Publication Policy for Committee Content

The Litigation Section aims to help members become better lawyers, to succeed in their careers, and to become engaged and informed about issues important to our nation’s litigation community. The committees of the Section serve these goals through their newsletters and webpages, which are the primary ways that the Section interacts with its members. Each year, the Section’s committees generate hundreds of unique pieces of content that help our members further develop as lawyers, and better serve their clients and our nation’s judicial systems.

Of course, the content produced by the Section’s committees does not exist in a vacuum. Online sources of content aimed at lawyers seem to multiply overnight, and many of them deliver news from the previous day. These competitive sources of content present challenges for our committee newsletters and webpages, which rely on volunteer authors and editors, because legal developments are often old news by the time our committees produce and publish content about them.

To compete and prevail, we must focus on what makes the Section’s content unique. The ABA Litigation Section represents perhaps the largest collection of highly experienced trial lawyers in the world, and the collective experience of our members in the practice of litigation is simply unmatched. Our members are an incredible source of incomparable content. The key is making sure that the Section’s content leverages the best that our committees have to offer.

Committee content should focus on advice and recommendations from members to other members. Committees should deemphasize “breaking news” and case developments, and instead focus on producing practical advice, analysis, and recommendations on such topics as:

• Pretrial, trial, and appellate skills
  
• “Deep dive” analysis in specific areas of the law
• Generating business
• Succeeding in different practice settings
• Running a litigation-focused practice
• Ethics in litigation practice
• Maintaining work-life balance

This is a shift in focus, and not a prohibition on content. Where a committee feels that a development in the law deserves to be analyzed, that type of content remains entirely appropriate. The prime focus, however, should be content on skill development and career success tailored to each committee’s substantive area or affinity group.

By shifting the focus of our committee content, the Section will create value for our current members, attract new members, and stand out from the vast sea of legal content targeting lawyers on a daily basis.