In last April’s issue I wrote about blogs - web based journals that you can subscribe to via RSS feeds. These journals help you keep up with general news and opinions. Some of them address legal issues, subjects and general legal news. They are usually set up by lawyers, law professors, law librarians or others who study or practice law. These types of blogs are known as blawgs – to indicate their law related subject matter.

Today, however, some of the people doing these blawgs are moving on to podcasting – short audio programs that can be played on a personal player or on a computer – and listened to while working. What is the advantage of this? Well, you don’t have to spend time reading the post on the web site. You can simply go to the web page where the podcast is located and listen - or click on the link from your RSS Feeder and download it for later listening. I often use these as background while I am writing or working on an issue that does not necessarily receive 100% of my concentration – like this article.

While the number of legal podcasts – or blawgcasts or plawdcasts (you can decide what you want to call them) - is still limited, I have a few to suggest that you might want to try.

Start with “Check This Out!, the weekly podcast on law, libraries, and life in a northern border town.” The author and broadcaster is Jim Milles, of the University of Buffalo Law School. You will find it at: http://jmilles.libsyn.com. This one is probably of most interest to law librarians, but contains interesting music, comments on what other blawgs are talking about, and the Canadian Minute.

A website that gives you advice about setting up your own legal podcast – is http://blawgcast.com. This site is not a podcast itself, but rather gives you basic information on setting up a legal podcast and links to legal podcasts as they hear about them. The owner of Tech Law Advisor edits this site and links back to his site for reviews of these podcasts and more legal news. It also links to many other legal podcasts. It is a difficult site to navigate, as most information is located on the right hand side of the page, with the user having to scroll down to see the links. However, if you want to see what legal related podcasts might be available, or want to set one up yourself, this site is invaluable.

Last year I recommended that you look for legal related blogs at the web site www.blawg.org. You can use this same web site directory for finding legal podcasts. Using the directory list, just select the category Podcasts – Plawdcasts. While there are not nearly as many legal podcasts as general legal blogs, you can start here. Second, go to http://www.podfeed.net where the directory lists Legal as a subject and has links to a number of legal podcasts. Last, you can try Podcast Alley at http://www.podcastalley.com. You will get some interesting results here – as searching the words law or legal will also give you music that contains law related themes. Most of the actual podcasts that you will find however, consist of material updated only sporadically. Few are podcasting on a regular basis. While the subject area is growing and more people are beginning to do them, finding good ones is an art in itself.

An interesting site with legal podcasts is the Legal Talk Network, which is a professionally based Internet radio network with programs hosted by attorneys. The programs address everything from managing your law firm as a business to the latest on tort reform and worker’s compensation. There are a number of archived programs, plus a weekly program called “Coast to Coast.” The other programs have only occasional content, which makes them of less interest.

Start watching for these legal podcasts. I found one on Family Law – called “Family Law > News and Views” from a Texas lawyer, which is a bit dry, but contains good, basic information. Then there is Evan Schaeffer’s Legal Underground, an eclectic mix of news and views, mostly about litigation. He is fun to listen to, as he does not take himself seriously. Then there is the Supreme Court Watch podcast, which The Alliance for Justice produces.

Finally, the King County Law Library has linked to the new “Nolo Presents the Law in Plain English” podcast on general legal subjects. These are useful for those who want simple, straightforward explanations of legal subjects, such as forming contracts, setting up a living trust, the new bankruptcy laws, and what a songwriter needs to know about the law. Watch for more of these blawgcasts in the next year. I predict that they will grow as much as blogs grew in the last year.