by Ken Lopez
Founder & CEO
A2L Consulting

Earlier this week, we wrote about the best blogs for litigators to follow. In addition, LinkedIn groups are a great place for discussions of all types. Very often, these groups are the first place that one can find new trends in the industry. The fact that a group does not cover your field of practice, incidentally, does not mean that there are not great discussions going on there.

You can join up to 50 - be sure to set your email digest to weekly! Here are a few LinkedIn Groups that you might find of interest.

1. DRI - The Voice of the Defense Bar (12,017 members) The most robust litigation LinkedIn group with the best discussions is DRI, which represents civil lawyers across the nation who represent defendants.

2. ABA Section of Litigation (3425 members) Unlike many groups, the ABA is the only poster in the discussions.  While they are good topics, they tend to be limited.

3. ASTC's Jury and Trial Research Interest Group (834 members) This group deals with jury research, persuasion, anything that happens “when people and justice interact.”

4. Litigation & Advocacy Forum (Join This New Group - No Vendors Please) This is a group I am involved with that focuses on high-level collaboration between in-house corporate counsel, outside counsel, government leaders and legal services industry thought leaders. To keep the discussions at a high level, no univited vendors or consultants are permitted to join the group.

5. Association of Litigation Support Professionals (7183 members) This group brings together all types of litigation support professionals in the interest of contributing to their development and the development of litigation support as a profession.

6. National Institute for Trial Advocacy (1024 members) This group focuses on the offerings of NITA, the leading provider of trial advocacy training for attorneys.

7. IP Litigation (3139 members) Everything you want to know about IP litigation: winners, losers, new theories.

8. Patent Litigation (3092 members) Similar to IP Lit, this group focuses on patent litigation. Discussions are different between the groups.

9. GoToTrial (610 members) The nuts and bolts of going to trial in different cities and different courtrooms. How to set up a war room, what hotels to use, etc.

10. Trial Technology (3,325 members) Various topics related to courtroom and warroom technology and those who support it are discussed here.

11. Environmental Litigation (289 members) The legal and scientific issues in environmental litigation. 

12. Mass Torts (3620 members) Tracks the emergence of mass torts long before they are in the headlines.

13. Patent and Intellectual Property Practitioners (20,524 members) The largest of the IP focused groups. While not always litigation-focused, the discussions are quite helpful, and given the size of the group quite robust.

14. Trial Lawyers Network for Lawyers and Attorneys (4662 members) Trial strategies and marketing strategies for trial firms of all sizes.

15. Product Liability Defense Alliance (2185 members) A network of risk and safety professionals who work in claims handling, risk management, legal defense and safety innovations in the realm of product liability.

16. Construction Lawyer Network (4871 members) How to manage and run a construction law firm and latest developments in the field.

17. Commercial Dispute Resolution (2724 members) A wide ranging discussion of litigation and ADR topics.

18. E-Legal (74,444 members!) A very broad group, with a large membership, for the legal community generally.

19. Pharma Litigation (398 members) The latest in Hatch-Waxman and other types of pharmaceutical litigation.

20. Legal Marketing (25,869 members). Legal marketing tips for both large and small law firms.

21. Law Firm Management Professionals (6,888 members). Serving professional managers of law firms around the world.

I am sure that I have left out many useful groups, but this is a good start to showing what LinkedIn groups can accomplish.