clio:

Clio, the leader in cloud-based legal technology, empowers lawyers to be both client-centered and firm focused through a suite of cloud-based solutions, including legal practice management, client intake and legal CRM software. Clio has been transforming the industry for over a decade with 150,000 customers spanning 90 countries, and the approval of over 65 bar associations and law societies globally. Clio continues to lead the industry with initiatives like the Legal Trends Report, the Clio Cloud Conference, and the Clio Academic Access Program. Clio has been recognized as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies, a Deloitte Fast 50 and Fast 500 company. Learn more at clio.com.

For more information, please contact:

Caroline Hess

Marketing and Communications Lead

caroline@lexblog.com

(425) 286-9459