More so than ever before, blogs are making an important contribution to the legal discourse. Not always reliable, often tongue-in-cheek, they offer an alternative (sometimes quite personal) view on the profession. LawCareers.Net's own dedicated blog page has contributors at different stages of the legal career path (with more soon to be added).

Read on for a list of some of our favourite blawggers in the legal blogosphere. This is by no means definitive - if you have others that you think we should include, or you write one yourself, contact us on info@lawcareers.net.

Pupillage and How to Get It
http://pupillageandhowtogetit.wordpress.com/ (Simon Myerson)

Simon Myerson is a barrister living in Leeds and practising on the northeast circuit, which he regards as the best in the country. Myerson's invaluable blawg "does what it says on the tin", offering excellent advice on how to maximise your chances of securing pupillage. Among other things, there is a useful and changing list of the top seven things to read on the site.

Baby Barista
http://www.babybarista.com/ (Tim Kevan)

Undoubtedly the daddy of all pupil blawgs, BabyBarista's connections managed to bag him a regular spot on the Times's and Guardian's website. He is, in fact, Tim Kevan, a tenant in a mixed common and commercial law set; BabyBarista is entirely fictitious. But the blog is hilarious and features some finely crafted comedy set pieces and expertly drawn characters, such as ScandalMonger and BlowDry. He published one book in 2009 - Law and Disorder - and Law and Peace is due to be published in May 2011.

Lawyer Watch
http://lawyerwatch.wordpress.com/ (Richard Moorhead)

This site is the baby of Richard Moorhead, Professor of Law at Cardiff University and as such is aimed principally at law students. Moorhead's main research interests are legal aid, no win no fee arrangements, the courts, the legal profession, regulation of professions and legal systems and socio-legal research methods. He is a regular updater of the blog, and while the tone and content are quite serious, it is a repository of interesting legal topics, well explained.

Charon QC
http://charonqc.wordpress.com/

It seems Charon QC likes nothing more than wielding a Silk Cut cigarette, swilling a glass of Rioja and supplementing his blawg. Although he made himself a silk, he is a real lawyer and is now apparently a journalist and academic. After reading four tabloids and three broadsheets each day (along with the usual legal news sources), Charon covers many topics and spreads his wit across them all - including in relation to the imagined but dangerously realistic firm Muttley Dastardly LLP.

Legal Bizzle
http://legalbizzle.wordpress.com/

Legal Bizzle, which claims to have been "saving your ass since 1999" is written by an in-house commercial/contracts lawyer, who trained in-house as well. He blogs about legal and business issues, mostly "related to his day job".

Legal Futures
http://www.legalfutures.co.uk/blog (Neil Rose)

Legal Futures is a website dedicated to "[equipping] those in the legal services market with the knowledge and know-how they need to thrive in the post-Legal Services Act world". Legal Futures is the brainchild of Neil Rose - an experienced legal journalist (he spent 12 years at the Law Gazette) and qualified solicitor - who has been writing about the Legal Services Act since its genesis in the 2001 OFT report.

Afua Hirsch
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/afua-hirsch-law-blog

Afua Hirsch's blog appears in the Guardian. The newspaper's legal affairs correspondent, she has practised at the Bar in criminal defence and public law, and teaches constitutional and human rights law.

Joshua Rozenberg
http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/joshua-rozenberg

Another Guardian law columnist, Joshua Rozenberg trained as a lawyer before becoming a legal journalist and was the BBC's legal correspondent for 15 years. He is now a freelance writer, commentator and broadcaster and has presented the BBC Radio 4 series 'Law in Action' from June 2010.

Ashley Connick - thoughts of a future lawyer
http://ashleyconnick.wordpress.com/

College of Law graduate diploma of law student Ashley Connick reveals "the thoughts of a future lawyer" in his regularly updated blog. He covers a variety of topics from legal trainee recruitment to topical legal issues and blawgging.

Magic Circle Minx
http://magiccircleminx.com/

MagicCircleMinx's blog is a fictional account of a trainee working in a Magic Circle firm in London. She says that she "studied law to prove she could. Now she has no choice but to qualify as a solicitor". Another contributor to the Guardian, recent blog posts have touched on billing and SAD lamps.

