Many attorneys and legal professionals have tried to write online. You add a post to your firm’s site, share it on LinkedIn or X, and wait. Nothing happens. No readers. No comments. No subscribers. After a few tries, you stop, because publishing takes time, firm sites can be clunky, and without an audience it feels pointless. You’re not wrong to feel that way. It has been a pain, and the silence is demoralizing.
Here’s the risk in stopping: being respected in court or among peers doesn’t automatically become credibility online. If you aren’t publishing, there’s no body of work for people or machines to analyze. There’s no context explaining why your perspective should carry more weight than someone else’s. To build reputation online, you need to demonstrate expertise in writing and connect it to your professional identity and relationships. That’s how you show up with EEAT (Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trust) in traditional search and in generative systems. Without that visible, connected presence, you’re effectively invisible, and less capable competitors with stronger online footprints get the attention, quotes, and clients.
That’s why we rebuilt The Legal Examiner. It gives you everything you need to publish consistently, be discovered, and build durable online credibility—without the usual friction.
What you get as a Contributor
- A clean, modern writing experience. Powered by Ghost. Fast editor, simple workflow, no tech headaches.
- A contributor profile that compounds. Your writing is tied to you—your name, firm, and expertise—so every post strengthens your public record.
- Smart distribution and cross-posting. Publish to The Legal Examiner, optionally cross-post to your Attorney Hub or firm site (Ghost or WordPress), or both. You control it with simple tags.
- Archiving and portability. Your work can be archived to your own site. You can export at any time. Your content is yours.
- OLPN integration. Accounts will include an Open Legal Publishing Network (OLPN) credential that anchors identity and relationships across the broader network.
- Editorial curation. We keep the bar high so readers know they’re getting useful legal writing, not filler. You’re part of a community that values clarity, accuracy, and service to readers.
New contributors can create drafts immediately after sign-up. Publishing permission is activated after a short on-boarding, so you can get comfortable and start building momentum right away.
Who this is for
- Legal professionals who love to write—or want to start—and would benefit from guidance, distribution, and a proper home for their work.
- Mentors and community builders who know other attorneys and legal professionals itching to write. Please pass this along. You can share this post via the button in the top right.
- Firms that want to publish under a firm byline. Start with a Contributor account. When you’re ready, you can upgrade to a Team or Community Organizer membership to run your own Ghost instance and subdomain with deeper control and distribution, including to the main Legal Examiner.
The early-contributor invitation
The Contributor tier is normally paid. For launch, we’re prioritizing quality and community over revenue.
- We’re inviting the first few dozen legal professionals who want to write, learn, and help set the tone.
- Free Contributor account, forever if you join during this limited window. No bait and switch. If you’re in for free, you stay free.
- The window lasts only a few weeks, and spots are limited so we can onboard in small batches and support you well.
How to raise your hand
- Register for early access → https://www.legalexaminer.com/early-contributor-launch
- Once registered you will receive an email with instructions to activate your new account and schedule a contributor on-boarding session.
- Have questions first? Comment below or reach out directly:
- Mastodon: @nick@mastodon.law (focused on legal publishing and identity)
- Bluesky: @nickcarroll.com
- Threads: @nickcarroll.com
- Know someone perfect for this? Use the share button in the top right to send them this post. Readers will be able to share your posts the same way once you join.
A note on openness and curation
The Legal Examiner is built on open tools, respects portability, and supports export. It is not an open platform where anyone can post. We actively decide who publishes to keep quality high. The broader Open Legal Publishing Network (OLPN) is open infrastructure. TLE is a curated node within that open network, giving contributors the best of both worlds: portability and recognition, with standards that help your work stand out.
If you want your real-world reputation to exist online, you need a visible, connected body of work. We’ll show you how to create it, and how to make it matter.
Welcome to the new Legal Examiner. Let’s build something worth reading.
Archived at nickcarroll.com.
