FAIRFAX, Va. – When Jonathan Frieden graduated from the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond in 1997, ‘blogging’ wasn’t even a part of his vernacular. Now, nearly a decade later, Frieden has joined a growing number of professionals who are taking to the Internet to inform, educate and engage.
Frieden, now a partner at the Fairfax, Va. law firm of Odin, Feldman & Pittleman, started his E-Commerce Law blog at www.ecommercelaw.typepad.com in April. He discusses news, trends and legal issues affecting businesses that sell, purchase or transact business over the Internet.
“My clients expect me to be knowledgeable about e-commerce legal issues, and they also expect me to stay current on emerging business issues and technology news,” Frieden explains. “For an attorney who serves e-commerce businesses, blogging was a logical move.”
The site is seeing an increasing number of hits, and within six months Frieden hopes to have hooked a loyal readership interested in exchanging dialogue about the constantly changing world of e-commerce.
According to a 2005 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, nearly one in four Americans are blog readers. Other statistics show that 75 percent of blog readers go to these sites for news that they can’t get anywhere else.
“Right now the discussion on e-commerce business and legal issues is fairly limited,” says Frieden. “There are not a lot of sources for people to go to that report on it in-depth with any sort of regularity. E-Commerce Law is an attempt to fill that gap.”
While statistics on how blogs are helping to engage clients are limited and primarily anecdotal, a growing number of companies are giving it a try.
“This year, 27 of the Fortune 500 companies have public bloggers,” says Frieden. “I expect that number to double or triple by the time the list comes out next year.”
In addition to e-commerce law, Odin, Feldman & Pittleman’s primary practice areas include technology and intellectual property; real estate & land us;, bankruptcy & creditors’ rights; corporate, securities, tax and finance; family law and domestic relations; labor and employment; litigation; trusts, estates and tax planning; arbitration and mediation; banking and finance; and construction law.
For more information contact Sarah Montezon at 703-218-2340 or visit our Web site at www.ofplaw.com.