UK Human Rights Blog
http://ukhumanrightsblog.com/

Written by barristers from 1 Crown Office Row, this is a serious blog which offers a balanced analysis of human rights legal issues. It is part of the Guardian Legal Network, and is updated daily. If human rights are your thing, this is essential reading.

Travis the Trout
http://travisthetrout.wordpress.com/

This is another taste of the world of the soon-to-be trainee. Travis is a paralegal in a "large law firm", due to start a training contract in April 2012 at a "medium sized firm". There are some good tips on keeping on top of applications and much more. (Also check out the related notebook blog for everything you ever wanted to know about notebooks!)

Bar Maid
http://bar-maid.blogspot.com/

Winner of a UK Blawg Award in 2010, BarMaid is an aspiring barrister, who has completed her BVC part-time and is seeking pupillage. There is some legal stuff on here, but you are just as likely to get tales of her life on the farm, restoration of furniture and family stories. Engaging writing though!

Magistrates Blog
http://thelawwestofealingbroadway.blogspot.com/

This offers anonymous "musing and snippets" from an English magistrate.

Head of Legal
http://www.headoflegal.com/ (Carl Gardner)

Carl is a barrister who worked as a government lawyer for 12 years, but who is now a fulltime writer and lecturer. He writes on legal developments and the law behind the news.

UK Supreme Court
http://ukscblog.com/

Dedicated to the judgments from the UK Supreme Court, contributing editors include solicitors from Olswang and barristers from Matrix Chambers. A great place to get a sense of what's happening at the highest court in the land.

Obiter J
http://obiterj.blogspot.com/

Subtitled "Law and Lawyers", there is no background at all about who might be writing the blogs, but Obiter J aims to offer "interesting, responsible and sometimes critical comment on legal matters of general interest".

Legal Brat
http://legalbrat.blogspot.com/ (Tim Bratton)

This is the view from in-house. Tim is general counsel at the FT, and offers his take on (get ready for this) everything "from copyright to ethics to M&A to disputes to clients to colleagues to outside counsel to the in-house mission to career dev to networking to the stuff you like to the stuff you don't like to the pressures to the pleasures and back again". Phew! He says he likes "solving" and dislikes "procrastinating" (although some would argue that blogging is just the sort of delaying activity that some procrastinators would use as a means of avoiding real work!).

The IPKat
http://ipkitten.blogspot.com/ (Jeremy Philipps)

An early adopter of the blog, this was launched in 2003 by one of the profession's most well-practised bloggers, Jeremy Philipps. There is now a team of contributors to this IP-centric blog. It's quite technical, but if you think that IP is your practice of area of choice, this is great place to start learning about the big cases, players and issues.

Pupillage Blog
http://www.pupillageblog.com/

Another version of the "I'm looking for pupillage" style blog, written by Justin Time. His USP? He had a special blue suit made, super hero style, to wear "as I take on life's challenges upon the road ahead on the path to pupillage". Good on you Justin.

Nearly legal
http://nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/

Nearly Legal is written by a team of contributors, who are barristers and solicitors practising in the field of welfare, housing, landlord and tenant and public law. The contributing editor, the original Nearly Legal, is a solicitor at a legal aid firm.

Corporate Law and Governance
http://www.corporatelawandgovernance.blogspot.com/
Robert Goddard, a senior lecturer in law at Aston Business School in Birmingham, writes on important legal developments and news in the corporate/governance field. Primarily UK focused, it also includes interesting items from around the world.

Blog of a City Lawyer
www.thecitylawyer.com/
A trainee at a City firm, this anonymous blogger aims to provide readers with "a play by play of life as a City lawyer". There are opinions on a wide range of topical issues, and a good first post on what it takes to make it in the City. Worth a look.

Beneath the Wig
http://beneaththewig.com/
A blog chronicling the thoughts of Amanda Bancroft, an ex-barrister who now works in digital media. She still writes with a keen interest about legal matters from her witty, politically engaged and sometimes sweary standpoint - posting with such quality that she made the 2012 shortlist for the Orwell Prize for blogging.