Terra Extraneus

• Part Two
• Part Three

I decided to survey what’s happening among fellow Oklahoma law bloggers. Back in 2006, when Terra Extraneus was young, Rod Heggy and I surveyed several Oklahoma blogs, including some law blogs. I wanted to see if any new blog stars have emerged in the Sooner State legal community.

In my attempt to identify any Okie law blogs lurking out there, I employed the following strategy:

(1) I began with the Blog Oklahoma directory. Blog Oklahoma lists 526 member blogs. Only 7 of them are tagged “law.” To make sure I didn’t miss any, I also searched on the word “law,” and found a few more that way.

(2) I then checked the Oklahoma Bar Association website. Sadly, the OBA does not maintain a directory of blogs. However, the OBA does have a blog of its own. Jim Calloway directs the OBA’s Management Assistance Program, and writes the Law Practice Tips blog. Calloway lists some “Okahoma Blawggers” on his site, so I checked them out.

(3) I then moved on to the American Bar Association, which does maintain an extensive blog directory (and we are glad for it, because we get occasional visitors to our blog through our ABA listing). I surveyed the blogs ABA has listed under the Oklahoma heading.

(4) Then, I circled back to the law blogs I identified, to see if they linked to other Oklahoma law blogs on their blogrolls. I also did a Google search to see if I could shake any more grains out of the sack.

So I think the resulting list of Oklahoma law blogs is fairly comprehensive. I am surprised at what a short list it is, and that the list sure hasn’t grown much in the last two years. Here they are, presented in a series of posts. Let’s begin with law blogs found at Blog Oklahoma. I found about a dozen self-described law blogs on the Blog Oklahoma list. However, only half of them meet these simple criteria: active, Oklahoma-based, and writing on legal issues.

DEAD LINK
• One of them, Credit Wrench, is a dead link. I Googled Credit Wrench to see if the site had moved to a new URL. It hasn’t, but I learned that Credit Wrench was once written by Bill Bauer, who is apparently some kind of credit repair guru. Bauer got into a full-blown fuss with one debt collector, leading to a federal lawsuit or at least the threat of one. Maybe his website was collateral damage.

UPDATE 07/28/08: Credit Wrench lives! See Bill Bauer’s response in the comment field. Bauer is quick to say he is NOT a credit repair guru. Also, Credit Wrench is alive and well and online. The site is now located here: Credit Wrench. I see that Bauer’s blog goes back to Nov. 2005. Bill, we will be adding you to our Oklahoma Law Blogs roll.

INACTIVE
• New York State of Mind hasn’t posted since Sep 2007. Besides, what kind of name is that for an Oklahoma blog? The blog’s author, a self-described “female attorney,” is:

a Manhattan girl currently trapped in Oklahoma. It is T minus about two years before my reprieve. In the meantime I must vent my frustrations at the lack of Sephora, Tiffany, Brownstones, the subway system, and virtually everything else NYC.

Apparently NYSofM finally managed to escape our dreaded Sooner State. She can probably be found today, riding on a subway, humming a Billy Joel tune.

• Also inactive is Oklahoma Solo. OK Solo was written by Luke Anthony, a 30-something Stillwater attorney. Anthony blogged for 15 months in 2006 and 2007 about “the opening of an Oklahoma solo law firm.” Sure enough, Luke’s last post, on June 3, 2007, is titled: “Off and Running.”

Whew, Just wanted to let everyone know that just over a month ago I launched Anthony Law Firm, PLLC. My first month was fantastic. Dozens of new clients and just as many new legal issues. The small firm life suits me well. I get to meet with my clients and really get to know them. Just last week one of them actually gave me a hug.

Luke accomplished his goal, has left his blog online as a testament and tutorial, and apparently has otherwise abandoned the blogosphere.

ACTIVE
• Another blog, Sidebar: Law and Order, Okie Style, is written by non-lawyer Brian Bates. Bates’ blog is teetering toward inactivity, with no posts since January. Bates is rather famously known as the Video Vigilante, for capturing men on camera in the act of hiring prostitutes. That’s gotta keep a guy busy, which must explain why Brian hasn’t done any blogging lately.

• Still active, and far less flamboyant, is the OCU Law School blog. I scrolled through the blog’s recent posts, and all of them are announcements of law school activities. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s not really a law blog. The posts are unsigned, and I imagine they are written by the school’s PR department.

ANY LEGITIMATE OKLAHOMA BLAWGERS?
So are there any active law bloggers in Oklahoma? There aren’t many, but there are a few. I found six legitimate Oklahoma law blogs on the Blog Oklahoma directory. I will list and describe them in the next post of this series.