Articles

All the articles listed below were originally published elsewhere. They are published here as posts and you can link to them via the Articles category.

Recent articles

Most recent articles have also been published in the Internet Newsletter for Lawyers (INL) which I co-edit and publish with Delia Venables.

  • Search engine optimisation - a holistic approach (INL September 2009)
  • Improving legislation on the web (INL July 2009)
  • Social networks - how they work (INL July 2009)
  • The future of lawyers (INL January 2009)
  • Law publishing at the crossroads (Solicitors Journal Nov 2008, INL January 2009)
  • The law publishers and Web 2.0 (INL July 2008)
  • Towards Gov 2.0 (INL May 2008)
  • Quick and easy custom search with Google (INL May 2008)
  • A wake-up call to lawyers (INL March 2008)
  • What makes a good blawg? (Legal Executive Journal, April 2008)
  • Web 2.0 for lawyers (INL November 2007)
  • The law wiki dream (2) (September 2007)
  • Effective blogging (for lawyers) (Axxia Newsletter September 2007)
  • Joining the conversation (Axxia Newsletter July 2007)
  • Does IT matter? (INL May 2007)
  • The Statute Law Database - an update (INL May 2007)
  • The law wiki dream (INL March 2007)
  • Developments in legal information (INL January 2007)
  • Community, democracy and the future of law publishing (INL November 2006)
  • The Statute Law Database - finally a reality (INL September 2006)
  • Syndication, syndication, syndication (INL July 2006)
  • Is blogging good for business? (INL May 2006)
  • Search engine optimisation (INL March 2006)
  • Servicing the corporate client (INL January 2006)
  • The return of browser wars (INL January 2005)
  • Five Years of Free Law - the BAILII celebration (Computers and Law, December 2004)
  • RSS: How to pull the news that matters (INL May 2004)
  • Forms on the Web (INL March 2003)

2005 to date - Legal Web ebooks

Since 2005, with Delia Venables I have annually produced and published two new Legal Web ebooks with CPD.

1997-2002 - Pages on the Web

My “Pages on the Web” for the Solicitors Journal continued for several more years, but the column was ditched in February 2002 just as I was getting into my stride with an A to Z of the legal web. During this period I also wrote a few articles for other journals.

  • e-Government, e-Justice, e-Conveyancing (February 2002)
  • Databases, Directories (January 2002)
  • BAILII, Browsers, Building; Civil Procedure, Compliance (November 2001)
  • Advertising, Anchors, Arbitration (October 2001)
  • In too deep (deep linking) (September 2001)
  • Towards more accessible law (INL September 2001)
  • Accessible law? (July 2001)
  • e-Government beckons (June 2001)
  • Free legal information services (May 2001)
  • Providing free legal advice (April 2001)
  • Government portals | Web design sins (March 2001)
  • UK legal portals (February 2001)
  • Getting the most from the Web (III): staking your claim (establishing a web presence) (March 2001)
  • Is e-commerce working? (January 2001)
  • Meta data proposals for legal advice sites (December 2000)
  • The truth about hits (and misses) (November 2000)
  • The road to free law (October 2000)
  • Where do you rank? (promoting your website) (September 2000)
  • Getting the most from the Web (II): be a web detective (probate sites) (October 2000)
  • What’s in a name? (new legal businesses) (August 2000)
  • CPR Rules OK? (review of CPR products) (July 2000)
  • E-commerce for the panicked (June 2000)
  • The web-wise at Legal Tech London (May 2000)
  • Whom do they serve? (unmbrella legal advice sites) (April 2000)
  • Getting the most from the Web (I): a jump start (June 2000)
  • The law is almost free (BAILII) (March 2000)
  • Developing a search strategy (February 2000)
  • Looks good, but how does it feel? (web design) (January 2000)
  • Lawyering on the web (for in-house lawyers) (January 2000)
  • A walk down the internet High Street (goods and services for lawyers) (November 1999)
  • Cases on the web (October 1999)
  • Legislation on the web (September 1999)
  • Nick Holmes unlocks the gates (portals) (July 1999)
  • Finding things on the web (July 1999/October 1998)
  • Is the law a can of beans? (commoditisation of legal services) (May 1999)
  • Nick Holmes finds the Government promising (electronic government) (April 1999)
  • Nick Holmes finds the web in good form (law forms) (March 1999)
  • Nick Holmes goes Woolf hunting (Civil Procedure Rules) (February 1999)
  • Nick Holmes goes shopping (January 1999)
  • Nick Holmes looks back (November 1998)
  • Finding things on the web (October 1998)
  • Lawyers needed for online services (October 1998)
  • Keeping up with lawtech (September 1998)
  • Are you on the web? (July 1998)
  • The Big Guns are out (June 1998)
  • Content is blossoming on the web (May 1998)
  • WebWatch October 1997 to March 1998
  • Fishing in the well-stocked Lawtel pond (February 1998)
  • Tracking down cases galore (January 1998)
  • Addressing the web (November 1997)
  • Periodically yours – the online law journals (October 1997)
  • WebWatch May to September 1997
  • Passing Judgment on the Web (September 1997)
  • Midsummer Miscellany (June 1997)
  • SOLEX97 exhibitors on the web (May 1997)
  • What do lawyers want from the Web? (April 1997)
  • Online Law / SCL Online (March 1997)
  • SCL conference companion (February 1997)
  • The Web is illegal – provisional (January 1997)

1997 - Researching the Legal Web

By late 1996 the legal world had twigged on to the web and I wrote and edited, with Delia Venables, and typeset Researching the Legal Web: a guide to legal resources on the internet. The first edition was published by Butterworths in paperback in May 1997; the second edition was published by Butterworths in paperback in November 1999.

1995 and 1996 - the nascent legal web

I discovered the web in late 1994, published a website in January 1995 and started writing about it soon after. In December 1995 I was installed as the web columnist for the Solicitors Journal, my “Pages on the Web” appearing monthly.

I did not retain these old articles in electronic form. They’ve now been scanned in and republished here but are subject to errors.

  • Law Publishing without Boundaries (December 1996)
  • Why are we here? (SJ November 1996)
  • The Queen’s printer (SJ October 1996)
  • The future of law publishing (SJ September 1996)
  • Web page design (SJ July 1996)
  • The state of law publishing (SJ June 1996)
  • Suppliers on the web (SJ May 1996)
  • Anything legal? (SJ April 1996)
  • Electronic reproduction of Crown copyright material (SJ March 1996)
  • What does Corel’s purchase of Novell’s applications business mean for Web users? (SJ February 1996)
  • Information overload (SJ January 1996)
  • How to spend £100 this Christmas (SJ December 1995)
  • Because it’s there (getting wired) (SJ October 1995)
  • Nothing but the truth - shattering a few internet myths (June 1995)
  • 1995 - Year 1 for Electronic Publishing (Computers and Law, May 1995)