Ten Things: Best Blogs (and Other Media) for In-House Lawyers (2023 Edition)

Hello everyone and season’s greetings from the penthouse of the “Ten Things” world headquarters in Dallas, Texas![1]  I will start this post by wishing everyone a fantastic holiday season and all the best for 2024.  As most of you know, 2024 is year 10 of the “Ten Things” blog and it is also the year the long-awaited(?) productivity book comes out.  I am in the final stages of submitting everything to the ABA.  More news on that as things progress. And if you are looking for some fun in January, please join me and a host of others who will be presenting at Laura Frederick’s (of How to Contract fame) ContractsCon 2024!  I will be there discussing indemnity clauses but the agenda is jam-packed with far worthier speakers and topics. So, I hope to see you in person in Las Vegas in January!

But, on with the business at hand.  Like every year, I end 2023 with a blog featuring all the other people you should be reading (or listening to) as part of your day-to-day in-house life.  For me, the hard part is choosing just a few to highlight.  There are so many great content generators out there fighting for your (and my) attention.  Unfortunately, I cannot list everyone (and I rarely repeat listing anyone I have listed in the past, i.e., I just assume you know they are still worth your time – they are!). [2]  And, if you are interested in past winners, you can start by reading last year’s edition of “Best Blogs (and Other Media) for In-House Lawyers.” Instead, I try to list some new voices for you to check out.  And, same as always, there is no particular order to my list (literally I am just typing as I find things in my Post-it notes, faulty memory, and Google Keep folders).  Okay, where was I…? Right, enough yakking, let’s get on with the 2023 edition of Best Blogs and Other Media for In-House Counsel!

1.  Chatting Contracts with GPT (blog).   If you have been following me on LinkedIn in 2023 you know that I am a huge fan of Laura Greenberg and her Chatting Contracts with GPT blog. Well written and jam-packed with great tips about how to use ChatGPT to make contract drafting easier and more efficient.  Her most recent post titled Can You Use ChatGPT to Compare Two Contract Versions? is must-read material for all in-house counsel.

2.  In-House Connect (webinars/online community).  Shai Mehani is building a powerhouse tool for in-house lawyers with In-House Connect. In-House Connect is an online, virtual community connecting in-house lawyers, outside counsel, and other legal vendors. There are several free webinars each month from great speakers on great topics.  Membership is free (though you must subscribe for the on-demand content) and there is an amazing amount of content and networking groups available.  If you have not checked out In-House Connect, put it on your list of New Year’s resolutions.

3.  Coffee Break with Irene Liu (webcast).  Irene Liu is a former general counsel who is now part of the Berkley Law Executive Education program.  She hosts a regular “Coffee Break” conversation aimed at in-house lawyers.  The sessions are live and always informative.  Irene asks great questions and the conversation is always interesting.  I particularly enjoyed her discussion with Brian Israel about AI, Law and Technology. Definitely worth subscribing too.  Irene also posts regularly on LinkedIn so follow her there as well.

4.  Make Use Of (newsletter).  I always look forward to the twice-weekly email from Make Use Of.  MUO is a jack-of-all-trades technology website offering practical tips about and reviews of technology.  I particularly like the tips and reviews of ChatGPT and generative AI tools at MOU ChatGPT.  Two great recent posts were on How to Automate Your Document Creation With ChatGPT in Microsoft Word and How to Use ChatGPT to Create a Presentation. Gold for in-house lawyers!

5.  One Productivity (blog).  Dan Silvestre writes about productivity.  And he does it really well.  While working on my book, I stumbled across One Productivity and have been hooked ever since.  His articles are short but packed with useful information, tips, and hacks to help you squeeze a bit more out of your day.  Here is a recent article on delegation.  Even if you get just one good tip per week, it’s worth checking out this site and subscribing.

6.  Wonder Tools (newsletter).  Every week (or several times a week, I honestly cannot remember – damn terse Post-it note…) I get a newsletter from Jeremy Caplan jammed packed with great tips about websites, apps, or other tools to help me do whatever I want to do faster, better, and less expensively.  That is Wonder Tools!  Each week you’ll receive a newsletter post with useful sites & resources to save you time. Instead of spending hours trying to figure out which site is the best for X, get a single weekly email to stay updated.  Here is Jeremy’s Best of 2023 post – crammed full of goodness!

7.  Legal Dive (newsletter/website).  Legal Dive provides a daily newsletter containing news, insights, trends, and more affected in-house counsel.   It discusses topics such as technology, human capital management, legal operations, compliance, data privacy, and more!  I read it pretty much every day.  Here is a recent post on why a business-first mindset is critical to the success of in-house counsel.

8.  Innovative Legal Leadership (podcast).  Always great and interesting topics are discussed on the Innovative Legal Leadership podcast from Cynthia Lareine and PERSUIT software.  Here is a great episode discussing whether AI can reduce the amount of “soul-crushing” work foisted on in-house lawyers.  Interesting guests, great questions, and really practical and useful information for in-house counsel being discussed.  Add this podcast to your listening routine in 2024.

9.  There’s an AI for That! (website/newsletter).  There’s An AI For That is an AI aggregator, with over 2 million monthly active users and a huge database of AI tools and plugins.  Its self-proclaimed mission is to offer the most complete set of tools for anyone who is planning to use AI to improve their lives and work performance.  The website includes a variety of topics, such as a timeline of AI capabilities and the Job Impact Index, which shows the impact of AI on over 4,000 human jobs, as well as which AI tools are most suited to each job.  There is a free newsletter you can subscribe to (and a ChatGPT plugin if you are a paid GPTChat user).  If you are interested in how best to use AI in the legal department, this is a site you need to bookmark!

10.  LinkedIn (mix).  I love LinkedIn and all the great content created there by so many talented people.  I cannot list them all, but here are just some of the folks I follow and think are worth your time to check out too.  Some are names you have seen here before, some are new.  But, they are all worth checking out!

Know of someone you would add to this list, let me/us know!

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Well, that is it for my 2023 best blogs (and other media) edition.  I hope you will find at least one of the above to be something that you use or follow regularly.  I am excited for 2024 and another year of writing “Ten Things.”  Plenty of topics on my list!  Thanks again for the encouragement and comments and for sharing the blog with new readers.  I will be shooting for 20,000 subscribers next year. Hope to see many of you in Las Vegas for ContractsCon 2024.  Otherwise, stay safe, keep reading, and wishing everyone all the best in 2024!

Sterling Miller

December 29, 2023

Book number six is so close to ready but my fifth book, Showing the Value of the Legal Department: More Than Just a Cost Center is available now, including as an eBook!  You can buy a copy HERE.

Cover of Value Book

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Cover

Two of my books, Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel – Practical Advice and Successful Strategies and Ten (More) Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel – Practical Advice and Successful Strategies Volume 2, are on sale now at the ABA website (including as e-books).

I have published two other books: The Evolution of Professional Football, and The Slow-Cooker Savant.  I am also available for speaking engagements, webinars/CLEs, coaching, training, and consulting.

Football

book_two

Connect with me on Twitter @10ThingsLegal and on LinkedIn where I post articles and stories of interest to in-house counsel frequently.  

“Ten Things” is not legal advice nor legal opinion and represents my views only.  It is intended to provide practical tips and references to the busy in-house practitioner and other readers.  If you have questions or comments, or ideas for a post, please contact me at sterling.miller@sbcglobal.net, or if you would like a CLE for your in-house legal team on this or any topic in the blog, contact me at smiller@hilgersgraben.com.

[1] Also known as the ground floor.

[2] For more past winners see 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.

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