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Robert J. Ambrogi: Author, The Essential Guide to the Best (and Worst) Legal Sites on the Web, Rockport, MA [By Charisse Dengler] Tucked away in the quaint seaside town of Rockport, MA, Robert J. Ambrogi is passionate about two things: journalism and technology.
“We are in a period of unprecedented secrecy
the best degree for that would be law. He
for lawyers, legal.online included an annual
in which the First Amendment is becoming
was right, of course.”
feature titled “The Best of the Web for
the greatest victim. Federal and state
Lawyers”; and after a suggestion from ALM
governments are hindering public access
In his private practice, Ambrogi specializes
Publishing, Ambrogi got to work turning
to government documents and meetings.
in media law and divides his time between
the annual feature into a full-length book
Judges are ordering journalists to testify and
practicing and consulting.
designed to make navigating the World Wide
threatening them with jail,” he said. “In the midst of all this, the Internet is forcing us to rethink traditional concepts of media and media law. We are in a time of significant turmoil and change. That makes it difficult, but it also makes it exciting.” For Ambrogi, the ins and outs of media law are almost second nature. With a journalistic career that dates back to high school, he said he has been interested in journalism for as long as he can remember. “Over the course of my career, I have worked both in media and for media. As a result, I have always been involved in media law to one extent or another,” he said. In the past, Ambrogi has worked as the editor of Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, founding editor of Lawyers Weekly USA, editor-inchief of the National Law Journal, director of the ALM News Service, and publisher of newspapers in Connecticut and Idaho. In fact,
“In my law practice, I focus on media and new media law and serve as legal director and lobbyist for the state newspaper publishers association,” he said. “I also work as an arbitrator and mediator and serve on several ADR [alternative dispute resolution] panels. In my consulting practice, I provide advice to law firms and legal vendors on media, Internet, and editorial matters.” However, in the legal field, Ambrogi is probably best known as the man who effectively shaved hours off of the Internetresearch process by combining his writing skills, technological proficiency, and legal knowledge to create The Essential Guide to
the Best (and Worst) Legal Sites on the Web. In the book, which is now available in an updated second edition, Ambrogi lists and ranks the most important websites for every major area of law, giving the worst sites zero stars and the best sites five stars.
Web a little easier for those in the legal field. “I was an early convert to the potential power of the Internet for research, marketing, and communications,” he said. “When I first started exploring it, I was so excited by its enormous potential and low cost that I wanted to bring it to the attention of other lawyers.” Currently, Ambrogi is focused on keeping attorneys abreast of developments in Internet research and journalism through electronic publishing. “I write two blogs, record a weekly podcast, and contribute to Law.com’s Legal Blog
Watch,” he said. “That keeps me pretty busy.” It was during the writing of his book that Ambrogi was first introduced to the world of legal blogging.
he actually went to law school in order to
“Lawyers do not have a lot of time on their
“Although there were only a handful of legal
advance his career in journalism.
hands to waste looking for the right website,
blogs at the time, it struck me as an effective
and there are a lot of websites out there for
tool for me to use to keep myself and my
“After college, I considered getting a
them to sort through,” he said. “My book
readers up to date,” he said. “When I started
master’s degree in journalism,” he said. “My
does the work for them, helping them hone in
in 2002, I certainly never expected that I
undergraduate journalism adviser said that
on the best sites for their particular needs.”
would still be blogging four years later.”
would be a waste of time because I already knew how to report and write. He suggested
Inspiration for the book came from legal.
LawSites, Ambrogi’s first blog, builds on
getting an advanced degree that would teach
online, a newsletter Ambrogi produced from 1995 to 2000. The first Internet newsletter
the premise of his book and is described as
me about how the world works, and he said
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“tracking new and intriguing websites for
continued on back
LAWCROSSING
THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF LEGAL JOBS ON EARTH
LAW STAR
www.lawcrossing.com
1. 800.973.1177
the legal profession.” Media Law, which he
accelerated, but the good news is that I can
meaning,” he said. “I am in virtually daily
started in 2004, is dedicated to reporting
sit here in my little seaside town and operate
contact with lawyers and businesses in all
legal issues within the field of journalism.
a business that is international in its reach. It
corners of the country and even the globe.
continues to amaze me.”
The traditional notion that law practice
“The Internet truly did bring about a
should be confined to and regulated by a
revolution in law practice. Everything has
Ambrogi predicts that the global community
single state must evolve. I firmly believe
changed—how we communicate with our
created by the Internet will continue to
that we will eventually develop a system
colleagues and clients, how we market
initiate changes in the legal profession.
for licensing lawyers to practice across
ourselves, how we perform research, and
jurisdictions.”
how we manage our practices,” he said. “The
“Because of the Internet, we live in a time
bad news is that the pace of law practice has
when geographic borders tend to lose their
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