Appellate practitioner Howard Bashman was largely unknown outside Philadelphia when he decided to take the plunge into law blogging in May 2002.

Twenty million page views and 10 years later, his blog How Appealing has made Bashman something of a nationwide rock star in the usually staid field of appellate law. And he has reached this status without resorting to gossip, name-calling, Twitter feeds, podcasts or anything close to eye-catching graphics.