Since then, thousands of law blogs (sometimes called “blawgs”) have sprung up and I think it is fair to say that new ones are appearing every day. Most of them are quite narrow in scope. By now, every known legal specialty must be represented somewhere. Many are written by and for lawyers. Others are written by lawyers and law firms for their clients and (they hope) prospective clients. There are also some pretty good Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania-based legal blogs and websites. If you become a regular reader of Pittsburgh Legal Back-talk, you’ll soon be familiar with all of them. Although I practice law for a living, I have no problem with giving deserved publicity to as many of the 6,000 plus Allegheny County lawyers as I can mention, together with directions on how to find them. On the other hand, if you want a daily diet of lawyer-bashing, bookmark Overlawyered.com.

Pittsburgh Legal Back-talk is addressed to a general audience on legal topics with a Pennsylvania law emphasis. Lawyers and non-lawyers are invited to participate. Comments will be reviewed for appropriateness, civility and ethical concerns. However, unlike Overlawyered.com, PLB will not be dedicated to a single agenda and will tolerate responsibly diverse viewpoints. Issues of practical significance to consumers of legal services will be emphasized. In the next few weeks, look for informational posts related to hot topics like mortgage foreclosure, predatory lending, scavenger collectors, privacy, flipping real estate and gun regulation. But also look for discussion of other cool but practical subjects like when to bring a lawyer with you to the magistrate’s office or what traps to look for in an agreement of sale. And, of course, there will be periodic updates on Pennsylvania case law, Pennsylvania statutes and local trends.

Welcome aboard!

Cliff Tuttle