Two Washington, D.C., lawyers have each launched Web logs intended to serve as resources for solo and small-firm lawyers.

Jonathan Bender’s site, SohoAttorney, focuses on attorneys practicing from small offices or home offices. More than just a blog, SohoAttorney allows other lawyers to register and participate in developing the site’s content. For example, Bender hopes others will add links to Web sites they find useful along with reviews of the linked site. He also plans to add a photo gallery where members can post pictures of themselves. He has also included a user poll, which is currently surveying visitors about their standard hourly rates. When he is not blogging, Bender practices Internet law.

Another D.C. lawyer, Carolyn Elefant, recently hung out MyShingle.com. Elefant does not intend her site to be about the traditional general-practice small firm. Instead, her focus is lawyers who start small boutique or corporate practices that directly compete with large firms. She wants the site to be a resource for these lawyers to exchange advice, seek guidance or find local counsel in other jurisdictions. She also hopes the site will help law students learn about the possibilities of small-firm practice and enable small-firm lawyers to broadcast their accomplishments to others in the legal profession and the public at large. Like SohoAttorney, MyShingle is more than just a blog, offering useful content such as the On-Line Guide to Creating A Law Practice, containing hundreds of links to manuals, articles, forms, sample agreements and books.

Elefant created the site using slashcode, the code that powers slashdot. Elefant describes her own law practice as “an eclectic mix of energy regulatory work, renewable project development and permitting, appellate practice and civil rights and commercial litigation.”

MyShingle includes an RSS feed.

Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.