Kevin O’Keefe throws down the gauntlet, announcing that lexBlog, the company he founded a year ago, is ready to take on LexisNexis Martindale and Thomson’s Findlaw.

Kevin knows the turf. In the 1990s, after practicing law for 17 years, he founded an innovative legal portal called Prairielaw. In 2001, he sold it to LexisNexis and became a vice president of the company’s Martindale-Hubbell division. Last year, he broke new ground when he founded lexBlog to help lawyers develop blogs. So far, he says, he has roughly 100 clients.

I’ve never met Kevin, but I’ve exchanged my share of e-mails with him over the years and read his contributions to various discussion lists. I’ve also watched and admired his work. From my seat, this shapes up to be a match between a savvy, spring-footed contender in one corner and two weary, hulking goliaths in the other.

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.